As the days pass, the rate of meetings between Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and UML Chairman Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli in the capital's highly active rumor market is increasing rather than decreasing.

President Sharma Oli's press expert Ram Sharan Bajgain has already told the media that the formal meeting between the top figures of the then ruling coalition and the former prime ministers, who were publicly humiliated and taken to the streets, and their co-religionists were not just for exchanging cordialities.

According to expert Bajgain, Prime Minister Sharma Oli, who had to resign under pressure, and his main political ally Deuba discussed contemporary political issues as well as the restoration of the parliament. Only then did the Congress MPs close to President Deuba reach the Supreme Court with the issue of the restoration of the parliament. It is not just a coincidence that it could also be a well-thought-out experiment to test whether the existing constitution of Nepal is alive or dead.

It is not that judges appointed through political participation always deliver political verdicts instead of constitutional ones - the social belief that once one sits on the bench of justice, favoritism ends on its own has diminished considerably, but it has not completely disappeared. The court had overturned the decision to recall ambassadors appointed through political participation, although the essence of that decision has been ignored by the unconstitutional government.

It remains to be seen how Hitendra Dev Shakya, who was recently reinstated as the Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority by the Supreme Court, will be treated by his former rival and Talukwal Minister of the unconstitutional government, Kulman Ghising. Even though the executive branch was formed unconstitutionally, if the court continues to scrutinize every decision taken by the executive branch to run the country's administration, the vehicle of governance may become sluggish and become inactive over time.

After that, even politicians who have been in search of stability since 2008 may have to resort to external forces to increase their mobility. It seems that politicians of the so-called influential parties, who have passed the period of usefulness, are interpreting the lessons of other color revolutions such as the Sartre Rebellion of 2025 only according to their own convenience. There is a popular dialogue in Hindi films - 'Hum Nahi Sudharenge'. It would not be surprising if the ‘reformers’ then took the lead again.

Even if we assume that the Haritpiit rebellion was just an autumn explosion, the speed and intensity of that unexpected event was staggering. On the morning of September 8, 2025, a few suburban youths began an anti-government demonstration from Maitighar Mandal. By noon, that small group had turned into an uncontrollable crowd. Without live broadcast, there is no point in demonstrative activism.

After the attack on the Parliament building, the scene of the police losing control and firing indiscriminately was becoming widespread. The crowd had already been captured by violent and anarchic elements, and the possibility that agents provocateurs were active among the oppressors to incite demonstrations cannot be ruled out. The series of nationwide violence, counter-violence, arson, looting and chaos that began thereafter had devastated the country’s governance system within 36 hours.

The speed of destruction was astonishing. On September 9, the Singha Durbar, the seat of the executive branch, the Parliament building, the seat of the legislature, and the Supreme Court, the seat of the judiciary, were set on fire, along with the Kantipur Group, a representative journalism organization considered the fourth organ of the state. Business establishments and hotels were also set on fire. The offices and residences of politicians were targeted, and the front of the President's House was even set on fire.

The residences of the chief ministers in the provinces were vandalized. Forced to choose between office and life, the then Prime Minister Sharma Oli had to resign and board a Nepali Army helicopter to depart for an unknown destination.

For the next three days, the Nepali Army took charge of the state in the absence of a federal government. On September 12, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was unconstitutionally appointed as the Prime Minister on the initiative of the Nepali Army, and the House of Representatives was dissolved on her recommendation. The next day, the fire that had ignited in the state had been extinguished.

It is never easy to assess the destruction caused by the explosion. While it is possible to calculate the physical and economic damage, according to the factual estimates of the informants so far, the cost of restoring the destroyed infrastructure and property is around Rs 10,000 crore.

The estimate to be spent on rehabilitation alone does not include the opportunity cost, that is, the possibility of how much other pioneering work could have been done with such a huge investment. The human damage is irreparable and irreparable - the death and mutilation of about 76 people, including a 12-year-old boy and at least 19 young men, and the injuries of about 500 and their families, are reduced to political exaggeration, neither covering up the incompetence of the previous government, nor establishing the acceptability of the current unconstitutional government.

