Red Revolution: A
Utopian Mirage
Nepal has always been home for multiculturalism
which has been passed on from generation to generation. So was the case when I got an opportunity to
study the lives of villagers at
Phulpingdanda of Sindhupalchowk district, totally unaware of its socio-cultural
scenario and economic hardship. Being trained as intervention facilitator for Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) it was quite easy to get a glimpse of their background. This observation gives an
overview of real Nepalese society at
micro level, its structure, perception and the hardship that are unaddressed by
the outsiders.
Being a stronghold of the armed insurgency,
people of this village had lots of experiences to share which could give us an actual scenario during Maoist mayhem and
people’s attitude towards it. What could have been better than interviewing a
former Maoist rebel, Mr. Kumar Lama, member of the district committee. He
stands as a symbolic character among those who sacrificed many things in the
name of revolution, their close ones and
irreversible time that could build their future. Out of many, the cultural
domination of feudal landlords and elite group with access to all resources was
the major reason for people’s support to the insurgency. People regarded as Dalit and
of other cultural groups who were indigenous of the place never got any
platform to practice gender and cultural equality. Moreover any of their steps
for cultural transformation was strongly suppressed by higher caste citing various reasons behind the injustices. On the
other hand, as a result of dysfunctional state mechanism to address the problems in the
grass root people, particularly vulnerable and downtrodden groups, were
polarized between the haves and the
haves not. People’s helplessness and desire was then well triggered by CPN
(Maoist) who raised their voice on discrimination, inequality, injustice,
feudalism, rampant corruption and poor governance. The desperate mentality of
people to overcome their chaotic situation in a short time frame manipulated
them in no time. By then rebel groups had handed weapons to unemployed youths
for "Krambhangata(destruction of old)" who were in
absolute dilemma regarding their future. “People’s political support has been
changing from time and again. We still
can remember huge support for CPN (UML) which later turned out for Maoist and
now dissatisfactions can be clearly seen,” says Mr. Lama who too seems to lack
political awareness as many. Maoists were
able to capitalize on people’s destitute situation that impact of
people’s participation could be noticed in their guts to open up about their
under representation, cultural domination and hardship which never let them
break free. In the name of justice for
the suppressed, many feudal landlords and people with different political view
were severely threatened, compelled to abandon their home and often eliminated
physically. This resulted in discouragement of untouchability, gender
discrimination and other social problems such as dowry, gambling and polygamy.
People’s level of consciousness too rose but the irony is no such explanations can
overshadow the fact that it was at the cost of many lives, especially the
youths who were gunned downed during frequent firefights against security
forces. The damage of costly physical infrastructures is yet another
unavoidable outcome. Trapped in poverty, if they were fighting for any reason
then majority were doing so for change that they wanted to see in the form of
better livelihood and their inclusion in development mainstream. Visible factor
that intensified the war was their high hope for better future and an expectation
from “Prachandapath”.
Today, 11
years after the downfall of the centuries long monarchy, not any family among
300 households has witnessed developmental activity and economic prosperity in
their life. Neither the educational status of the people nor their struggle for
sustaining their lives has changed. Among 300 households only a single student
was preparing for his SLC examination attending school almost at 2 hours' walk. Majority of the children throughout the
village never attended school for SLC .
Similarly, gambling, alcoholism and polygamy have again taken their roots .
Domestic violence is an everyday issue which was temporarily neutralized.
On the other
hand, infrastructure that stood strong before the conflict is now turned down into rubbles. Scarcity of
water is an perpetual issue in lack of the
water project that could have been established in nearby rivers i.e. Sunkoshi
and Bhotekoshi. Physical infrastructure counts small when it comes to lives of
people' their emotion and expectation for a good future now seems to be just a bad dream for them. Among
all groups, if anyone has grievances for their involvement in conflict then
it’s the youths of the village who were disqualified for their inclusion
stating ineligibility factors. Throughout my stay
getting a glimpse of youths between 18-30 was a rare issue because
almost all of them are now draining
their sweat either in the sand of the Middle East or in India for wages
that merely sustain their family. Their utopian
dream seems to have vanished along with
the peace accord signed by the Maoists-Seven Political Parties. People tag
themselves as a puppet of the political game which led them nowhere, instead
ruined their future beyond those 10 long
years which could have made a difference
in their lives. All credit to the enthusiasm of youths that their hard work in
the foreign land has provided nation with remittance which will heal the wound of mayhem, may not be soon but
someday for sure.
When a
single village has so much of grievances over the conflict and its outcome we can make
assumptions about people all over the rural
parts who have a lot to say to us about
their experiences. People of the nation, specially youths - unemployed,
illiterate and trapped in absolute poverty are always a weapon for radical
ideologists and revolutionaries to fulfill their agendas benefitting their own
political circle. Today it’s a high time to realize how armed insurgency was
never a solution to the problems of Nepal. The under privileged and downtrodden
groups away from the outreach of government need to be bought to the
development mainstream because it is pervasive that conflict thrives where poverty strikes. People of rural Nepal
certainly would have been in a comparatively good situation if not better had there
been no bloodshed making Nepal a laboratory to test the outdated concept of a
utopia .
