| Black Soot, Blue Scholastics |
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Imagine you have been teaching faithfully for over forty years, and Maoist "students" smear black soot on your face. What would your response be? Quit the job, and don’t face the classroom ever again? Or, continue by consoling yourself that terrorism is a Maoist creed; and the only way to defeat it is to face it? Indeed, April 22, Wednesday, became the saddest day in the history of Nepali academics. Then, "students" affiliated to the Maoist-aligned All Nepal National Independent Students Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) smeared black soot on the faces of Tribhuvan University’s vice-chancellor Dr Madhav Sharma and rector Professor Dr Surya Man Amatya. However, bearing this cowardly insult with dignity, both Drs Sharma and Amatya indicated to us that there is hope for Nepal in midst of Maoist madness.
After such a dastardly act from the ANNISU-R, the nation expected at least the word "sorry" from the PM or the FM Dr Baburam Bhattarai. The country waited in vain. You don’t find "apology" in the Maoist dictionary. They haven’t uttered it even when 14,000 were killed. The TU hooliganism would be something minor, not worth their attention. The raising of the exam fees became the excuse, not the main reason. Even if it was, the same "students" in the past have broken TU computers and conducted furniture-bonfires to protest the appalling education-standard in our country. Was that only politics or a real concern? If that was genuine, does a better standard come without any investment? When private academic institutions have charged much higher fees, can’t the TU just demand a fraction of that? Perhaps, the more likely reason for the April 22 shame lies in the Chinese type of Cultural Revolution (CR) the Maoists want to effect in our country. In essence, the CR under Mao’s leadership wanted to get rid of everything old. Thus the Maoists have coined the term "New Nepal" which has become a paan-chewing, red joke; but the Prachandapath cronies still croon that without blushing. The Chinese CR resulted in thousands of intellectuals fleeing for their lives. By not even uttering an apology when ANNISU-R hooligans smeared black soot on Drs Sharma and Amatya, are comrades Prachanda and Bhattarai encouraging our academics to flee or muzzle themselves? Nepali academics have enough self respect to quit the country, if the government doesn’t want them. Anyone with a PhD, whether done locally or internationally, has enough clout to find jobs overseas, may be with some initial difficulties. And many, perhaps sensing the soot-smearing ceremony to come of age in the Maoist-led utopia, have purposely remained in Europe/America. Those who stay there permanently develop a sense of guilt over time. Some send articles to Nepali dailies now and then or write books relating to their former country to gain satisfaction that they are "doing something for their motherland". Others sigh in relief, "Good riddance"; and visit the country once in two years to indicate tangibly that they love Nepal more than their poverty-stricken counterparts residing in it. A Nepali intellectual who returns to our country does so for two main reasons. Either s/he finds the third class citizenship status of overseas living unbearable. Or s/he loves our wretched but beautiful country too much, and wants to contribute at least an iota before taking the last breath. Drs Sharma, Amatya, all other vice-chancellors and rectors before them belong to this category. The Maoist-led government should be honouring these people who know a lot more than the jungle lessons their cadres graduated from. After all, respect for teachers is a good South Asian tradition; and the CR shouldn’t tamper with it. It is a pity that Dr Baburam Bhattarai, a fire-spitting "intellectual", couldn’t for once side himself with his hurting colleagues at the TU. Of course, black soot can result only in "blue" scholastics. The state of government education in our country is blue, sad! The more the black soot, the bluer will our academics get. Our Nepali Maoists forget that China didn’t send people to the moon during the CR, when Chinese academics smuggled themselves to Los Angeles or New York. For ten years, Mao didn’t allow schools to run or college exams to function. Thankfully, Mao died in 1976 and with him the CR. His successor Deng Xiaoping criticised the CR as a tragic mistake, and invited the intellectuals back. Only after Deng abandoned the CR and adopted capitalist principles, did China grow to become the economic power it is today. Nepali Prachandapath-loving Maoists have the option of following Deng Xiaoping rather than Mao Zedong. Imitating Mao Zedong will result in more soot-smears and more scholastic turning blue. Then, Nepal can become the Uganda of Idi Amin days. Thanks to the crazy dictator, many top Asian-Ugandans fled to the UK; and made that already wealthy country even richer with their talents. Or Nepal can become Pol Pot’s Cambodia, the famed Killing Fields, which regarded all intellectuals, even school teachers, as leeches. Going the Deng Xiaoping way can help Nepal as it did China. For this, Nepali intellectuals, who have chosen to serve their country, should have some dignity. Even a belated "sorry" to Drs Sharma and Amatya can send a message that not all Maoists are mad. A proper police case against the 22 Maoist graduates in soot-smearing would deter others coveting the same degree. The New Nepal that the Maoists tout can do without black soot and blue scholastics. Published in the Republica on May 3, Sunday
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 May 2009 ) | |||
Dr Sharma, as the vice-chancellor, saw no sense in reporting the incident to the chancellor, PM Prachanda. Confidence in our chief executive has sunk that low. Sharma’s response was, "I didn’t think that was appropriate. The chancellor’s party’s students have done it. Whom should I tell?"
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