Have Your Say: Life on hold

And we naively thought our troubles were over. But barely had the new constitution been promulgated, when a fresh set of troubles set in. With the recent blockade, we are facing a severe crisis and there seems to be no respite in sight. We asked a few people to share their frustrations and concerns.

Shanta Lama, 40, Migrant worker

I came here a month ago from abroad for three months, and I had no idea that the situation would be so bad here. We don’t have any gas, and for the past month, I’ve been living with my sister who resides at Chobhar and we’ve been using firewood for the past 15 days. We’ll soon run out of stray pieces of wood as well, and I’m almost wishing that the authorities at least let us collect firewood from around the area. You can say that we haven’t been able to cook rice all this while. My daughters are living with relatives as I haven’t found a place to live, and I don’t think I’ll be finding one anytime soon. I’ll be gone before long. With no room of my own and problems abound, I’m not very encouraged to come home again. I came home after such a long time and at least expected a happy reunion. But it was not to be. Like they say in ‘Meri Basai’, there is no happiness despite all that you do.

Sita Chalise, 42, Small business owner

I don’t want to blame the government, but I’m in a condition where soon we’ll run out of resources to run the house, send the kids to school, and pay the rent for my shop. Everything has almost come to a halt. We haven’t been able to cook our meals, and if you go to the market, the price of daily essentials has sky-rocketed. I don’t know whether the situation is genuine or goods have been stashed somewhere for extortion from people. I won’t be able to purchase it anyway. We are daily wage earners and we are suffering because we aren’t able to earn our living at the moment. There must be more people like us and even some who are in much worse conditions. Why doesn't the government look for alternative solutions? I’m tired of thinking about it, and there seems to be no other option for us commoners.

Prabin Bhujel, 20, Student
I came to Kathmandu just a day ago and I’m not surprised to find that the situation in Sindhuli, where I’m from, is almost like it is here. I came looking for a job after my studies and am a little lost as to what I should do. The situation seems to be the same everywhere. Back home, we’ve been using heater or rice cooker to prepare the meals. I think if we look for alternatives, we can find them soon. I’ve heard that exudates (khoto) from sal tree, if processed, can be used as a replacement for fuel. There could be many alternatives that are waiting to be explored, but we are simply not looking. It’s never too late to start looking into these things. It might not be easy, but they aren’t impossible as well. And it’s okay if we can’t prepare the materials right now. As long as there’s the prospect that in the future we can be a tiny bit self-reliant, it will be enough.

Dipendra Manandhar, 40, Jeweler
This is clearly India’s attempt to bully us. To block the petroleum supplies over a nation’s internal matter like constitution concerns is unacceptable. India may deny all they want about their involvement in this “unofficial” blockade but who are we kidding? It’s as clear as day what’s going on here. So in this circumstance, I believe, succumbing to any kind of pressure would be unwise. In fact, it is not even an option. The situation at the moment is certainly inconvenient for all of us but regardless we Nepalis must stick together.

Our constitution was promulgated with a majority of 90% vote, a small faction can’t hold a country hostage in this manner. I believe the main parties shouldn’t have ignored the Madhesi party’s demands before making the constitution. However, some of the Madhesi party’s recent demands are unreasonable. Especially where provinces are concerned, it would be unwise to separate the Tarai belt entirely. So indeed, things are difficult at the moment and such may be the case for some time now, but we can’t submit to the Indian wishes. Having said that, I earnestly hope the leaders are working hard to figure out other alternatives.

Shivraj Thatal, 32, Businessman

Unfortunately at the moment, there isn’t anything we can do about the political problem. It’s the ones who call themselves our leaders who need to hold discussions and sort this out. After all, it is their incompetence that has bought us here. Daily lives are being severely affected at the moment and the scary prospect is that the situation could easily take a turn for the worse. Also I’m not only talking about the petrol shortage, businesses are being hampered as we speak.
I own a clothing store. We used to earn almost a year’s worth of earnings during the Dashain season. However, at the moment, nobody is coming to buy things and who can blame them, the future is so uncertain. People have more pressing issues such as cooking gas on their minds and we all think it is best to save at this moment.

In my opinion, viable solutions should take precedence over egos and pride. Many people claim they don’t mind suffering for a while if that means not bowing down to the Indian wishes, however, I’m for beneficial deals which will take us out of this predicament. This deal could be with China, India or America for all I care. This situation cannot continue for long and that’s it.

Laxmi Bharadwaj, 28, Beautician

After almost a decade of waiting, we welcomed our country’s new constitution. However no sooner were the celebrations over, we are faced with such a massive national and international political complication. It’s sad because we can’t forget that many people are still suffering from the damages of the earthquake. Livelihoods and families were already in a precarious position for many and now, this only makes matters worse.

Further, this was supposed to be our festive season. I was looking forward to go to my village but so far, it looks like that won’t be a possibility. I can barely make it to work. I have to change two micro buses but they are usually so packed that I have started walking half the way. It’s such a waste of time and energy. Then there are troubles at home. I’m stressing about LPG because if this continues, in about two weeks, I might not be able to cook food at all.

What India is doing is inexcusable. I don’t think we should surrender to their wishes. What’s more, we have to realize that Nepalis are creating these problems for Nepalis themselves. The parties must come up with solutions and special arrangements. A time like this is when they can prove their competence.