A Novel Protest for Nepal

Article published in Nepalnews.com (A novel protest for Nepal)

What do we want?
Human Right!

When do we want it?
Now!

Along with 1500 amnesty participants, mainly high school and college students from all over the Northeastern United States, I proudly marched along East 91st street in Manhattan, New York City chanting the slogans of Human Rights. I was participating in the Amnesty International’s “Get on the Bus” program. This was the 11th year that Amnesty International had hosted GOTB program. Previous demonstrations focused on Free Tibet, Justice for Bhopal, Disappearances in Chechnya, Help Nigeria etc. As before, the main goal of “Get on the Bus” program was to raise awareness and educate people on various human right violations in societies around the world.

Carrying the banner with the slogan “Justice and Peace”, we started our demonstration at the Sudanese mission protesting against genocide in Darfur. It has been 3 years since the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan started. The Darfur conflict has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and wide-scale murder, rape, abduction and displacement. Despite international condemnation and the presence of African Union troops, the situation has gotten no better; instead, it has only gotten worse. Nevertheless, we screamed demanding that the Sudanese government provide protection for civilians in Darfur.

After this, we walked over to the Ethiopian Consulate to protest against political oppression and the jailing of prisoners of Conscience in that African nation. As international concerns on the human rights in Ethiopia have escalated, Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of opposition leaders, human rights defenders and journalists facing trail on charges of “violent conspiracy” and “high treason”. We were exuberated when we saw a group of Ethiopian diplomats gazing at us from their office window. We had successfully humiliated them. A gush of energy swept us and we screamed even more. Our voices were powerful. The scene was rejuvenating.

Next, we marched towards the Guatemalan consulate where our main agenda was “Femicide”. Over the past five years, more than 2000 Guatemalan women and girls have been brutally murdered. Victims have had their throats cut, have been beaten, shot or stabbed to death. Their bodies showed signs of rape, torture, mutilation or dismemberment. Here, our mission was to point out the failures of the Guatemalan authorities to adequately investigate the murders and demand that they bring the killers to justice.

GOTB educated us, the participants, as well as the passersbys in New York City on Human Rights. Some honked in approval while some peeked out of doorways squinting to read our banners. Feeling mildly exhausted with sore feet and throats, we ended our journey at the Chinese Consulate. We demonstrated against Internet censorship in China. Amnesty report of January 2004 shows that there was a dramatic rise in the number of people detained or sentenced for Internet-related offences. Our protest was against U.S. corporations, mainly, Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Microsoft for collaborating with the Chinese Government to track and persecute Chinese citizens for exercising their freedom of speech on the Internet.

Participating in the demonstration made me reflect on the current political turmoil in Nepal. Luckily, a label of either “Genocide” or “Femicide” has not been given to Nepal like in Sudan and Guatemala. But atrocious events and Human Rights violations have happened in Nepal. Innocent civilians have been brutally killed. Shocking pictures of Human Right violations in Nepal have loomed the front pages of newspapers around the globe transfixing the media. Sadly, the poor are ignored by the government and remain mired in illiteracy, ethic and caste discrimination while political parties and leaders bicker and maneuver for power. There is an urgent need to bring permanent peace and stability in Nepal. No one wants to see her become a helpless unstable state and a haven for terrorism and violence that has spread across other parts of South Asia.

In the face of such complexity, Amnesty International must help Nepal in a unique way. Let me state the matter precisely: Normally when something changes in the physical world we hope to see the new replace the old. However, in Nepal, the trend has been as the old saying- “Old wine in a new bottle.” The biggest scam in the country- but by no way means the only- is the “corruption.” The rules and the regulations of the country change but the corrupt leaders remain the same. Sadly, perpetrators of massacre walk freely and never get persecuted due to corrupt policies of the government. Nepal is bitterly engraved in the hand of the corrupted leaders. What is the point of imposing rules if they are blatantly flouted? A lot of complications need to be worked out in Nepal, however, unless and until the corrupt leaders are put behind bars, there will not be an end to the vicious cycle of violence and injustice. This is the crux of the problem. The longer this is delayed, the more lives will be lost. Needless to say, there is importance for an international pressure on Nepal. Amnesty should not only protest for Human rights, but also pressure the state to jail the perpetrators. More broadly, this maladroit intervention will not only gain international attention but also humiliate our corrupt leaders. Amnesty in Nepal and in the United States should hold a demonstration similar to GOTB to put pressure on the Nepali government. Ironically, this could be one of the creative solutions to hasten victory and punish the bad guys.

I hope for the end of the downward spiral in Nepal. As the current situation indicates, there remains plenty the country has to do in order to gain stability. Today we are in the midst of a great struggle between the forces of terror and the forces of freedom. Peace is the key to prosperity and stability, a future that our corrupt leaders have put in jeopardy. The obvious and not so obvious potential opportunities in Nepal are enormous. Still, we are a nation of skeptics. Amid the uncertainty, I have hope for a climate of unity for all Nepalese and a triumphant journey from darkness to light. Hope, after all, is what keeps us going.

Can one protest change the world?

When you are with amazingly vibrant group of people filled with skills and energy, you can't think of anything but hope. I realize that this is the beauty of democracy. These are the people who can make the world a better place.In retrospect, GOTB was a great way to meet people interested in changing the world, and I am proud to say I was one of them.