Arguments revolve around the one big question: What is good for Nepal?[break]
As simple as the question is, the answer is indeed intricate and complex. No one knows for sure what the absolute best is, but everyone has an opinion. And when I say everyone, I mean even people like me who are living far away from home but have our roots firmly embedded at home. We also care; we have opinions, too.
I hope I can speak for the majority of us living abroad but with our hearts in Nepal when I say that it pains us to see what’s going on in our motherland. So I write today not as someone inclined to a certain line of political thought, not as a representative of a certain ethnic group, either, but merely as a concerned citizen of Nepal.
It might be right, it might be wrong; some may agree, some may disagree; some may support, some may oppose, but I genuinely feel that fragmentation (not federalism) isn’t a good thing. After so many years of unity, some wonderful years of peace and serendipity, after having earned the reputation of a peace-loving country at one point in time, I fail to understand how things have taken such a drastic turn – for better or for worse – recently.
I acknowledge that people have increased their aspirations and expectations and I think this is a wonderful thing. The fact that all of us want more say to shape our country is something admirable for we all want what’s best for Nepal. But the problem is we all have different notions of what is best.
And from this difference of opinion stems so much confusion that it’s become hard to pin down what exactly the solution might be. It seems like everyone has an ardent belief about what is right without realizing what’s needed in the country the most.
Following this ardent belief, people have even taken to the streets, disrupted the day-to-day lives of many ordinary people, burnt vehicles and tires, and scared other people, all the while disregarding the humanity within them.
I wonder if these protestors ever pause to think about what they are doing and what kinds of effects their activities are generating. Surely, indifference and ignorance are two different things.
What’s more surprising is the increasing groupism that has formed within Nepal. All these years we’ve been one, and now instead of solidifying our oneness, we’re out to make our differences as pronounced as possible. The rich diversity of the country that should’ve made us proud is now becoming a cause for conflict.
Let me remind you again that I’m not writing by subscribing to any political thought, but as a Nepali. And coming from my perspective, the idea of dividing the nation seems ridiculous for I would like to think that by the Nepali Year 2069, we would’ve put our differences aside and embraced the uniqueness within each individual.
I’ve come across many people from various backgrounds, like most of you. But the differences in our castes or ethnicities have never been a factor for us to untie the bonds of friendship with one another.
Frankly, despite the fact that our countrymen are treating each other as no more than savages and are out to kill each other, we’ll, I’m sure, rise above all this and not let it affect our relation with one another.
In fact, let me take a moment to express my gratitude and appreciation to the various people I’ve met so far in life, drawn in from various walks to life – the diverse and amazing sorts of individuals you are is truly inspiring!
If it weren’t for this diversity, how else would I explain the fact that my best friends range from Newars to Magars to Brahmins? How else would I explain that I’ve been to many Newar “gufa pooja-”s and Tharu dances in the Tarai and enjoyed the sheer authenticity and relished in them?
So I don’t know how to explain a lot of things, much like I don’t know what the feasible way out of all this commotion might be if we’re to admit that there’s a commotion in the first place.
Politically, the answer may come from decentralization or equal representation; but socially, the answer may not lie in fragmentation, it may not lie in dividing us up. I think it would be all too pitiful if we forgot so soon that “Nepal is a country of unity in diversity” and if we gave up fighting for this unity in diversity.
The writer is a student of Political Science at Thammasat University who enjoys exploring life and all that it has to offer.
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