As we go into February, it would be good if we could say that it's only love that's in the air. Unfortunately, it's not just the romantic tension of Valentine's Day in the horizon ahead; the last few weeks have seen undercurrents of political and communal tension that had been bubbling in the tarai break to the surface in a devastating fashion.
This issue we're talking mostly about young love, and the symbols that go with it, the hearts, the roses, and lots of romantic red. Valentine's Day may be an imported tradition, but by our book any day that celebrates the power of love is, in moderation, not a bad idea. There are a million clichés and cheesy song titles; love makes the world go round, all we need is love, love will keep us alive. But the reason why they become clichés is because there's truth in them, a truth that everyone sees and recognises.
As love and relationships, the recent events in the tarai are complex, and there are no easy answers. As with so many other events in our recent history, the biggest victims have been young. Pramod Sada was just 15 when he died; Ramesh Kumar Mahato was 16, and Muhammad Alam was18. The reasons for the violence behind their deaths are legion— issues of discrimination, exclusion, ethnicity, and opportunity. The list goes on, and so do the slogans with them. We just hope that, like with Valentine's Day, we can all learn to look past the symbolic shortcuts and clichéd chants to listen and learn what lies behind them—and after that, work to address it. Hopefully, with love and understanding, we can work this out.
