Nepal Case Study: Fighting for democracy and the Rato Ghar
Baghbazaar Ko Patrika Pasale: Kicked out from his 14 year old place, Ram Babu Ghimire, owner of Baghbazaar News Stand, might seem like “a real nowhere man/ sitting in his nowhere land/ making all his nowhere plans for nobody.” But unlike John Lennon’s Nowhere Man, Ghimire is utterly hopeful about the future. Pic by Wagle.
Ram Babu Ghimire is mourning the sudden death of his beloved shop. A shop? It was not just a shop. A famous news stand in the heart of Kathmandu city, in front of Rato Ghar, his shop was full of wisdom and information. For all those knowledge hungry people out there, his shop, popularly known as Baghbazar Ko Partika Pasal (News Stand of Baghbazar), was a favorite destination.
Yesterday was one of the sad days of his life. In the very morning of May 10, armed police personnel surrounded the Rato Ghar, kicked out the belongings of All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU) from their offices in the building, and ordered Ghimire to move his shop from the foot path in front of the building. Ghimire’s shop wasn’t inside the building. Under a worn out tent, he used to spread newspapers, magazines and books hoping to earn bread for his family- a wife and two children. Now the very survival of his family is under severe threat.
For many people out there, this pathetic story of Ram Bahu Ghimire might be an insignificant and unimportant matter. For me this is a window to peek through the reality of our country. Where are we heading toward? Armed police kick out students from a building and force shop owners like Ghimire to move from the place where he has been selling news papers and books for the last 14 years. The source of knowledge (the news stand) and exercisers of knowledge (students) are being kicked out from a public property to make housing for the police. What is our destination? The morning of May 10 is just and example of our country being militarized. Gun is replacing pen. The voice of arms is mercilessly crushing the voice of reason and knowledge. Police are marching in the very same place where students used to have discourse about democratic movement until May 9.
This is the famous Rato Ghar (red house) of Ratna Park from where student organization ANNFSU was forcefully ousted by armed police yesterday. Erstwhile a center for political discourse, this building has now been turned into a fort. Pic Wagle.
What a coincidence. Exactly when our police force was invading the offices of students and throwing a news stand from Rato Ghar area, a high level representative of the U.S. government was inaugurating a public library in a five star hotel not far from there. When I go through the speech delivered by American Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca while launching the new offices of new American Library in Yak and Yeti hotel, I feel energized and sad at the same time.
“Access to information is critical,” Rocca said, “particularly in times of uncertainty, of strife, of a possible threat to democratic institutions and civil liberties. Gaining increased knowledge about democratic systems and the rights and responsibilities of government, politicians, the media, and civil society is vital in establishing and maintaining a vibrant and viable democratic system with a responsible and transparent government. In order to make informed choices, we all need to know what the options are. The mission of this library is to provide information for democracy, peace and prosperity.”
I know for those who want to keep Nepali citizens in dark and rule as per their tongue’s movement, those words of Rocca mean nothing at all. I see no difference between the mission of American library and the Patrika Pasal of Ghimire. Though not in the five star hotel as the library, the foot path based news stand of Ghimire proudly boasts books of Karl Marx to B P Koirala, former prime minister and popular socialist leader of Nepal, from Frederic Engels to Maxim Gorky, from Vladimir Ilich Lenin to Mahatma Gandhi. Not to mention newspapers and magazines of the day and several other periodicals available in the shop.
When I entered the library and talked with Navin Rayamajhi, reference librarian, I felt proud to have such a library in the city. “We are trying to be a public library,” he said. But when I try to reconcile Rayamajhi’s words with the Rato Ghar incident and the sad face of Ghimire, I cannot save myself from being ashamed. Ghimire’s shop was a kind of public library too. The real public, with very little money in their pocket but deep hunger for knowledge used to buy books and news papers from his shop.
I felt so comfortable inside the library that I wished to spend some hours there. In the evening, in the newsroom of Kantipur, I was writing about the library. I wanted my article to be as much informative as possible. I did not care about the possibility of my article becoming advertisement of the library. “Even if it becomes a kind of advertisement,” I thought, “I would be happy because more people will go to the library after reading my article.”
