What Nepal Needs

Picture credit: dreamstime.com

The methods of informal education in Nepal dates back hundreds of years. However, the doors to proper formal educational institutions for the general population was open only after 1951 after the oppressive Rana regime was over thrown. That event will always mark a stellar moment in Nepali history as it brought about the wave to produce thoughtful and intellectual Nepali citizens.

Over the past 60 years, educational scenario has come a long way. From 10,000 students in 300 schools in 1951 to hundreds of thousand students in 49000+ schools in 2010 reflects on the positive journey. The adult literacy rate climbed from 5% to 60.3% which shows how far we've come. However, the bottom line is this isn't enough.

For the past couple weeks, Nepal is in the middle of huge political unrest regarding the constitution draft. There are strikes and revolts against the decision of the government left and right. Some castes have demanded their own states, some have demanded undivided lands, and others a single- religion country. The front pages are sprawled with the disheartening conditions of the general public that they brought upon themselves.

Around a week back, many innocent policemen lost their life in the war that they were not a part of. The words like "Burned alive", "shot in the head" in the headlines everywhere made me completely lose faith not only in Nepal, but humanity as well. There are some situations where something good results from a terrible thing. This was definitely not that situation. The innocent people killed in the Tikapur mishap are nothing but collateral damage in the war that the people have waged on themselves. If this unrest doesn't stop soon, more innocent people are going to lose their lives. Nepal will spiral out of control and there will be no stopping. As I read the news of Tikapur incident, I was nauseous and heartbroken. Nepalese are usually so supportive of the blend of different caste, culture and religion that exists in our country. At 19, never had I been more distressed to call myself a Nepali.

In all this chaos, what baffles me the most is how Nepalese are going about demanding cultural identity the wrong way. There are hundreds of castes, culture and language in Nepal. If each one of us is to demand a "separate state" Nepal would only be tiny pieces of land with nothing to glue them together because at the moment, even if it may sound contradictory, our uniqueness is what binds us.

Only redeeming quality regarding the recent events have been how the educated people have stuck together in this difficult time. With few to no exceptions, I have never heard an educated person demand it's own separate state or a single religion country for that matter because education has taught us that no good ever comes out by dividing the country. Sensible people understand that nomatter what race/culture/caste/religion we may belong to, in the end we are all Nepalese.

In my opinion, which I'm sure many people will mirror, what Nepal is in need of the most is cultured and responsible Nepalese citizens. And only education can bring about this change in a person. Obtaining 100% educated population can not be fast-tracked and can take decades as such. However, finding out the problem is half the battle and I think we can all agree on this.

A famous Nepali poet penned a poem titled "नेपाली हामी रहौला कहां नेपालै नरहे" [Nepalese won't exist if Nepal doesn't] and the sentiments have never been truer for Nepal.

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