DWAIPAYAN REGMI, TON, NEPAL
There always have been a large number of youths participating in various sets of democratic movements in Nepal. They should be properly engaged within numerous sets of democratic activities like that of a social and political set of discussion where voting would take within the election process for decision making, set of leadership along with the related ones within the engaged and set of responsible members within the society. So, the role of the young mass in Nepal has been growing. Youth 27 years old, Sobita Gautam got elected from Kathmandu valley this time the election. But, that is not the entire story.
Bivek Sharma (name changed), 29 years old, had his name on the voter list but didn’t feel like going to his hometown, which is around 500 km away from Kathmandu simply to cast vote. He didn’t want to spend $30 for his traveling expenses there. Anisha Maharjan (name changed), 31 years old didn’t feel like walking for half an hour just to cast the vote. Both of them felt that their single vote didn’t have any impact on the entire election - there was just a unit of the vote there. Aparchit Sharma (name changed), 33 years old did not feel like going to the Government office simply to register his name in the election’s voters list. He felt like doing that would cost him a day off from his office, and unwanted hassles there.
The above cases are just sample cases. But, there had been a large number of Bivek Sharmas, Anisha Maharjans, and Aparachit Sharmas in the background there who had to remain beyond the surface and hesitated from casting the vote. After all, the voting percentage dropped down to 61%. At a time when 100% itself is not a true representation, where a large number of youths are not within the list; a voting percentage of 61% means that the votes are not even 50% of the total population.
Frustrations of youth towards politics and losing hope in the political scene have remained to be a true indicator of why participation in such political movements has been under the diminishing charm of Nepalese youths. What has been presented in the picture cannot be stated to be the reality as there had been layers of aspects there focusing on those factors. The basic aspects through which all of these dimensions of youths seek have been shaping and determining the future of the country right now.
The sad irony behind the low interest of Nepalese youth is that there was the next mass of youth, right before the election lined up in Tribhuwan International Airport for flying abroad - rich ones to third world nations seeking good education and poor ones in countries like Qatar, Dubai or Saudi Arab in the name of good job opportunities. They had no concern about who will be winning or losing the election, and they didn't care much about their right to vote either. What a citizen holds is the right to vote and elect their representatives, but the frustration level because of which they rather decided to leave the country kept them all away from regular rights.
It is sad to see that still, people above the age of 60 are key dominant players in Nepalese politics, and the coming victories have been providing that too. The sad reality behind every tale there does no restrict on any one aspect but there should be something triggering it. Nepal has always been prone to troubles like a high corruption rate, growing inflation, liquidity crisis, unstable political scenario, and increasing discrimination. While citizens have been loaded with a higher rate of tax (where they need to pay as high as 36%), even the employed ones are not so happy about it. In such context, it has been seen that new youths are coming around from different sectors like Rabi Lamichhane, who used to work in the media industry as the winner; Dr. Toshmia Karki, who was in medical line into this line or Hari Dhakal, who belonged to the track of Share Market in this stream - all committed to strengthen their sector and bring glory.
The new hope has been there because two independent candidates Balendra Shah and Harka Sampang won in places like Kathmandu and Dharan in the local level election. This has raised a tiny set of hope among general people about a possible change, but their action during their tenure is yet to be seen. Similarly, these independent young candidates, who had been away from old faces, if they happen to come around with glorious victory, there can be next set of hopes too.
Youths are the future of the country. But, during the time of youth bulge here, youths are not at all motivated towards political actions. It is agreeable that there had been a growing population of youth participation in political action, but there are diminishing lines too - silver lining ones, which should be well thought of.