I am very happy to let you know that Ghimire doesn’t feel totally defeated. Though uncertain about the future, this 28 year old man is ready to continue his struggle in this cruel city. His two children go to a nearby Royal Public School. When I see him this afternoon, he was busy managing the stuffs of the shop. He had moved books and magazines in another shop nearby. This afternoon, when I visited him, he spread a plastic cover on the footpath in front of electricity offices in Baghbazzar (near to the democracy wall) and displayed books. His wife Devi was not in jolly mood. I could easily understand why. She was helping her husband manage the shop in a new place.
Ram Babu Ghimire is hopeful about the future. He continues his struggle by setting up a new shop on the Kathmandu foot path. Pic by Wagle.
His mother Mana Kumari Ghimire, now 55, established the shop in front of Rato Ghar 14 years ago. “I use to participate in Julus then,” Ghimire said, “Mother opened this shop and I started working here.” Now his mother sells newspapers and books in New Road. “So many people used to come in the shop for papers and books,” Ghimire said while putting a box of books on the foot path. “Leaders, students, teachers all used to come. People buying the papers were more than those who just stand and read in front of the shop.”
To my pleasant surprise, pedestrians instantly surrounded the new shop. Some of them picked up books and started turning pages, some pulled papers up. Economically speaking, we are the 11 poorest nation on planet. But that doesn’t mean we have to live though the intellectual poverty. We have every right to read, to study, to gain knowledge. But the rulers of current regime doesn’t want us to do exactly that.
7 Comments »
i dont understand one thing, whether this “rato ghar” was being rented out to the student organization…or had they just “captured” it and were not paying rent….
just a little curious
Comment by shanker — 5/12/2005 @ 12:25 am
Dinesh, I did not read an obvious fact surrounding this Rato Ghar incidence. The quesion is why the royal “government” (your pharase) want this buillding at this particular location and moment?
For me, it’s not just to kick out the students. KGBs are well aware that one of branches of the road in fron of the bldg. leads to the royal palace. In 1990, thousands of the protesters took this street to invade the palace. Buy putting up armed forces, KGBs hope to turn KG’s palace safer. Look, the palace’s wall have become thicker and taller. What’s the implication of all this?
Palace thinks that its sucurity will be enhanced by guns and tall walls, not by winning the hearts and the minds of the people.
In the meantime, keep your eyes on other streets leading to KG’s palace. KGBs will put up armed forces at every corner of the palace. Who will tell KG that guns and armed forces are poor indicators of the good health of kings?
Comment by pita — 5/12/2005 @ 12:25 am
I feel sad to see all this. Dinesh, your sympathy and understanding of Ram’s condition is commendable. But , sympathy for the ANNFSU?
Why?
They are nothing but a militant student organization whose main task is solely to organize bandhs for their political masters. Why, Nepal lacks behind every nation in every parameter in this world is beacuse we have leaders that are groomed from heavily biased organizations like ANNFSU. ANNFSU, may have contributed heavily to the democracy movement in the 90’s but it has lost track in its own mypoic undestanding of what Nepal and its people needs. KIng G’s measure may not be correct at all, but ANNFSU has not shown that they deserve a place in that Rato Ghar.
Comment by Santosh — 5/12/2005 @ 1:17 am
My gosh, I had seen that guy 5 yrs ago when I used to walk down the lanes of Ratnapark…Its sad that these Royal henchmen are taking horrendous routes to amass public support!
Comment by Blogbahini — 5/12/2005 @ 4:42 am
Dinesh while you are right that sorry people like this one used to be there and discourse would take place int he afternoon, it is also true that at night this house would be a whore house with booze, prostitutes and drug peddlars. The ANNFSU should hire out another house.
Comment by Sreejana Singh — 5/12/2005 @ 2:17 pm
Pita where were those studnets when muslim had made taller masijid then ghanta ghar…. Pita…
Comment by Sujit Sigdel — 5/12/2005 @ 2:54 pm
was it his right to stay there?
so what is the meaning og mourning?
Comment by suresh iwahang — 5/12/2005 @ 3:35 pm
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