republic on the rise: nepal embarks on the road to democracy

7/31/2019 Republic on the Rise: Nepal embarks on the road to democracy

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You must try to contribute to the process

of transitional justice, including the constitu-

tion making said the young and cheerful

human rights activist I was talking to. Thats

the thing she added for a good measure. Yep.

I nodded for transition is the thing. I could see

it everywhere. It was there in the streets and it

illuminated the discussions in the restaurants.

It was there in the sparkle that lighted her face

when she talked of transition. I could see it in

the twinkle that swam into her eyes, a twinkle

that betrayed her robust belief in the good

days ahead for her country.

It was my third day in Lalitpur, cousin city of

Kathmandu, the capital of the Himalayan

republic and I had already lost track of just how

many times I had encountered the words.

Human rights activists talked of it in terms of

transitional justice while asserting the need of

something like the South African process of

truth and reconciliation. Development profes-

sionals talked of it while underlining the need

of international action for ensuring food secu-

rity of the impoverished masses. Political

activists talked of it, albeit with a little despair

emanating out of one more failure of drafting

the constitution in the stipulated time, while

emphasizing the enormity of the task they

were faced with.

It was scattered across pages of newspa-

pers, both the Nepalese and the English ones.

On my second day in Lalitpur, reputed English

daily named Kantipur was reporting of yet

another extension of the interim parliament

couple with yet another change in the govern-

ment, nay interim government to be precise. It

was now going to be a national front govern-

ment, albeit under the leadership of the incum-

bent prime minister only.

Its not merely the parliament thats abuzz

with the talks of political transition. Neither is

the idea of politics limited to a liberal demo-

cratic framework that brings cheer to those

who have specialised the art of delivering

democracy to the regimes that are

unfavourable to them. Streets of Kathmandu

have, instead, turned into an open school of

Marxist ideology. I wonder what all these inter-

national experts/development

professionals/aid workers would make of

those red banners calling for an end to the fac-

tionalism, elopism and opportunism within

communist ranks and files.

The last thing many of them would want, I

am sure, is a dialogue within different commu-

nist parties that opens the possibility of a

broad Communist front if not an outright merg-

er. These banners, wall paintings and posters

have painted the twin towns of Kathmandu

and Patan RED. Even more interestingly, they

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Republicon the RiseNepal embarks on the

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have been put not merely by many communist

parties that dominate the Nepali political

scene as of now but also by trade unions like

All Nepal trade Union of Restaurent workers(translation mine). A satisfying smile forces its

way on my face. The process of trade unionisa-

tion is so complete in this country which was

an absolute monarchy just a few years back!

Not that the forces of positive, however

divided, are the only forces trying to take Nepal

their way. There were many a wall writings of a

Hindu Party of Nepal as well, with

Revolutionary added to its name in brackets

for effects, calling for ensuring the safety, sur-

vival and dignity of Hindus of Nepal! Hinduism

is the majority religion in Nepal is beside the

point. Their safety, survival and dignity are notthreatened by whosoever seems even more

irrelevant to whatever political group this is.

Interestingly the Nepali Congress (Koirala fac-

tion) is conspicuously absent from the streets

despite its huge support that is second only to

two of the biggest communist parties. Ah,

they are too elite and too assured of their sup-

port to engage in such menial labour quips

another Nepali activist friend of mine.

Transition. The word defines the blossom-

ing republic that was born out of mass protests

called Janandolan that swept the monarchy

away in its tide. Transition. The word guaran-

tees that this time the republic has come there

to stay unlike all those false starts that had

come the nations way. Of course it would not

be a smooth ride; it just cannot be for throwing

off the yoke of that dreaded feudal monarchy is

nothing less than a herculean task.

Of course it would be fraught with dangers,

both from within and without for the influence

of the erstwhile monarchy still holds some,

even if greatly diminished, ground. Losing

respect and power, as it is, does not necessar-

ily translate into the loss of conspiratorial

prowess, does it? Couple this with the vested

interests that have entrenched themselves

deep into the power corridors and the recipe

for an impending threat is complete. Their

scheming designs have drawn blood in the

past and they cannot be believed to sit idle this

time.

Not this time though. For the republic has

drawn its first blood as well. The first thing it

did was turning the then Hindu Rashtra into a

secular republic and thus correcting a histori-

cal wrong committed on Nepali people by the

erstwhile monarchy that claimed to be of a

divine origin. Unlike its western counterparts,

this one was not to be content with a claim of

being the march of the God on the earth but

wanted to be God itself, so it did precisely that.

The kings claimed to be the incarnation of

incarnation of Lord Vishnu, one of the Holy

Trinity that sits at the apex of Hinduism. They

claimed, for I am sure that even they them-

selves wont be stupid enough to believe that

ridiculous assertion of their own.

