Keeping this in mind, Republica sat down with Prajjwol Tandukar, 26, Prayush Raj Koirala, 18, who recently completed his A-level from Chelsea International Academy, Sandeep Aryal, 25, who is obtaining a Master’s in Computer Science, and Saugat Gautam, 22, who recently completed his Bachelor’s in Social Work, to discuss what’s next for Nepal.[break]
What’s your opinion on the Constitution drafting deadline being extended for the second time?
Saugat: It’s nothing new – a common story that told in a different way. But saying that, it’s still very important and shouldn’t be taken too lightly as there are various dimensions that need to be analyzed.
Prajjwol: There isn’t really another option other than to extend the deadline again. I guess they’ll get it done but they don’t have the trust that they used to. It’s like everyone is just working for themselves or their parties instead of for the country and the people.
Prayush: I think for Baburam Bhattarai, the Peace Process is the focus right now and then after that is completed, I think the most probable target will be the Constitution. After all this time and work, the Peace Process is here, but if it’s left in the middle, there will be more disputes among parties. I think we should let them extend it for another two or three more times.
Sandeep: Getting to where we are now is a milestone and we shouldn’t stop. The Constituent Assembly (CA) is still in the infant state and we need to give them the time to draft a proper Constitution.
Why is the Constitution so important to you, and how will it affect your life?
Saugat: The Constitution itself is stability; it’s a document but it’s also known as the law of the land and once we have that it’ll shape the country. We had a constitution before but there were flaws in it. The overall framework of the country is determined by the constitution.
Prajjwol: The constitution is for the support of the people. From things like where our food is coming from, daily use of things, paying taxes, anything that we’re not okay with – we can voice these things.
Prayush: Even if nothing is in writing, a constitution is needed. We could have used the old constitution but it needed many things to be changed. But since a new one is already in process there will be more dispute if it’s not finished now, without it there will be more difficulties in the country moving forward. Whether it’s done or not won’t really affect my life. There isn’t anything drastic or huge that will make a difference to the youth.
Sandeep: The constitution is a legal document, but in Britain there is no written constitution and the country still runs. In our country, democracy hasn’t been practiced for that long – only 10 or 15 years, to take this immature democracy on the right path we need a legal pact.
What’s your opinion of the protests that are happening?
Saugat: I think for any campaign a movement is a must for every country. By some means or the other we are shouting, and whether we’re on the streets or campaigning on Facebook we are voicing ourselves. To protest and voice ourselves is our right and our duty, if we don’t do that they will remain silent for a long time.
Prajjwol: If we don’t protest, they’re doing whatever they want – but what about us? I don’t trust them at all. If they thought about the people and the youth they could get the work done.
Prayush: It’s good, even if the pressurization doesn’t work, the protest builds awareness. It shows that the youth of the country care. Protesting isn’t a bad thing, since the constitution writing has already begun. If there is no pressure they won’t take it seriously. And if we don’t say we want the constitution now there won’t be any urgency to get the needed work done.
Sandeep: I think the protests are working, the recent agreements and all of it happened due to people’s protests. If work doesn’t get done on time everyone knows people will definitely get angry, so the people’s protests is necessary and needs to continue until we get the new Constitution.
What do you think are youth issues that need to be addressed?
Saugat: I think ‘youth’ should be defined so people can identify themselves and say ‘I am a youth of Nepal.’ Another thing is the need for youth representatives. We keep saying youth make up a huge population but if we were assigned that responsibility in political parties and other sectors we would be happy. And then there’s much talk of employment – an environment needs to be created so that we would want to stay in Nepal. With the current constitution, there is nothing that leads youth to say ‘Nepal is mine, I love my country.’
Prajjwol: First, the education system. When we were kids we were forced to memorize and that has still affects us. Without force we aren’t inclined to do things like paying attention to traffic rules of our own will. Creativity, critical thinking and things like that need to be taught.
Prayush: We need to remove political influence from everything. We also need some sort of employment guarantee. On top of that, no matter what low standard American college you go to you’ll get a job, but it’s not the same even if you got top scores and graduated from a top institution in Nepal.
Sandeep: When it comes to education, it’s all the same, students learn the same thing, they pass the exam but they don’t know what they learnt. The education they get doesn’t help their jobs. Education is supposed to open your mind but that doesn’t happen here. Another issue is how youth blindly follow foreign cultures, they copy everything and aren’t aware of the social impact.
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