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‘A country is dead if it is full of anarchy’.

The quote above is not a self-invented nugget of wisdom. It is the reply from Yudhishthir to one of the many questions from a Yakshya, a semi-divine protector of a pond brimming with water located in the middle of a forest. 

Close by the pond, Yudhishthir finds four of his younger brothers (Bhim, Arjun, Nakul and Sahadev), out in the woods turn by turn as per his instructions to quench their thirst, lying unconscious. Apparently, better senses prevail over Yudhishthir. He somehow suppresses an acute thirst and is patient enough to answer Yakshya’s questions, a far better alternative than facing the archer’s wrath like his brothers, who, it turns out later, tried to head straight into the pond to sate themselves instead of heeding the protector’s warning and bothering to answer his questions. 

Yakshya fires many no-nonsense questions at Yudhishthir and the latter answers them all very wisely. 

The quote in the beginning of this piece is part of Yudhishthir’s answer to one of the questions about death. The full reply from Yudhishthir, considered a manifestation of Yamaraj, the god of death, goes: A person facing extreme poverty might be considered dead; a country is dead if it is full of anarchy.

The Q & A session, detailed in the Mahabharat, has a happy ending. Pleased with Yudhishthir’s wisdom, the Yakshya ultimately brings the fallen Pandavs to life and they all get to quench their thirst to their hearts’ content. 

The Yudhishthir-Yakshya Q & A session is long over, but it is quite relevant even in the federal secular democratic republic of Nepal of this day and age. 

At present, Nepal seems to be in the midst of an ever-lasting turmoil. Kathmandu (its nerve centers like Maitighar Mandala the vicinity in particular, which lie quite close to the seats of the three organs of the state) has been the hotbed of protests of all sorts. Recent days have seen protests demanding amended citizenship provisions, justice for loan-shark victims, teachers’ protests against the government’s indifference toward their demands and a days-long stand to make Kathmandu Metropolitan City fulfill the demands of street vendors.   

Even as a myriad groups continue to show their respective strengths on the streets and bring the Nepali state to its knees, the latter appears too helpless to deal with multiple crises gripping the country. The economy is not in the pink of health. The rule of law has become a chimera. There is a growing feeling in the society that influential people can get away with grave crimes in this country.

The transitional justice process is not making much headway. People are losing faith over the government’s ability to curb corruption by bringing high-profile corruption cases to their logical conclusion. 

Anarchy reigns supreme and the country is on sickbed. The onus is on the government to bring the country back to health before it’s too late.    

That teachers of government schools are not happy with the Education Bill presented in the Parliament for discussions has become common knowledge in this day and age of information and communications technology.

Even sections of the public unaware of the Nepal Teachers’ Federation’s boycott of the meeting called by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to discuss the former’s concerns are now aware, most probably, of the Kathmandu-centric protest.

With around 15,000 teachers from across the country descending on the roads of Kathmandu as part of their protest to press for the fulfillment of their demands, teaching-learning activities have come to a halt in schools, affecting a large number of children.

The impact is not limited to the classroom, though. The daily demonstrations from teachers have caused inconveniences galore to the hapless masses. Traffic congestions in the already clogged arteries of Kathmandu have become the norm rather than the exception, causing immense difficulties to hundreds of thousands of road users, including motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and bikers. Traffic police personnel never had it easy; the protest has made their job more difficult.

What has ‘made’ the teachers slam the classroom door on the student and hit the streets, thereby causing traffic jams in the federal capital? Per the federation, the bill has failed to address issues like job security of temporary teachers, creation of non-teaching staff positions, concerns of pre-school teachers, promotion of teachers, appointment of the principal, transfer of teachers as well as performance appraisal. The bill’s provision on empowering local governments to evaluate and transfer teachers has also not gone well with the federation.

This does not mean that the teachers have no right to exercise a horde of rights, including collective bargaining, a fundamental right, an internationally-accepted practice and an important means through which employers and their organizations and trade unions can ensure fair wages and working conditions. Collective bargaining covers issues like wages, working time, training, occupational health and safety and equal treatment. The objective of negotiations is to arrive at a collective agreement that regulates terms and conditions of employment. 

But then democracy is not a one-way road. While exercising their right, one should not trample on others’ rights and this applies to the teachers too. Our society has high regards for teachers, it takes the teacher (Guru) as the remover of darkness (ignorance), it takes them as the guiding light. The teachers should have also respected the rights of other sections of the society, including the children’s right to education, while exercising their rights. 

