The Greek scholar Heraclitus has a saying – ‘You cannot step into the same river twice.’ That is, ‘You cannot step into the same river twice.’ However, we kept daring to step into the same river, into the same water, again and again, even though we had built a dam. We kept ignoring the currents brought by the needs of time. We did not have time to think that one day the dam might break. One day the dam broke.

The river made its own path, different and wider than before. As the river made its way, no one was left in its path. At first, there were no remains of the dam, no thorn and shrubbery, no settlements of the fishermen, no fishermen's huts, and even the huts of the saints. While all these things were gone, some songs remained. The roar of hope and energy could be clearly heard in the speed of the river, and even after reaching the bottom, the river continued to flow -

'You can't step into the same river twice....'

There is a term in economics - Dutch disease. In the 1970s, the Netherlands discovered a large amount of natural gas reserves in its country. This not only made the Netherlands rich, but also strengthened the exchange rate of its currency, the Dutch guilder. Due to the strong currency, Dutch products became more expensive in the international market. The country basically started to depend on gas revenue and other sectors started to weaken. This showed high inflation and laxity in the Dutch economy. And, the economy started to fall ill. This contradiction came to be known as the ‘Dutch Disease’.

‘Dutch Disease’ can become an equally relevant term not only in economics but also in sociology. Like different aspects of the economy, society also has different aspects and dimensions. If all the power, resources, attention, and energy of the country are concentrated in one aspect, the other aspects are almost certain to perish. In the context of Nepal, there are no such non-political power centers. As almost all the institutions of society were politicized or, let us say, there was no diversification of power in the institutions of society, then elements of rebellion naturally emerged from different places. The country has never sought the need for good and non-political institutions like it has today.

For example, let us look at our universities. Universities should be temples of knowledge, thought, and conscience. But today those temples are silent. Even when children in school uniforms are killed on the streets, universities remain silent. As a result, the meaning of education and consciousness has been questioned. At one time, leadership was born from these universities, the seeds of movement sprouted, and the country found a new direction.

The student movement of 2036 paved the way for a referendum, and students were also at the forefront of the people's movements of 2046 and 2062/63. But today, these institutions are not laboratories of thought, but arenas for parties. Independent ideas have been displaced after the places that produce knowledge have become centers for running administration on the recommendation of the party.

If we ignore so many revolutions and rebellions in our own society and do not engage in building timely leadership, the difference between high school and university will not be clear. And, future generations will continue to wage leaderless and confused rebellions, continuously. But some universities in the world could not remain silent when times were looking for change.

Dhaka University became the center of freedom in the 1971 liberation movement. Many students and teachers were also killed when the army attacked the university. At that time, the words of the professors and the voices of the students became the voice of the country. When the university can speak even when the state remains silent and autocratic, then the house of knowledge becomes the voice of justice.

Similarly, during the Emergency of 1975, Delhi University in India became the voice of freedom and expression. When Indira Gandhi declared Emergency, press freedom and civil rights were taken away. At that time, students of Delhi University took to the streets and protested in favor of democracy.

Leaders like Arun Jaitley emerged from that student movement, who later played a major role in national politics and policy-making. Universities sometimes produce heroes of not only political but also democratic consciousness. In the context of Nepal, Tribhuvan University was once a center of thought.

The first generation of the country's education came out of there. But over time, the university became a tool for political arguments and subterfuge, not ideas, but more than ideas. And that is a form of ‘social Dutch disease’ – when power, resources and consciousness are all concentrated in one direction, other parts of society begin to wither.

But many universities around the world have shown the cure. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese universities became centers for the scientific and moral reconstruction of the country. Academics at the University of Tokyo preached peace, science and social renaissance. Universities revived the spirit of post-war Japan through new curricula, research and policies. When the country was physically destroyed, universities revived it intellectually.

In the United States of the 1930s, university economists also advised the government on policy during the Great Depression. Harvard and Yale professors suggested bank regulation and financial restructuring to stabilize the economy. Universities helped to apply new economic theories such as Keynesian economics to policymaking. Thus, when the country was economically stagnant, universities became not just centers of learning – they became ‘think tanks’ for the nation’s policies and renaissance.