Only overthrowing regimes, I
believe isn’t the road to development. (We have thrown a lot of regimes—the
Rana, Panchayat and the King was the jackpot!) Development is more, and if we,
as citizens and political leaders of Nepal fail to recognize this, we will,
once again be doomed. Every day, people increasingly have apathetic as well as
skeptical view to the government: Nepalese rely on the government for their
basic needs, while being skeptical.
The Nepali Congress overthrew the
Rana Regime and marked the dawn of Democracy in 2007 BS. While the change
supposedly was a step towards development, histories show otherwise. I firmly
believe that democracy came at a time when no individual knew what democracy
meant. Our leaders, especially those belonging to the Nepali Congress failed to
explain what the values of democracy uphold—maybe because they themselves were
fully unaware of what democracy meant themselves, or may be because they were afraid
that by explaining the values of democracy to people, the common man would
revolt—just like the Nepali Congress revolted against Rana Regime, or maybe
because they were trying to figure out what democracy meant themselves. More
than that, the dawn of democracy, I believe became more of a calculated misfire
than the paths to development. Only after a country meets all the elements of
democracy can a country really be democratic.
These elements include education, employment and food for thought.
Democracy is defined as being
people centric. It is what we call, “By the people, for the people, to the
people”. This simple line is easy to say but hard to keep—as people choose what
they want.
A country of sheep will select sheep as their leaders. They cannot choose a Lion because they are only a flock of sheep and they only have a sheep to choose. Even if they select a Lion, they cannot look up to a Lion for a few reasons. Firstly, they feel threatened and insecure that while the Lion gives them necessary needs, they feel that the Lion can pounce and eat them anytime. Secondly, the Lion itself becomes too powerful that he could use his powers otherwise, and eat the sheep whenever he wants. And finally, while both depend on the other, neither the sheep nor the Lion trusts one another because one is too weak before the Lion, and the Lion is always too powerful.
Hence, we choose
leaders according to what we are. Nepal is no different. We are a country of
sheep selecting sheep. We fail to bring in more powerful leader because we
ourselves cannot act according to the Lion’s strength, or work hard to become
close to the Lion’s strength.
The values of Democracy relies
primarily on education, employment and free speech. A citizen must be educated
enough to know what democracy means along with upholding its ideals. (After 50
years of democracy, a vast majority of Nepali citizens cannot say what it
means. Many pronounce it just because the word has stuck with them throughout
their lives. Nepal is a democratic
country, a line in Social Studies
book in early school years say.) 
Nepal hasn’t gotten far with
employment after five scores of years. Nepal used export rice grains to India
and other countries because of self sufficiency. There is a “Dhan Adda” in
Maitighar, if anybody seems to recall. Now, we import rice. Nepal’s government
prides in its citizens migrating towards the Gulf for employment; which should
be the last thing on a country’s mind. Throughout all these years, never once
has it occurred as a national agenda to look back at why people are migrating
and what the country could do. No wonder, we are a country supported by
remittance, a remittance economy.
Another crucial power of
democracy is free speech. Free speech comes with education. Free speech isn’t just about talking freely.
It is about talking sense freely. Free speech is not defamation, neither it is
about creating rifts between the citizens of Nepal. It is about uniting people
to work for national goals. It is about maintaining checks and balance,
creating accountability between both the people and the government.
Nepal wasn’t ready for a
democratic government when the country rose to democracy. Neither it now is
ready for a federal system. This would be an appalling remark from a youth who
stands as the future of the country—I am a youth in dilemma. I am the future of
Nepal, but before being called one, my future depends on what the country can
give and what I can give to the country without leg pulling people. My future
depends whether I’ll be able to find or establish sufficient wage income to
feed and support my family in the country. If I can, I will stay in Nepal. If I
cannot, I will have to think of other options. I’ll be one more to the migrants
list and a citizen cut from the country’s population of youth residing in the
country. Now, when we multiply this across the 2.7 million population, what is
the result? After a decade, Nepal will be a country of aging population , and
the vast majority of my friends hold this view as well. Now, the important
question arises. Why hasn’t the government been able to stop, check and bring
back the youths towards their Motherland?
The answer lies on the country’s failure to promote employment that is
self sustaining along with basic infrastructures of development—education,
food, shelter, health, transportation and communication.
When we answer these questions,
we come back to the same cycle that our leaders have repeatedly said all these
years, and the same answers that we’ve always made us believe. The leaders know
that Nepal is a country of fools, and we are more the fools to accept their
beliefs. We protest when there’s petrol shortage. But have we ever protested
when the results of TU gets delayed? Have we protested against people who do
not use the overhead bridge? Never. We pride in our ability to cross a busy
street from the middle rather than walking for two minutes. We pride ourselves
in crossing the road successfully while abusing the driver for not stopping
when they see us crossing the road. We are fools and we will always be—as long
as we develop the decency and morality of a good citizen through sound
education and awareness—right from the scratch. This existing system is beyond repair and the only way youths like me can see a different Nepal, a New Nepal as political leaders advocate is when we remove these very lines of dreamers and the system they have and build one from the scratch.
Every day, youths are losing
their beliefs on the system. I almost have an apathetic stance towards the
government. Not long ago we went through a decade long Civil War that cost the
country billions of rupees and further pushed back development. Now, I see a
spillover of the Arab Spring—a Nepal Spring. This time, it will not uphold to
the principles of democracy. It rather will uphold the spirit of youth—“BY THE
YOUTH, FOR THE YOUTH, TO THE YOUTH”.
As a citizen of Nepal, I can
foresee Nepal Spring. Such uprising, while every young individual sees as a
necessity (because youths believe that they’ve long been made fools of the ever
existing system of “endless youth” –the old always feel they are young!) will,
undoubtedly hit hard on the country’s economy and development.