Without causing further inconveniences to the public, the government and the federation should hold talks and reach a negotiated settlement. The onus is on both sides to soften their respective stances for the greater good of Nepal’s education sector, which also includes children, who symbolize a bright future of this country.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to visit China from Sept 23, following his participation in the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York. 

While bureaucratic preparations are underway, the prime minister is also engaging in consultations with political leaders to determine key issues to be raised with Chinese leaders. Nepali Ambassador to China Bishnu Pukar Shrestha has been holding meetings with high-ranking Chinese officials to finalize the potential agenda for the visit. 

While the Chinese side is insisting that both sides should focus on implementation of the past agreements, there are some key issues that Dahal needs to raise when he sits with Chinese officials. Foremost among these is China’s new map that does not acknowledge Nepal’s political map launched in 2020. Dahal has already pledged to raise this issue, and the nation is keenly anticipating how he will approach it and how the northern neighbor will react.

Of late, there are confusions in Nepal over some issues raised by China. For example, China has categorized the Pokhara International Airport as a major project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Nepali authorities have consistently refuted this claim, yet the Chinese side has not clarified its stance. Likewise, there are confusions on BRI even eight years after signing of the agreement. It is the duty of the Prime Minister Dahal to articulate Nepal's concerns on the initiative.

Furthermore, there are confusions in both the political and diplomatic circles of Nepal about China’s new initiatives such as Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative. Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song recently said that Nepal is already a part of GCI. His predecessor, Hou Yanqi, too, had publicly declared that Nepal had joined the GSI.

Another pressing issue is the absence of a joint border inspection between Nepal and China. This has given rise to various issues including allegations of border encroachment by China. During his visit, Dahal should urge Beijing for a joint inspection of the border. While there are other bilateral matters that require attention, it is paramount that Dahal take up the aforementioned issues with Beijing. If both sides are genuinely committed to elevating the bilateral relationship to a new level, they must resolve these outstanding issues first.

Let’s start with a couple of recent incidents that may appear insignificant from those in positions of power.

At a government-run children’s hospital in the heart of Kathmandu, a five-year-old, Rejina Gopali of Thaha municipality ward 10, died awaiting treatment, on Monday. 

In a far-flung Budhinanda municipality in the remote district of Bajhang, Jayapura Shahi was found hanging from the ceiling with a rope at her maternal house. Separated from her husband after he took a second wife, Shahi had been running a shop to eke out a living. Local people have moved the local police post, claiming that it was a murder. 

While in Bajhgara of Dharan municipality (Sunsari), a house caught fire on Thursday morning after a gas cylinder blast that occurred when the family of Sita Dhital was making preparations for a Dar feast as part of Teej celebrations. A narrow gulley came in the way of firefighting, taking the fire brigade 1.5 hours to douse the flames. By that time, the house had turned into ashes. 

Meanwhile, the specter of lumpy skin disease continues unabated. The trail of death and devastation from the disease is shocking. On Thursday, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Beduram Bhusal, informed the House of Representatives that 52,548 animals have died from the disease, 13,83,595 have recovered whereas 73,636 animals remain ill. 

Bad tidings do not end there. On Wednesday, a khukuri-wielding Shyam Sapkota (47) of Nuwakot Nepali Congress joint general secretary Mahendra Yadav. While Yadav is in police custody, Yadav is undergoing treatment. 

On Thursday itself, Mukunda Rijal, chair, Kathmandu Metropolitan City ward 16, died while undergoing treatment for severe pneumonia. This, even as large sections of the national population continue to suffer from the twin specters of dengue and conjunctivitis. 

Then there are those dignitaries from near and afar, who are a cut above the rest. They are so powerful that they can make controversial remarks questioning the status of Nepal as an independent country. As experts par excellence, it is of course their ‘prerogative’ to teach us how to conduct our foreign policy, isn’t it? 

Of course, nothing is certain except death and taxes, but this rings so true for the people. While negotiating the roads of this bustling valley, this stark realization comes to haunt us so often, despite the presence of police officers and a more-or-less functioning traffic system.

One major factor is mainly to blame for the incidents—from the death of a child to a close shave for a leader to a cylinder blast to chaotic roads to infringement upon our sovereignty and many other incidents in between. 

That is the near-total absence of the government from the affairs of a flailing state. The parliament, civil society, the judiciary, the free press and the people—above all else—should do every bit to make the government govern this country before it’s too late.