Jana Andolan journal | Readers Write

As a politically inactive but concerned teenager, I feel one with many of my peers. Our situations in life might be different but it is our right and duty to speak for democracy. Nepal is our country and what we do determines the kind of life we lead and our future.

During the past few years, the escalating number of news reports about attacks, counterattacks, abductions, bomb blasts, and deaths have troubled me. But never had I thought my life would one day reflect what Anne Frank wrote about in her Diary – about how killing and conflict affected her. I never thought I would write about a revolution or history as it happened. Here are excerpts from my journal during the Jana Andolan:

8 April 2006: Yesterday, Baba went to Teaching Hospital at 9AM to join the protests despite the curfew from 10AM. He was caught and taken to Mahendra Police Club. They will take him to Bhaktapur today. We took him clothes and other necessities at 5AM. There are dozens of people with him, most of them journalists and human rights activists.

10 April: The security personnel are brutally beating up the protestors. Private media have not been given curfew passes. Four protestors died today. All I can think of is what US civil rights activist Bobby Seale said, 'You can jail a revolutionary but you cannot jail the revolution. You can kill a revolutionary but you cannot kill a revolution.' Kathmanduites should concentrate on peaceful protests like those in Kirtipur rather than burning tyres and pelting stones.

11 April: The king may be more educated than the politicians but people should be ruled by people. We need rulers who can identify with our needs. The government claims that the king's direct rule has improved the situation of the country in aspects like corruption. Nepal just moved from 145 in 2004 to 117 among 158 nations in corruption reports of 2005. Who are they trying to kid?

12 April: We went to meet Baba today, sat and talked to him in the chautara in the compound. We weren't allowed to see the rooms but his friends said they had been given beds and some had taken sleeping bags with them on the very first night. Baba says they are treated fairly well but other young people who were arrested and are not that well known haven't had it so good.

15 April: Although the seven parties initiated the revolution, it has snowballed into something bigger than they envisioned -- a people's revolution. Not all Jana Andolan participants are affiliated to political parties in the alliance. The people want democracy, which is better for the people.

16 April: Baba was released on bail today. He's always on the phone talking to people. The Andolan is still going strong. Five people dead, 15 missing so far. I think they are dead too. People should think twice before they say 'Give the king a chance'. The royal regime has had chances for 200 years since Prithivi Narayan Shah. All they did was engage in power struggle and the Rana regime chipped away 104 years. The country has lost more than it gained – development, economy, living standards and education went down the drain.

20 April: The issue now is not whether democracy will be reinstated or not. That must be. The question is: when? Unlike Anne Frank, I will live to see my people win.

25 April: Last night at 11, the king announced the restoration of the parliament. We are hopeful that the parties will accept it and that the new government will announce elections for a constituent assembly. Then a new constitution will be drafted according to the people's demands. It is a time for celebration, joy engulfs the nation. I joined the millions of people to celebrate people's power like my mother did in 1990, two months after I was born. We are born with hope and that's what we live on.