Opportunity For New Faces

Yug Bahadur

 The biggest festival of Nepali people is finally over. Now there is only Tihar left before another ‘festival’ of the people comes, that is the elections for the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies, which is very crucial for the general public. But this time, the people believe that this political exercise will bring in joys as well as an opportunity for the younger generation of political leaders, who seem very confident of bringing change to the whole political scenario of the country.

Yet we will know about the outcome of this huge political exercise of the people, who actually are the sovereign deciders of the fate of leaders and political parties, only after votes are cast and counted. But before we go to the huge political stakes that are there in the forthcoming elections, let us also have some nostalgic views many people shared in the media about Dashain this time.

Hardships

First, let us talk about the hardships faced by ordinary people, just to go back to their home towns, especially if they came from far-flung districts. How much the people want to go to their places of origin could be seen by the vast exodus of people from Kathmandu Valley alone. According to official reports, more than two and a half million people were recorded having left the capital city to get back to their homes.

Staying in lines to get bus tickets and getting stuck in traffic jams while getting out of Kathmandu, were some of the problems that many faced, even those who wanted to leave in their own vehicles. Add to this the constant rains and also landslides and floods that were taking place in almost all parts of the country, especially the hilly areas, these too dampened the mood of the people, yet, there was no stopping them from enjoying the festival with their near and dear ones.

However, one cannot totally overlook the nostalgia of many ‘older’ people, and surprisingly also of some much newer generation speaking of how times were different in the past and how the enjoyment factor is being limited by the ‘unsocial media’. Yes, even this writer remembers when many parts of Kathmandu were occupied by lush fields of paddy and kites covered the skies, especially during this time when the Dashain festival was celebrated. 

But now, Kathmandu has been turned into a concrete nightmare with narrow streets where the lush fields thrived in the past. It is frightening to just even think what would happen in areas where totally unplanned development has taken place and there are no roads to even allow a fire fighting vehicle to enter such a neighbourhood. Like mentioned in these very columns, it is questionable whether we are developing different areas or destroying them. 

The people who owned lands in far-flung areas think they have benefited just because totally unscientific roads have been built in agricultural land and land which should have been protected, and such ‘development’ has contributed in the increasing number of landslides and decreasing agricultural products we are seeing in almost all parts of the country. Even in Kathmandu, rivers have been covered and illegal structures have been constructed making some people happy but completely destroying the unique charm of this ancient city.

But now that the election fever has really hit the nation and we cannot help but talk about this huge political event that could change the lifestyle of not only political leaders, but also the millions of people participating in this exercise by casting their invaluable votes for different candidates. The best part of the soon to be held elections is that the government has taken all measures to ensure that no untoward incidents take place. All the security organs have been mobilised with much thought and vision and more than 100,000 police have also been recruited to help in keeping the polls a peaceful and orderly one.

While the security aspect has been quite reassuring, the same cannot be said about the behaviour of some leaders, who have changed parties in the last minute, just to get a ticket to contest in the election. Such total ‘turnaround’ in political beliefs has dismayed many voters, who really believe that the same leaders would play an important role in bringing about improvements in their daily lifestyles. There is no doubt the leaders have to first think of the nation and the suffering people, before they consider their own benefits.

Positive thing

Another positive thing is we are seeing a lot of fresh faces as candidates of the major political parties and also as independent candidates. The new faces have also come up with new agendas, which are bound to reflect in the voting pattern of the people. Sadly, the older and more established parties are only trying to save their positions in national politics and rather than coming up with programmes to uplift the living standard of the ordinary masses, they are only forging mind blowing alliances with parties that have completely different political ideologies. This might be beneficial for a short time and also reflect well for such parties and their leaders, but in the long run this will definitely have some political backlash.

But whatever, the people still cherish the huge sacrifices made by veteran political leaders for the sake of the country and the citizens as can be expected, they have a large loyal following, no matter what mistakes they may have committed for short term interests. The beauty of all the political changes these politically visionary leaders have ushered in is that all the people are independent and they can partake in the political process as they wish to do. There are no shackles to compel them to do something which their free mind does not agree to do. Like the recent festivities have brought cheera to the hearts of the Nepalis, let us pray and hope that the elections too will usher in a more prosperous and happy future for all citizens of this country.

 (Yug Bahadur is a freelancer.)