Something is rotten

Protests reflect a deeper societal issue: The system is not functioning effectively.

Now that the elections and the making and breaking of governments are well past us, it is time to consider the problems around us. Everywhere in Nepal today, there seem to be a million mutinies erupting at the street level. The media has been reporting a select few such instances, but we are failing to read between the lines. In February, for instance, transport providers held a protest against the “stringent” traffic police regulations and Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s decision to restrict long and medium distance public transportation trucks from parking anywhere other than the New Bus Park at Gongabu. The demonstration escalated into violence as disgruntled individuals ransacked a mall nearby, looting mobile phones and vandalising public property, and even setting two police vans on fire. We were too quick to call out the protestors for violence, but paid little attention to why they did what they did.