The last time Nepal practised the Sati system, a practice where a widow is immolated alive with her deceased husband, was in the 1920s. While that may seem like a lifetime ago, such freedom requires tedious steps to achieve actual freedom. These steps are costly and demand courage, persistence and perseverance.
Another fitting example is no doubt the treatment of Black individuals in the United States – so many tedious steps since, yet the full dream of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) has yet to be realised. But today we talk about the forgotten dreams of women without fancy speeches but hearts of grit. Even MLK himself could not resist controlling the woman’s role when he picked Rosa Parks to be the face of the civil rights movement instead of the actual first person that was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger in the same state of Alabama, Claudette Colvin; a 15-year old girl who was pregnant and unmarried. Obviously, that made her unsuitable in the cause for personal freedom, the irony of which is still lost on so many.
Nepal’s journey from Sati to the informal election of its first female prime minister
Rebellion in its most ancient form is setting towns and villages ablaze. These occurrences in Nepal in recent weeks have led to profound change – a woman rising to the highest office. This September, Sushila Karki, Nepal’s former Supreme Court chief justice, has been elected as the country’s interim prime minister as a result of anti-corruption protests which saw the government being ousted.
Many call it a Gen Z movement, which cannot be understated given the online mobilisation through the gaming app Discord. However, we cannot call them the sole drivers of this phenomenon. It’s a common perception that most Asians grow up in strict households. A pertinent question would be to perhaps ask why parents, especially mothers, have allowed their children to participate in the uprising; that they applied vibhuti on their children’s foreheads on the morning of 8 September the same way they do every morning, with all their blessings?
The human cost of demonstrating and the questionable gains
At least 74 people were killed in the demonstrations – mostly youth and over 2000 people injured. The Discord-voted interim prime minister, Sushila Karki declared the dead as martyrs of the country and promised lifelong support for the injured whose disabilities may remain permanent. So, while celebrations erupt across the country and perpetrators hop like frogs to the winning side, families of the victims begin to question if their loved ones died in vain like the victims of the Maoist insurgency just two decades ago.
Victory aside, the women are already holding Sushila accountable to her seat, not her speeches, “My son’s body is like broken pieces of glass,” said Ambika Sapkota, mother of an injured protester. “The children went to protest because they wanted to bring about changes in this country and rightfully so. Anish was planning to study hotel management, but it seems he might be living with a disability now. He won’t be the same anymore.”
“Punish the killers,” pleaded one grieving sister. “You used to say, ‘Who would do it if not us for the country?’ Now you’ve left us, my brother.”
Political positioning on the backs of freedom protesters
As we speak, the last King of Nepal, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, is making his rounds garnering favour and popularity. Even though the monarchy was abolished in 2008, he has always made it clear that he intends to rule Nepal again. Maybe his boldness comes from the fact that he still owns large stakes in multiple industries in the country.
So how will the families and all the other youth that had to witness the atrocities of the freedom fight feel when parliamentary seats are once again filled with associates of previous leaderships? Politicians who represent both corporate interests and systematic control while parading as heroes that fought like those who will carry the burden of their actions for the rest of their lives. What happens when corporate development is promised, and companies refuse to operate in a country that accommodates unrest? Damages were estimated at US$22.5 bn, an amount that surely is no comparison to 74 lives lost but may be the only concern of government partners and foreign direct investors rather than the protesters’ goals to improve the quality of citizens’ lives.
Framing demonstrations as disruptive acts of violence and cancelling their message
The solution has been the same all over the world: in which public order, business operations and infrastructure become so intertwined that its disruption will be framed as an act of violence against peaceful living. That is why even the brave women of the ‘developed world’, like Greta Thunberg, are often only treated with disdain despite the fact that she single-handedly inspired thousands of youths, from multiple countries, to walk out of their classroom and demand their future back with the Fridays for Future campaigns. It seems that Western democracies are just as constricted by corporate greed, if not more so, than their Eastern neighbours.
The DIY election on Discord involved ten thousand citizens – representing over 29 million people in Nepal – which any political scientist will tell you is not representative of a country’s interest. However, I do not belittle this victory for even one minute and only wish to highlight the fact that any power vacuum invites the power-hungry.
What makes a country rich?
So, when the women in Nepal start to ask about the future of their children that includes beautiful sunrises, clear waters from the mountains and harmony in the birthplace of Buddha, will the focus remain on raising salaries instead of environmental awareness?
We must understand that a country’s prosperity comes from the entirety of its landscape and not the riches of its middle class – secular economic practices must be incorporated to preserve the traditions of the Nepalese people, improve the wellbeing of their women and children and ensure that its environment and people thrive in future generations.
While feminine power has been the undercurrent of revolutions throughout the world (and systematically erased), the moment ‘she’ is placed at the forefront to exhibit real change, we have to ask ourselves if this is Rosa Parks or Claudette Colvin – just one of the many tedious steps towards victory that we must take.
More on world:
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
