Nepal has much to learn from B’desh

In July-August last year, Bangladesh saw a countrywide wave of young people - mostly students - lood the streets, chanting for reform, justice and a future that did not feel stolen. It was spontaneous and emotional yet powerful enough to topple a government led by Sheikh Hasina or 16 years.

- JANNATUL NAYM PIEAL

Today, Nepal stands ina strikingly similar place. Its youth, angry at corruption and hopeless about jobs, turned protests into a mass uprising that forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli out of power. An interim government has since taken charge, with elections promised within six months.

For many, this feels like the dawn of a new chapter. But as a Bangladeshi, watching from across the border, I cannot help but offer a note of caution. In our case, the fall of a government - deeply autocratic though it was - marked only the start of a long and often frustrating journey. Unless lessons are learned quickly, Nepal may be on the verge of repeating that path.

The first and most painful lesson is that removing a leader does not automatically repair a broken state. In Bangladesh, the fall of the old regime was followed by scenes of mob violence and widespread lawlessness. Over the past 13 and a half months, the country has, in many ways, resembled a land ruled by mobs.

According to the rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), 124 people have died from mob beatings in the first seven months of this year alone, nearly matching the 128 deaths recorded in the entire previous year. Among the most horrific incidents was the attack on September 5 in Rajbari’s Goalanda upazila, where the darbar sharif of “Nural Pagla” was vandalised, and his body exhumed and burned. The violence left one person dead and at least 22 injured.