The people carried out Janaandolan I and II in the capital city but what has followed after the andolan? Do we want another Janaandolan to free ourselves from the political parties? This week on chit chat, we call on four young lads to discuss about Janaandolan II, what they thought about it and their perspective.
“People need to revolt sometimes when things are not right,” opines 18-year-old Bijay Adhikari of Kathmandu Academy, when asked if Janaandolan II was really needed and if it could have been solved through dialogues with the ex-king.
“The mass movement of the people we saw was very much needed,” he says. The people had a bad impression about ex-king Gyanendra Shah after the royal massacre and the political parties wanted to restore democracy. It was a perfect deal added Saroj Pathak, 17, of GEMS School.
Saroj Pathak & Bijay Adhikari
During Janaandolan II
“I think we all sat at home, watched TV and tried to kill time,” says 17-year-old Sameer Basnet of Kathmandu Academy. During the time of the andolan, there was hardly anything to do with all the riots going on even though curfews were clamped in and around Kathmandu.
The Janaandolan II saw the formation of the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), including the Maoists who planned to join politics and give up arms and ammunition and end the ten- year-long civil war, which had wrecked the country. The after effects of war are still seen around Nepal and stories of Maoists insurgency are still at large in the media.
Janaandolan II for the urban youth of Kathmandu was just a banda with a whole lot of people in the streets and a long holiday from school for 19 days.
“I was still in school when the andolan was taking place and the schools were closed which made me really happy,” shares Rakesh Sah, 17, of GEMS School.
“I live in Chabel and the area was booming with riots, burning of tires, security personnel manhandling the crowd and so on,” remembers Bijay adding that human rights were violated and that people were beaten up mercilessly.
None of them participated in the revolution. Saroj says, “It´s better to be a spectator than to be actually a part of it,” adding, “most of the people were brought to Kathmandu for the revolution and the number of people participating from Kathmandu was very low.”
Sameer Basnet & Rakesh Shah
After Janaandolan II
The Nepalis people expected a “New Nepal” after the revolution as promised by the SPA and for sometime everybody hoped that it would surface soon. But the dream was a vain one and the power struggle began soon after with every small thing getting politicized. The army integration has gone haywire and United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) was blamed as being a running dog of the Maoist by Defense Minister Bidhya Bhandari.
From Kingdom of Nepal, the country has changed to Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal but federalism is still in shades. The once Shangri-la country is now being promoted as a gay tourist destination. Where are we heading?
“I think the change was for better and I feel free now from the past,” says Bijay but the question remains if Nepal really can take democracy. “Nepal can take democracy if we have good leaders but without that, it will go nowhere,” opines Rakesh Sah. The young republic country is trying to fledge its wings but the curbing of the wings comes from within the country too, he adds.
“I, for one, thought that the country would change drastically but nothing of that sort happened and it´s still the same old Nepal,” criticizes Sameer. However, the country did see its first election after a decade-long insurgency, he adds. True, that the forever-wanted Constituent Assembly (CA) election took place and the CA took a shape but what result has it yielded yet? We all would like to be optimistic but with the current situation what are we left with?
“We have our rights and freedom, now that we have democracy,” says a smiling Sameer. Adding to that, Rakesh jokingly says, “Traveling is way easier now. There is just one check post now and not two.” However, cases of kidnapping have been on the increase and Rakesh´s friend´s brother was almost kidnapped in Rajbiraj.
“There were two guys on a bike and they tried to kidnap my friend´s brother but he was saved,” remembers Rakesh. The security of the country is going down the lane with shoots and kills at midday in Kathmandu. “Is this why people fought Janaandolan for?” questions Saroj.
“I think the janaandolan thing has become like a joke amongst the urban youths. The Maoist threatened that there would be another people´s revolution. Is that a joke? How many revolutions do we have to fight until we get democracy and against what and who this time?” questions Saroj.
The conclusion was that none of them would participate in any revolution or riots or another Janaandolan. Urban youth seemed indifferent after all that has happened. They seemed content with the environment they have been brought up in but are very aware of the situation.
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