Gen-Z in Nepal: Can it protect the nation?

How can they set fire to jails and the courtrooms, and public property? If they are fighting for themselves, how can they protect the country and its resources? They also seem to be lacking any understanding of the world order.

The transnational corporations are indulging in a systematic looting of the resources around the world. Leadership in Nepal and other parts of the world is collaborating with them. Are the protestors ready to oppose it?

A sense of insecurity has gripped the political establishment in India following the recent unrest in Nepal. People are debating whether the economic problems and improper governance can lead to the kind of anarchy Nepal is currently experiencing. The mainstream media, however, tries to console them with the logic that the current leadership can quell any such attempts.

The alternative media, however, compares the situations in Nepal with the Indian situation and hastily speculates that something ominous might happen.

Both shades of opinion tend to ignore the capacity of the Indian democracy to accommodate dissent. Indeed, consistent and brutal attacks on democratic institutions and the resultant crippling of them have considerably reduced the capacity of the Indian state to accommodate diverse opinions and interests.

However, the intervention of opposition parties has generated hope. People do believe that they can raise their voice, even if the ultimate power is not ready to listen. They also have some confidence that they could change the regime through voting. The emergence of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi as a credible national figure has played a significant role in restoring people’s confidence in democracy.

Many will disagree with the suggestion that had he not done Bharat Jodo Yatra, a large section in the country would have gone very deep into depression. How can a democracy run by leaving out a large section of society from the decision process? The Modi regime has been targeting the dissenting section in a manner that the Indian culture or state has never resorted to.

The much-remembered emergency also needs a revisit. Mrs. Gandhi imposed an emergency, but refrained from dismantling institutions. This is why she decided to hold elections, and democracy was back in no time. Opposition forces faced no obstacles in uniting, and a credible election led to Indira's ouster from power. Currently, there is no emergency, but credibility, including the judiciary, is at its lowest.

The Election Commission is not at all concerned about the dignity of the institution and is embroiled in a dispute with the opposition parties. It is not ready to listen to their complaints and loathingly implements the orders of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, on its part, is yet to take any harsh action. It took two months for the Supreme Court to include Aadhar Card in the list of documents for identity and address.

The Vote Bacaho Yatra (Save The Right to Vote March) has not only saved the voters from going unruly, but also generated the hope that any attempt to disfranchise the people could be resisted. The lament that Indians tolerate all extremes of exploitation and authoritarianism is misplaced. People resist here, but not in the manner people in other parts of the world. Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders of the freedom struggle have given us the technique of nonviolent resistance, which helps in every crisis. All the attempts by communal and authoritarian forces to win people away from the belief in nonviolence and peaceful resistance have remained unsuccessful. The attempt to brand every dissenter as an urban naxal has so far not been successful.

So, if India has been evading the kind of upheavals our neighbours, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal have witnessed, it is due to the intervention of the opposition parties. The credit must go to leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and several others. The protest in Nepal has proven one thing beyond doubt: those perceived as collaborating with the corrupt political establishment will face the wrath of the people. Protestors did not spare any established political party.

The scene of ransacking the offices of parties and chasing their leaders should alarm every other counterpart in India. The protest may not take the form of arson and violence, but rather a boycott and non-cooperation.

However, the upheavals in different parts of the world, including countries such as France, need a careful investigation. Do they have any egalitarian goals in their wombs? Do they have any determination to change the world in a manner no one had thought of? Every upheaval in the known history has contributed to the uplift of civilisation, be it the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Chinese Revolution or the Indian Struggle for Freedom.

The French Revolution ended the monarchy and feudalism and gave us the idea of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The Russian Revolution introduced the concept of socialism, and the Indian Struggle provided the world with the tools of Satyagraha and nonviolence. If we take all these together, we can think of a civilisation that would be free from exploitation and truly democratic. None of the recent upheavals has these goals. Nepal is also not free from the limitations that other upheavals have been suffering from.

Does the protest in Nepal have any egalitarian goal? Its demand centres on corruption. Indeed, it is justified in a democracy to react against ill governance and misuse of power to benefit the few. The criminal act of appropriating wealth in the name of serving the people must not go unpunished. Citizens have every right to bring down the government when they feel that the public representatives are violating their oath.

However, those who oppose it have the moral obligation to obey the democratic norms. Visuals that have come from the streets of Nepal only show the lack of it. The way the individuals and institutions have been targeted only signifies the disconnection between the so-called Gen-Z and the nation.

How can they set fire to jails and the courtrooms, and public property? If they are fighting for themselves, how can they protect the country and its resources? They also seem to be lacking any understanding of the world order. The transnational corporations are indulging in a systematic looting of the resources around the world. Leadership in Nepal and other parts of the world is collaborating with them. Are the protestors ready to oppose it?

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)