On September 9, 2025, while writing a regular column for the Kathmandu Post Daily, the English co-publisher of this newspaper, the publishing house was in a state of panic. The newspaper was printed the next day, although the text of the column had to be placed on the official page of the (un)social network instead of the online version.

After three months of widespread destruction, today, on December 9, as I write another regular column, I feel like asking the question – what else has changed in the past three months besides the government? Visible and lasting change cannot happen in a hundred days, but even if the pace is slow, has there been any beginning to turn the country’s financial politics in the right direction? The most heart-wrenching question – was it necessary to cause a Sharad Explosion-level destruction to displace the ‘three tyrants’ politicians and hold elections to the House of Representatives before the scheduled date? Not all questions should be left to history, public accountability also means the courage and readiness to face the challenges of the present.

Not only humiliated and deposed politicians, but also the operators of the paramilitary government who came to power unconstitutionally with the promise of taking responsibility must constantly make public the justification for each of their decisions, because the House of Representatives that can hold them accountable does not exist now.

If public memory is short, it is a shame. But the shortness of memory itself is not an eternal truth. It is a reality that is created and continues to be created by the collective will of the larger society to decide what it considers worth remembering, what it finds easy to forget, and what it wants to bury in the darkness of history. The process of public memory selects memory, legitimizes forgetting, and makes oblivion a tool of power. In that sense, memory itself is not shortened, it is made shorter.

It is not certain whether the circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to keep the list of 45 martyrs declared as ‘Gen-G good governance warriors’ in all district administration offices or the identity cards distributed to the injured of the so-called ‘Gen-G movement’ are tools of memory or weapons to push them into oblivion. But it has not been seen so far that politicians in power or aspiring to power have pondered the lessons of the autumn explosion, the year 2025.

Ideological emptiness

The American market has created demographic categories such as Baby Boomers (1946–1964), Generation X (1965–1980), Millennials or Generation Y (1981–1996), Zoomers or Gen-G (1997–2012), and Generation Alpha (2013–2025) based on birth period, nature of consumption, and mindset. Inspired by that, a decade ago, a columnist proposed classifying Nepali politicians based on their tendencies.

People of the ‘Tyagi Pusta’ born before 1950 read classic books and their political tendencies were idealistic. People born between 1950–1960 grew up during the heyday of the autocratic Shah’s rule and the Cold War competition, and politics based on certainty such as capitalism or communism made them ideologically a ‘lost generation’.

They grew up digesting the propaganda of their respective parties, so even if they do not believe in their own ideas from the bottom of their hearts, they can defend them brilliantly. Their dominance in contemporary politics continues. For the Mahendramala generation born between 1960-1970, there was no greater duty than protecting and promoting their own interests. This group, educated by reading guide books, is now called young politicians and intellectuals. 

The ‘public opinion generation’ born between 1980 and 1990 must have experienced the most emptiness – newspaper pages filled with news of economic problems, corruption and violence and counter-violence in the name of Maoism, and television advertisements promoting consumerism, would have encouraged them to go abroad.

The ‘individualist generation’ born between 1990-2000, who did not want to go abroad or were unable to do so, have become accustomed to the politics of criticizing all politicians, reveling in newspaper rumors and internet chatter. There are exceptions to every rule, but the egocentrism of the individualist generation can reach the level of aggressive narcissism – the song ‘Bhatkaidinchu Bakhrako Khor Pani’ perhaps reflects their emotional deviation. The ‘democratic generation’ of those born after 2000, who now prefer to call themselves ‘Gen-G’, is an entitled group of people who grew up in an economy driven by remittances, an NGO-promoted ideology and a relatively open environment. They feel that every economic and political coin is a ‘cryptocurrency’, which cannot have two sides.

