| Biswo |
Posted
on 03-Feb-04 02:42 PM
Last summer, in KTM, a friend of mine asked me what I would have done if I had been a professor at TU, and faced with a political situation as deplorable as the one we were facing at the time. Would I stop teaching and join the julus? Would I stop doing researches? I thought for a moment, and then I told him that I would probably do nothing. Not at my office time.
As a democrat, I am convinced that malingering[seeking pretext to avoid responsibility] is one of the major forms of corruptions. It is also a shameful act. Students who go to subsidized colleges also don't have right to boycott their class. The government, by this I mean we people, have spent a large amount of our money, some of which have been diverted from our effort to eradicate diseases like malaria/yellow fever/polio, and it is important for professors and students to realize that we expect return on what we spend. We expect our professors to exercise the political and acadamic independence inside the university. They should be able to teach what they want. But they are not free NOT TO teach.
I don't understand whether a significance of a protest reduces if we protest after 5PM everyday. Afterall, the motive of a protest at street is to convince people that the plaintiffs are unjustly wronged. No one really believes that street protest alone at Ratna Park would dislodge as inconsiderate/intransigent/criminal-minded king as Gyanendra. So, what the parties are doing now amounts to an exercise in public opinion making. It can be done by arranging the protests that least obstruct education of the protesters themselves. Isn't it irony that almost all student strikes happen at the afternoon, and all strikes call for classes to be closed. What about calling for strikes after 5PM, after attending the classes? I think students can deliver powerful message by both learning attentively and fighting for what they believe.
As a student at Amrit Science Campus, I was fed off with the attempt of student unions to stave off the final exam. I came from a middle class family in Chitwan, and I wanted to finish I.Sc. as soon as possible. I also wanted to attend the classes regularly so that I didn't have to seek for private tutor. It was also true that I and other students worked hard while politically affiliated students didn't.Akhil students were opposed to having exams on time.I therefore always appreciate Kedar Mathema for what he did when he was at TU. He made sure that people like me wouldn't be waiting for the final exam forever. I still hope that our colleges be a part of our national dream to succeed and achieve prosperity. Our students, as aware as they are about politics of the nation, be equally aware about the frontiers of science and lead us to the future proudly. I am proud of what they are doing in this struggle to democracy and permanent peace in our country, but I hope that they don't do that struggle by hampering their and their fellow countrymates' journey to enlightment.
Historically, the blame lay to Panchayati government for all this mess. Contrary to all norms of acadamic independence, they fired five professors from TU circa '32. One of them was Sahana Pradhan, a sister-in-law of martyer Ganga Lal, and wife of a communist leader.It started a wave of political activism among the professors of TU. Even before that,When political parties were banned, they had to find a place somewhere to continue their legitimate struggle. Thus student unions were formed. They shouldered the task of continuing the struggle against autocracy. Autocracy is never good for a nation.It is bad, its consequences are bad, its trails are filled with the obstructions for future. Like a infection, it leaves a scar in the body long after its destruction. Those scars remain forever, reminding us how badly we were struck.
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