First, I was a kid, far too small to understand the import of what was going around. But at that impressionable age, facts seemed to matter less than symbols. It was impossible for an eight-year-old not to get caught up at the sight of a sea of red spilling over the streets of Kathmandu. People were joyous, singing, dancing, exchanging congratulatory hugs and handshakes at what for many must have been their first taste of freedom, the day people’s rights to opinion were secured.[break]
Sixteen years down the line, Nepalis once again celebrated as one the ‘restoration’ of their ‘freedom.’ This time, in real sense of the term, they were told. During the 2006 wave of protests around the country, the proposition, that most Nepali youths could not care less about national politics, would have seemed laughable; and no less the myth that housewives cared more about pots and pans than who controlled the destiny of their country.
One of the lasting memories of the 19-day nationwide protests in 2006 was of women and children beating on empty utensils on their rooftops, as if they were collectively heralding a new dawn. The whole atmosphere was dripping with revolutionary fervor.
It’s impossible for all those who took an active part, however small, in favor of change in 2006 to ignore the subsequent political developments.
Illustration: Sworup Nhasiju
Not that Nepalis can ever get away from politics. Recently, youngsters who throng multiplexes every weekend to relax their study-addled brains must have been terribly disappointed when one of their favorite pastimes was ‘banned.’ Surely, they want to know who’s curbing their rights to entertainment. Those struggling to complete their courses on time will, likewise, like to find out who’s behind the disruptive bandas. Yes, the first perception of Nepali politics can be dispiriting. But the same disruptive events can equally titillate inquiring minds.
Back in 1990, as I set off in a little tractor for a round of the city with my friends, a four-star red-and-white flag aflutter in my hands (I didn’t know it belonged to a political party), all that mattered to me was the collective sense of joy; the larger political context was completely lost to a preadolescent.
But as I grew up, I started questioning: Whose flag was I carrying that day? What had made people so happy? Couldn’t such happy days be repeated?
It’s true that for many youth today, the very word ‘politics’ is anathema. But at the heart of it, politics is no more than an exercise of power. Every household is political in the sense that one or two persons monopolize the use of power, with or without the consent of the other members of the family. There’s no escaping from it, even at home.
And politics, everywhere, is driven by the youth. This has been true in the case of both the 1990 and 2006 popular movements in Nepal. Right now, Barack Obama’s most energetic foot soldiers in his reelection bid are the 17- and 18-year-old college freshmen volunteering for the big cause. They distribute flyers, knock on people’s doors to get them to vote on Election Day and spread good words about Obama through the social networks. They do this because they believe their future is inextricably linked to the future of their leaders.
A nationwide research conducted by the US-based MacArthur Research Network on ‘Youth and Participatory Politics’ (YPP) earlier this year found that “substantial numbers of [American] young people across racial and ethnic groups are engaging in “participatory politics” —acts such as starting political groups online, circulating blogs about political issues, or forwarding political videos to friends.”
While the spread of Internet in Nepali society is a far cry from its penetration rate in the US, we have seen how the Nepali youth, from across economic, geographic and social spectrums, can band together to push important national issues, like the campaign against the American seed giant Monsanto earlier this year.
Nepal Unites, an online youth group, engages in various social and political activities, although it hasn’t been without its critics. With greater penetration of the Internet, more and more Nepali youngsters will be able to vent their frustrations with the country’s political class online, and many of them will actively shape the greater political debates through various social forums and news media.
I find it hard to believe that all the youngsters who in one way or the other participated in the 2006 political movement – perhaps the most significant in the history of modern Nepal – can keep themselves completely away from politics.
Much like even the most tenuous memories of April 18, 1990 – the day King Birendra agreed to be a constitutional monarch – continues to inform my contemporary political thoughts, the 2006 change will continue to whet the political appetite of those who came of age in the course of the historic movement.
The writer is the op-ed editor at Republica.
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