Due to the compulsion of the Covid era, this group of young people, accustomed to the internet and dependent on (un)social networks, has become addicted to instant conclusions. Democracy is inherently a slow system, because the main purpose of the democratic process is to increase the acceptability of every decision by creating ownership and belonging of the common people and to minimize the possibility of wrongdoing through extensive discussion.

The individualist as well as the republican generation is not able to assimilate that fact. Their technology-based chaos cannot be addressed by traditional economic and political ideologies. In fact, politicians of the internet-free generation have also slowly started becoming ideologically free since the 1990s. With the rise of the free market in the world of thought after the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic and political policies have slowly shifted from traditional liberalism to ‘liberalism’, or in the language of Bhairav ​​Aryal, ‘Jai Bhundi’.

Nepal’s state power has always been exploitative. When the uncontrollable desire, consumption, greed, greed and selfishness of the free market are combined with the exploitative tendency, it is not unusual for corruption to skyrocket, migration to increase, and sometimes visible and sometimes suppressed violence to spread. The democratic system used to run on default legitimacy rather than performance. That is not acceptable to the generation that wants instant results.

Therefore, the practice of traditional democracy is now under widespread pressure all over the world. Recently, the head of the unconstitutional government, Karki, has stated that the government's main responsibility is to hold elections on the announced date and hand over power to the youth power, leading the country on the path of rapid development. The implication of the declaration is heard by Prachanda.

It is not only the head of the government who wants the elections to be held on the announced date, but the major political parties must be willing and ready for that. If the election results continue the dominance of politicians who are more mature than the youth power, his wishes may be in vain. र, तीव्र विकासको मार्ग सामान्यजनको आजीविकामा ‘डोजर’ चलाएर बन्छ भने त्यसको स्विकार्यता कदापि स्थापित हुन सक्दैन ।

वैचारिक शून्यताले गर्दा राजनीतिकर्मीहरूले अर्थराजनीतिको मूल उद्देश्य सम्पन्नको समृद्धि मात्र नभएर विपन्नको उत्थानसहित समन्याय हुनुपर्छ भन्ने कुरा बिर्सिएकाले समग्र समाज असन्तुष्टिको ज्वालामुखी बोकेर बसिरहेको छ । शरद् विस्फोटले ज्वालामुखीलाई केही कालका लागि सुषुप्त अवस्थामा पुर्‍याएको मात्रै हो । व्यवहार सँगसँगै नेपालको अर्थराजनीतिका विसंगतिहरूका लागि ‘उदरवाद’ बन्न पुगेको ‘बजारु उदारवाद’ लाई पनि दिनुपर्ने हुन्छ ।

'उदरवाद’ को प्रकोप

परम्परागत उदारवादलाई व्यक्तिगत स्वतन्त्रता, विधिको शासन, मानवअधिकार, सहिष्णुता, संविधानवाद एवं आफ्ना गल्तीलाई स्वीकार गरेर सच्याउन तत्पर रहने निरन्तर परिस्करणको प्रक्रियालाई बुझ्ने गरिन्थ्यो । कालान्तरमा त्यस्ता गुणहरू नै कमजोरीहरू बन्दै गएका छन् । समाजवादको स्वर मन्द हुन थालेपछि अत्यधिक ‘व्यक्ति–केन्द्रीयता’ को राजनीतिले संसारलाई नै गाँज्न थालेको छ ।

दुई ठूला प्रजातान्त्रिक देश भनिने अमेरिका र भारतमा राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प एवं प्रधानमन्त्री नरेन्द्र मोदीको निरन्तर विजयले समसामयिक राजनीतिमा सामाजिक ऐक्यबद्धता कमजोर, सामूहिकताको स्खलन एवं अन्तरसामुदायिक सम्बन्ध उपेक्षित हुँदै गएर बहुसंख्यकवादका नाममा ‘निर्वाचित राजा’ अवधारणा हाबी हुँदै गएको स्पष्ट देख्न सकिन्छ । एक हिसाबले आतुर पुस्ता पनि भन्न मिल्ने तथाकथित ‘जेन–जी’ समूहले आत्मविश्वासी र आत्ममुग्ध प्रियतावादी राजनीतिकर्मीलाई काँधमा बोक्न अलिकति पनि हिचकिचाहट देखाइरहेको छैन ।

