In the first session of Bookhill Bookanza, 'Disagreement-Tantra', held at Hotel Pokhara Grand, they expressed critical views on contemporary politics, leadership, and governance trends.
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Analyst Saurabh, who has been questioning established interpretations of society, culture, and history, and writer Ekant Sharma, who considers ancient traditions and culture to be the basis of nation-building, made their different disagreements public from the same platform in Pokhara on Saturday.
In the first session of Bookhill Bookanza, ‘Disagreement-Tantra’, organized by Bookhill and co-organized by Random Readers Society at Hotel Pokhara Grand, they expressed their critical views on contemporary politics, leadership and governance trends. Speaking at the
program, analyst Saurabh commented that a new generation may immediately see an unstable situation when the country takes over the governance of the country. ‘If the new generation takes over the governance of the state, it seems like Nepal will be on fire for the first seven days,’ he said, ‘There is a lack of clear vision, thinking and ideas.’
Saurabh recalled the incident in 2030 BS when the then Prime Minister Kirtinidhi Bista resigned, taking moral responsibility, when the Singha Durbar caught fire. Comparing that, he disagreed that no one took responsibility when various places including Singha Durbar were set on fire during the Gen-G movement on Bhadra 23 and 24. ‘Even though there was no direct blame at that time, the Prime Minister resigned,’ he said, ‘Today, even when there is a fire in the city and in Singha Durbar, no one takes responsibility.’
According to him, there is deep anger among the general public against the current political leadership. He made a sarcastic comment, showing the level of public anger against former Prime Ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba, KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal. ‘Even if someone takes those three leaders away, many do not think that sovereignty has been affected,’ he said, ‘Instead, there is a situation where we will celebrate Diwali for seven nights.’
Both speakers at the program also criticized the working style of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah.
Regarding the metropolis’s removal of street vendors in the name of making roads open, writer Ekant argued that Kathmandu is not just a city but the capital of the country. ‘Kathmandu is not just Kathmandu for me, it is the capital of the country,’ he said, ‘Citizens from East Mechi to West Mahakali should be able to come here and make a living.’
Saurabh also supported the idea, saying that removing street vendors has had a huge social impact. ‘Removing one hundred thousand street vendors affects the livelihood of about four hundred thousand people,’ he said. He also claimed that billions of rupees have been accumulated in the Kathmandu Metropolitan City without being spent.
Ekant emphasized that the leadership of Kathmandu should rise above the limited thinking of the local level and work. ‘Those who run Kathmandu Metropolitan City should not behave like ward presidents,’ he said, ‘They should think about the situation of all citizens living here, thinking that they are the head of the capital.’