The republic has cut them, and all their

claims, to size. There are no more Gods roam-

ing through the streets of Kathmandu or

Lalitpur. People have snatched all their streets,

all their roads back. They have taken all those

Darbars, or the squares surrounding the

palaces, back too. In fact, it was at the Patan

darbar where I witnesses one of the most fas-

cinating glimpse of the transition that is seep-

ing into the ordinary lives of these ordinary

people. Darbar, at the center of Lalitpur, was

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abuzz with the people, right from the foren

tourists to the locals stealing little moments of

leisure sitting idle on the steps of countless

temples that make the Darbar.

Many of them are young couple lost into

one another. In fact, its not merely the Patan

Darbar but all of Kathmandu valley that young

couples have taken by a storm. Quite apparent-

ly, they are not merely from the upper echelons

of the society. Nepal is in transition. India, the

big brother that sits at its borders witnesses

act of honour killings just at the outskirts of its

national capital. Breaking the stream of

thought a boy asks me Will you please click a

photograph of us? The couple looks at each

other and then, a little coyly, holds hands. And

then I saw the queue, not of human beings

though. It was a queue of pots, mostly plastic

ones, lined up in front of the two water taps

located in the pond like structure with steps

that stood at one of the corners of the Darbar.

Whats that, I asked SachinGhimre, a

Nepali friend of mine who was my junior at the

Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi while I

was enrolled there for my PhD. Whats what,

he asked back. That queue of the water pots

in bright colours that only plastic can come

with! Oh that, Sachinlooked at the queue a

little forlornly, They are local people getting

water as they dont have tapped water supply

for clean drinking water at their homes. Were

they allowed to do that beforehand? No, thathappened only after the janandolan!

Ordinary, poor people collecting their water

at a place that once was a palace! Thats what

this transition is all about. People reclaiming

their lives and their resources, thats what this

transition is all about. This is the evidence for

the fact that the republic is on the move even if

a little short on resources. But then, once the

will is firmly in place, all that the lack of

resources can do is slow down the process a

little, it cannot turn the tide back.

Narendra spoke with a definite conviction.

A conviction that was shaped by the will tomove forward.A Conviction that was born out

of the will to demolish all those structures that

destined a section of Nepali population to a life

of slavery and servitude.A conviction that

dreams of turning the former Dalits as equal

citizens of the new country, the one that is no

more a Hindu nation.The one that has become

a republic.

We were sitting in the office of the Jagran

Media Center, a non-governmental organiza-

tion that works on the issues of Dalit rights.

We have a network of seven hundred journal-


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ists, he said and then added with a pause,

and four hundred and fifty of them were

trained by us. There was an unmistakable hint

of the fact that he took pride in the success ofthe organization he is leading. All of them are

Dalits, added Deependra. His voice was brim-

ming with pride too.

They have just finished with a television

serial named Dalan, or repression, which ran

with grand success on Nepali TV. They are suc-

cessfully running many radio channels that are

both community based and community

owned. They are playing an important role in

the constitution making process as well with a

pledge of bringing issues regarding Dalit rights

to the national forefront. Undoubtedly, the

republic is in transition. It is on the rise as well.The window of their office opens into a beauti-

ful skyline dotted with the Himalayas on the

horizons.

A memory crosses my mind. The memories

of those beautiful days in JNU, marked with late

night processions against a thousand injus-

tices committed on the people. The memories

of all those slogans including the one I liked the

most, the people united shall always be victo-

rious. Some of the victories are coming our

way. They so certainly are.

I take a cab back to the guest house. The

winding and narrow roads are absolutely simi-

lar to any of the roads that one finds in the

quaint hill stations of India. What differentiates

Kathmandu, though, is the Newari architecture

that produces breathtaking beautiful houses

of brick and wood. The windows don intricate

patterns carved out of the wooden

panes.Newaris, by the way, are people indige-

nous to the Kathmandu valley. They are some-

thing like a host tribe, one that forms majority

of the capital city but is largely absent or is a

tiny minority in the rest of the country.

Newaris love their Stupas, complete with

four lions guarding their localities. Something

catches my attention yet again. One of these

Stupas is taken over by a woman vegetable

seller. No, not all of that.another part of it is

claimed by one who has a small cycle repairing

shop, if one can call it a shop that is.

A smile takes my face over. This is what

transition is. A transition where the traditional

serves the modern. It is one where people have

reined in that block called functional fixedness

and can put things, successfully, to use. The

one they have taken over is far better kept than

the abandoned, decaying ones. That is another

evidence for the success of community owner-

ship of public spaces, isnt it?

Looking at the Kathmandu valley from

Swyambhoo, a Buddhist temple on a hillock

that overlooks all of Kathmandu valley does

not give even a hint of all that is churning with-

in the Nepalese society. Yet, it does give

panoramic views of the beautiful city that lays

beneath. A city that has a past imperfect, but

striving for a future much better than anything

that there was. UTS

republic on the rise: nepal embarks on the road to democracy

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