संरचनागत असमानताप्रति असंवेदनशीलता आतुर पुस्ताले अँगालेको बजारु उदारवादको अर्को उल्लेख्य कमजोरी हो । विजेताहरूले बनाएको इतिहासले शक्ति संरचना खडा गर्छ । त्यसपछिको बराबरी यथार्थमा गैरबराबरहरूबीचको बराबरी बन्न पुग्दछ, जहाँ शक्तिशाली झनै शक्तिशाली र कमजोर झनै कमजोर बन्दै जान्छन् । त्यसैले समाजवादीहरूले समानता अवसरको मात्र नभएर परिणाममा समेत देखिनुपर्छ भने अवधारणा अगाडि ल्याएका थिए ।

सक्षमतन्त्रको दुहाई दिएर समन्यायको सिद्धान्तलाई झ्यालबाट मिल्काएपछि बाँकी रहने भनेको यथास्थितिको सबलीकरण हो । बहुसंख्यकवाद हाबी रहेको राज्य समाजमा तिरस्कृत र बहिष्कृत समूहका दुःख, पीडा र उत्पीडनलाई विभाजक ठहर्‍याइन्छ भने मूलधारको दमनकारी र दोहनकारी आवाजलाई पनि सहिष्णुताका नाममा स्विकार्य ठहर्‍याइन्छ ।

त्यसपछि उग्र राष्ट्रवाद, धार्मिक कट्टरता एवं निर्वाचित अधिनायकवाद सुस्तरी मान्य बन्न पुग्दछ । कुन आवश्यकता वा वैधानिकताका आधारमा सरकार प्रमुख कार्कीले बैंकको ऋण तिर्न नसकेर अनेक निहुँ खोजिरहेका दुर्गा प्रसाईंसँग प्रधानमन्त्री कार्यालयमा वार्ता गर्नुपरेको हो, अहिलेसम्म स्पष्ट हुन सकेको छैन । 

नियम, प्रक्रिया, कानुन, संवैधानिकता, निर्वाचन र प्रथाजस्ता अभ्यासमा आधारित अत्यधिक प्रक्रियावादले प्रजातान्त्रिक उदारवादलाई प्रियतावादभन्दा पनि बढी हानि पुर्‍याइरहेको हुन्छ । संविधान ढुंगामा कुँदिएको पावन अक्षर नभएर जीवन्त दस्ताबेज हो, समयअनुसार त्यसमा परिवर्तन गर्न सकिएन भने त्यो च्यातिन्छ । अत्यधिक यथास्थितिवादले राजनीतिलाई कहाँसम्म पुर्‍याउने रहेछ भन्ने कुरा विघटित संसद्को सबभन्दा ठूलो दल कांग्रेस दोस्रो दल एमालेसँग सर्वथा अनैतिक गठबन्धनमा पुग्नुपरेको अवस्थाले देखाएको थियो ।

प्रजातान्त्रिक उदारवाद अवसान्मुख बनाएको भने उन्मुक्त बजारको केन्द्रीयताले हो । उपभोक्ताबाट कर संकलन गरेर राज्यलाई बुझाउने र नाफाका लागि सञ्चालित उद्यममार्फत रोजगार उपलब्ध गराउने व्यापारीहरू आधारभूत रूपमा सबै करको बोझ बोक्ने र कानुन मान्ने नागरिकभन्दा महत्त्वपूर्ण ठहर्‍याइने भएपछि राज्य सत्ता सुस्तरी दमनकारी संयन्त्रमा रूपान्तरित हुँदै जान्छ ।