Many of Kayastha´s friends are now doing their bachelors in college and reaching out to fulfil their dreams. But Kayastha remains bed-ridden. He can neither move nor speak.[break]
His home in Banepa is quiet on the eve of Loktantra Diwas (Democracy Day). He is lying on a bed in a dark and quiet room. His father Krishna Man was away in Kathmandu to buy medicines for his son Tuesday afternoon. His mother Mira goes out of control whenever anyone talks about democracy.
After much public pressure, the government decided to bear all the medical expenses for Mukesh and it has even paid for a medical assistant to take care of him.
But since the last Loktantra Diwas, no single political leader or government representative has visited him.
“Most of his friends are now studying medicine or engineering,” says Mira, her eyes full of tears. “But we can do nothing more than help our young son recuperate.”
“My son is a representative case of a martyr and it feels like he is alive as a warning to the political leaders,” she quips. “But it seems our leaders have forgotten the people´s dream of change.” She sobs incessantly, thinking that the contributions of many Nepali mothers´ sons have gone in vain.
For Mira and millions of others who made an all out effort to bring back democracy, life has not turned out as they had thought. When they joined Jana Andolan II in April 2006, the people at large had entrusted the political parties and their leaders the immense task of building a new Nepal with the guarantee of a new constitution for a federal republican state and people from all strata of society enjoying equality and freedom.
Even after the election of the Constituent Assembly and four years of the constitution-making exercise, people have not lost hope. They gave the political parties the benefit of the doubt over their role in dissolving the popularly-elected Constituent Assembly (CA) on May 27 and their subsequent failure to build consensus among themselves for moving ahead. The parties, however, failed to utilize the opportunity. A series of failures since the declaration of Nepal as a republican state has caused waves of discontent among the general populace.
Their hopes of getting a democratic, republican constitution on time have been dashed. The failure of the country´s major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the Madhesi parties -- to gift the Nepalis a constitution is no doubt a major setback. But more than that, the parties´ laid-back attitude in dealing with the all-important issues of constitution-making and the peace process has further jolted the public.
Since the unceremonious dissolution of the CA, the parties never managed to practice consensual politics, something so desperately needed. The only consensus they could reach was to give up the government leadership to the chief justice, thereby losing out to each other.
However, the people, patient as they always were, accepted the CJ-led government just to acknowledge the fact that they would now get yet another opportunity to choose their representatives. A section of the political parties and civil society do have reservations on the present government of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. But the people are now in no mood for another upheaval that would ultimately ruin the gains of Jana Andolan II, which overthrew the autocratic monarchy.
Despite continuous pressure from the media and the expectations of the general public, the Big Four -- UCPN (M), NC, CPN (UML) and United Democratic Madheshi Front -- still do not seem to have learnt their lesson. The election date is yet to be announced and uncertainties hovering over the country still remain.
The government is reluctant to announce the new poll date, citing lack of a proper environment, while the Big Four have failed to address the grievances of the CPN-Maoist, the Upendra Yadav-led front and the Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party, which have ruled out participation in the elections under the present situation.
The people, on the other hand, are now so frustrated that they are doubting not only the present government´s intentions but also the parties´ ability to reach out to the people. The failure to create a conducive environment for elections would only jeopardize the hard-won democracy. The much-anticipated change in society, guaranteeing an inclusive and decentralized federal governance system and the people´s hopes of entering an era of national development, still remains a pipe dream.
Having said this, all is still not yet lost. With the formation of the election government, the people believe that elections will be held, but this has to be sooner rather than later. It is time the leaders of the country´s major political parties pulled up their socks and started contemplating the mistakes they made.
They should understand that Mukesh Kayastha is bed-ridden and cannot speak. But the rest of the people can both speak and fight to fulfil their hopes.
(With inputs from Madhusudhan Guragain in Kavre)
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