We Want Democracy
As the kids used to say in 1990
The time difference between my two homes is such that when I check the news in the morning in Toronto, the day has already ended in Kathmandu. For the past week, I haven’t been able to wait till the morning, and have scrolled anxiously through all forms of media through the dark hours, trying to find out what was happening in the aftermath of the Gen Z protest of September 8, all of my worst fears—and most desperate hopes—churning through the mind in what I know is a post-traumatic response.
Nepal has never seen violence of this scale in such a short time. But it has seen plenty of violence over the years, including the everyday violence structured into the hierarchies of caste, gender, and other identity markers. Spells of peace and stability are the exception in this country that has been trying very hard—for seventy-five years—to become, and remain, democratic.
“We want democracy!” That was the cry of the 1990 democracy movement, the first of my lifetime. That cry keeps ringing in my head now, as an entirely new, digitally savvy, globally exposed generation of Nepalis appear to be doomed to do what the generations before them have had to do: spend a lifetime in the struggle for democracy.
I wrote about this multi-generational struggle for the Globe and Mail this week. Here is a gift link: Despite decades of setbacks, Nepal still dreams of democracy.
Just before posting this, I checked the news. The bodies of the young Gen Z protestors are being cremated today. The thirteen days of mourning that most Hindus observe are not even over. It is a very dark time for Nepal.
Didi Namaskar,
The American astrophysicist Neil De Grasse Tyson had to say once that he would educate the masses than run for presidentship as educating the elctorate is as important if not more than changing the elected. Else they are going the elect similar people. You have translated IB Rai's novel, dont you think that without educating the electorate we will only be putting up a spectacle, 'ramita' matrai hunaychha?
Didi Namaskar,
The American astrophysicist Neil De Grasse Tyson had to say once that he would educate the masses than run for presidentship as educating the elctorate is as important if not more than changing the elected. Else they are going the elect similar people. You have translated IB Rai's novel, dont you think that without educating the electorate we will only be putting up a spectacle, 'ramita' matrai hunaychha?