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telelogo4.jpg (7056 bytes)   Kathmandu, Wednesday, 09 February 2000

EDITORIAL


Stop Political Interference

It has now been almost proved that as and when political theory of a sort enters into the all-sacred enlightening organization more so institution, the entire atmosphere there becomes inextricable, devastating and contaminated as well. The Panchayat system, to recollect, used the students for a quite long period for the propagation of its political curriculum and the innate what it could be called the qualities supposedly amalgamated in the system then. The then establishment did it solely with one point schedule which was undoubtedly to counter the intimidation posed to the then system by its political rivalry e.g. the congress and the communists. To a greater extent, the preceding regime relied on the strength of its students organization which later enjoying the state backing began interfering into state politics thus polluted the whole set up and perhaps became one of the main causes for the collapse of the ruling system. In a nutshell, the powers that be then should have not maligned the sacrosanct educational institutions for their petty political gains.

The erstwhile regime crumbled. However, the new political parties it appears too have been toeing the same lines for obvious reasons caring little the dangers that it carries with it. After the dawn of the order now in place, the two major political contenders felt the need to act on the same lines and have been mercilessly using the vast and tremendous strength of their politically affiliated students' for the purpose of the show of strength vis-à-vis the other political competitor. In the process by now the students and the organizations belonging to the congress and the communist camps have almost become like each others' enemies thus creating chaos among the non-partisan students which were in hundreds and thousands.

The educational institutions have felt the brunt of this excessive politicization of the students on political lines. This has also aligned the teachers unfortunately in to two diametrically opposed political camps. The sum total is that the teachers too seek the redressal of their grievances, albeit the political or even the administrative ones, through the mobilization of the students who are supposedly close to them on political lines. It is this process in essence that has not only maligned the credibility of the entire educational temples –be it at the primary school or University levels-but have also put a question mark over the quality of the education to be provided by politically aligned teachers.

To come to the point, like every other citadels of learning in the country, the Biratnagar based one of the oldest academic institutions of the nation currently has attracted the attention of the entire nation. The disturbed atmosphere there and the ongoing impasse since a month or so has not only cut a joke at the manner the Campus is being left to the mercy of the local political activists and the students. A sort of show of strength is being exhibited by the contending and the competing political forces active in Biratnagar. The case has become undoubtedly serious as it has only last week seen the most disgusting bizarre drama that climaxed in burning a part of the organization by a set of hooligans allegedly backed by some powerful force. The surprising part of the story is that till now neither the central authority at Kirtipur nor the local administration in Biratnagar have felt the need to do the needful so that the campus that has been closed sine die could be resumed. The resumption of the now dangling classes should get the top most priority as the poor students who have come to Biratnagar from far flung areas and those who have little to do with the existing political interference in the institution were the ones who had been subjected to a sort of mental torture.

Local journalists watching the events there carefully and the sensible teachers who themselves have become the victim of the ad nauseating and at times fanatic behaviors exhibited by some politically motivated teachers whose extra ambitions have already taken the tall maintain that if such interference's continue then one fine morning the student's agitation might culminate in a calamity the control of which would perhaps be not in the grips of the men currently manning the University and the education ministry in Katmandu.

Unconfirmed reports have it that the World bank has assured the campus administration to donate a quite good amount for the use of the expansion of the activities there. It is this money in the pipeline that has created apparently the current political drama.


Chief-Editor : Narendra Prasad Upadhyaya
Editor : Surendra Aryal
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