KIRAN PANDAY

The current turmoil in the Arab world and the uprising of the young and the angry surely roils the blood of many young Nepalis. It brings back memories of Nepal's many uprisings. But where have they left us?

We are still where we were in the 1950s, when Nepal's modern revolutions began. We are ruled by morally depraved, unethical leaders who legitimise their rule by claiming to represent the people and their interests. The lessons learned from our own history and that of the wider world is that we should not be fighting for or against a system of governance, but for a value system in society that rewards honest and ethical individuals. Even authoritarianism can beget positive outcomes if the leader is ethical and genuinely committed to the country, like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, and the same goes for other forms of political governance such as a constitutional monarchy, socialism, or capitalism. The common thread tying together successful instances of such fundamentally disparate ideological systems of governance is a value system that allows honest people to make a living and realise their dreams.

Nepal's many revolutions have not been able to produce positive results for the poor because all our leaders are born and raised in the same corrupt system that they claim to be fighting against. Should we genuinely expect them to bite the hand that feeds them? Whether they are communists, democrats or monarchists, they all received their political inculcation on the campuses of Nepal.

Youth politics is one of the main reasons why our revolutions have ultimately failed, even though at the outset of these movements the youth have been seen as torch bearers. Youth politics in Nepal has bred new generations of leaders all of whom have been trained in coercive power politics. This perpetuates polarisation as a norm. It strengthens a power structure that is held together by force and with the help of the criminal elements of our society. This is hardly a basis on which to produce honest and ethical leaders for our future.

The next Nepali revolt should not be about one dictator, one political party, or one ruling class. It should be against a dysfunctional political system that has given birth to a generation of dishonest and unethical leaders. This will not be easy, given that the current leaders are in positions of power because of the support they have received from the politicised youth of Nepal. But if we really want Nepal's next revolution to succeed, we must hit where it hurts the most. We must de-politicise our society.

Recently, there was talk of tech-savvy youths joining hands to organise themselves. Whether they will succeed in energising their peers to act is a different matter. There have been slogans about the need to free Nepalis from greedy leaders, about preserving the dignity and freedom of Nepali citizens, and the like. But for the common man, slogans don't mean anything tangible. They are just slogans, used to rile up the masses. For a real revolution, we need to liberate both our students and our unions from politics. We need to improve the efficiency of our government by reducing its size and bureaucracy. We need to implement strict accountability, transparency, and rule of law. Only then can honest men and women make a decent living without harassment from the government or political parties; only then will honest and ethical Nepalis earn the respect they deserve.

The next Nepali revolution will be as deceitful as the Maoist revolution if we do not address the core of our society's problems. If we want to be the next Tunisia or Egypt, we have to make our revolutions count. We need to have the courage to gut the system that has produced our political leaders.

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