| Username |
Post |
| smr |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 11:26 AM
The Chroinicle of Higher Education published this piece. The space limitation did not allow me to cut and paste the article on the sajha.com, and the URL address does not allow to read it without the subscription.
http://chronicle.com
Section: International
Volume 49, Issue 6, Page A52
In Nepal, Colleges in Flames
Maoists, seeking to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, attack universities
By MARTHA ANN OVERLAND
Kathmandu, Nepal
On a moonless night last May, hundreds of Maoist guerrillas descended from the hills and surrounded Nepal's only Sanskrit-language university. They cut the phone lines, ordered everyone out of the buildings, and then went from room to room, dousing files and furniture with kerosene, and set them alight.
As the buildings burned, and flames consumed Mahendra Sanskrit University's rare, ancient, and irreplaceable Hindu texts, the rebels quietly slipped back into the surrounding forests.
When the vice chancellor of the public university arrived and saw the burned-out buildings and the smoldering stacks of Sanskrit books, he began to cry. "Not in sound, but in heart," says Purna Chandra Dhungel. "I had tears from the heart."
Such attacks are no longer isolated incidents in this tiny kingdom straddling the Himalayas. After six years of insurgency, the state-controlled morning newspapers are filled with reports of army encounters with rebels, and the nightly news offers fresh pictures of mutilated bodies. Nervous soldiers of the once largely ceremonial Royal Nepal Army sit behind machine-gun nests at busy intersections in the bustling capital. The mountain paths that tourists once trekked are now patrolled by soldiers in camouflage.
Change in Tactics
After years of low-level skirmishes between Maoists and police, the rebels have changed tactics. They have gone on the offensive not only against security forces, but also in attacks on the country's infrastructure. And they aren't just sabotaging power plants and blowing up bridges. They are now also making targets of schools and universities -- a strategy that is costing them much of their support.
Teachers and students have been tortured and killed. The rebels' repeated calls for nationwide strikes, known as bandhs, and their threats to shoot anyone who does not comply, have left students at times too frightened to go to class, and wondering about their futures.
Bharat Ghimire, who is working on his master's degree in humanities at the Institute of Advanced Communication, Education, and Research here, was hoping to return to teach in his village in eastern Nepal. But now, he says, "there are no police, no government. The Maoists rule the village, doing as they wish. My brother's teaching salary goes to the Maoists as a 'donation.'"
At age 30, Mr. Ghimire doesn't know what he will do after graduation. "If I go back to my village, I will have to be a farmer," he says.
Help for the Throne
........................
Private Colleges as Targets
..................
Struggle for Literacy
.............
Scared Away
.....
Rifles Versus Books
......
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| smr |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 11:29 AM
Sorry, I had to chop off fours sections to comply with the word limitation of 6500.
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| paramendra |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 11:49 AM
Multiple posts?
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| ashu |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 12:32 PM
I am a part-time student at Kathmandu's Biswo Bhasa Campus, and I have seen, for the first time in my life in Nepal, the disruptive influence that the student members of the so-called Swatantra Vidyarthi Union (SVU) exert on the student body.
Earlier in the semester, I was astonished to see the SVU basically forcing the Campus authorities to admit dozens of students who had earlier been denied admissions
through the formal channels.
In fact, new students with powerful Union contacts kept appearing in our class even two momnths after the admissions procedures were closed. The poor teacher had no choice but to obey the Union ko demands that he repeat the earlier lessons for the benefit of those who joined late, and who joined by greasing the palms of the members of the Student Union.
Once in a while, the Union members barge into the classroom without any notice,
terrorize the poor teacher, and read out notices inviting the students to some
chiya-paan or to some "welcome program" at the Campus.
Such chiya-paan and welcome programs, I have learnt, are basically platforms for
the Union to squeeze money out of the poor students to pay for dues for this and fees for that.
The Union leaders, surprisingly, never seem to be attending any class, walk around as though they owned the entire camps. Over morning chiya-siya at the Canteen, I have tried to enage some of the student leaders in guff-suff. They justify their actions by saying, "ke garne, yo Nepal ho."
Just three days ago, the Maoists closed down the Campus, along with other educational institutes, for two whole days, (even though our class needed to finish certain chapters before the Dassain break!)
Needles to say, all this has been quite an exasperating, yet an educational, experience for me to understand a slice of Nepal better.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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| Poonte |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 01:31 PM
Yes, Ashu, when one would think of educational institutions as the foundations to produce "vawishya ko karnadhar"s, isn't it heart-breaking to see those institutions embroiled in some of the worst violence, dada-giri, and blatant disregard for the quest for education?
Years ago, I also ran for a post in the Student Union at one of the supposedly leading campuses in KTM. Ne.Bi. Sangh, jindabaad, so I thought at the time. :) The site of the violent clashes between opposing parties, sometimes with people weilding khukuris, chains, bottles, etc. were not only terrifying, but terribly sad as well. It becomes even more depressing when one realizes even the schools are not spared from those types of inhuman traits.
They (we!) need to find ways to de-politicizing and cleansing the educational institutions of violence and intimidations from "dada"s if we are to build a brighter future for Nepal.
How? I wish I had the answers :(
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| surya |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 06:35 PM
Poonte!! Now I know who you are!!! How come malai phone pani chaina ba?? Thikai cha!
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| Poonte |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 08:27 PM
Hareeee bhagawan!
Timi ko hou, chine po ta phone sone pani garnu?
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| surya |
Posted
on 03-Oct-02 08:47 PM
Feigning ignorance will not do, buddy boy!! Parkhis! Wait till I get hold of you:)
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