Awakening KU and Academic Freedom
The events unfolding in KU have made us conscious of the fact that KU is boiling under a crisis that is set by obstinate behaviour of Suresh Raj Sharma by not recognizing struggle for academic freedom and organizational rights. This stubbornness of Suresh Raj has made it easier for ordinary mortals like us to figure out what are his intentions. This is a painful predicament for people who stand for academic excellence and freedom and organizational rights in the world. When emotions and passions rule over reasoning and aspirations of select few take a wrong turn putting "us" against "you" among the common KU members, academic autonomy become family dictatorship. It has, therefore, become important for every conscious observer of KU to pause for a bit and think of solutions that are compassionate, fair, insightful and lasting to free KU from the blood stained clutches of Suresh Raj and his clan.
A handful of visionless, uncompassionate and bootlicking deans and their henchmen, HODs, are ruling KU for many years by keeping the faculties and staff at large in a servile, hostile and suffocating state. It was next to impossible for KU faculties who were living in perpetual indignity and neglect to experience any event to shore up their self esteem, confidence, emotions and passions. The changes in KU that gradually unfolded after exposure of highhandedness of Suresh Raj and Sitaram by this blog, and especially during the last 6 months has brought a heightened awareness among KUs previously powerless faculties and staffs. Every belittled faculty and staff has now started to figure out that he/she is somebody like every other VC or Dean or Registrar or HODs and no one could ever dwarf his/her potentials through the continuation of unjust practices in KU.
This awakening is a tremendous blessing for an academia that is in a dire need of transformation. This awakening allows the powerless faculties and staff to take huge and bold steps that they could never have taken in the past. Also, it allows them to correct the injustices of so many years in a timeframe of a few months and release fresh energy required to fuel academic excellence of KU. Having said that, the same awakening can also turn into a curse if power hungry elements become bootlickers of Suresh Raj and confuse the present movement to save so called relatives. People who charge Suresh Raj of exercising Nepotism must never practice it. However, it is a bitter reality that people who generally represent oppressed voices too turn into the oppressors. In such situation, questions arises, who is going to show the light to oppressed people who are in the process of awakening and searching for that illusive goal of fairness and justice?
The answer to this lies in one thing and that is to trust our common wisdom. If we trust our common wisdom, then we all awakened people will without doubt be able to steer present crisis in KU to an opportunity for better academic excellence. It is not difficult to assume that if we loose our confidence, then we are likely to fall in the vicious campaigns of our common oppressor Suresh Raj and his cronies even after putting such a long and arduous fight for the liberation of KU from petty elements. A challenge has, therefore, emerged in front of all those who stand for academic freedom and to those who have constantly used their intellectual dexterity beyond protests to make the whole world aware of greed, avarice and hunger of Suresh Raj Sharma. We are not required to be compassionate to those who are knowingly hobnobbing, licking the boots and attacking righteous faculties at the prodding of Suresh Raj, Sitaram, Bhola Thapa, Pushpa Raj, and Bhadra Man Tuladhar and exploiting our awakening for unethical profit. But we must open our hearts to all those who are awakened with pure sincerity. It would be important to emphasize that others will trust us only if we prove to be trustworthy to them and vice versa.
For the last six months, the KU authorities has steered KU situation so badly that many staffs – academic and administrative have either lost their jobs or lives. Merely for speaking up their voices in support of a fight to gain dignity for the oppressed, the devolution of an honest academic and working environment, correction of old nepotisms and the construction of a fair society in KU, these sacrifices are monumental. All these people who came under direct attack of Suresh Raj regime have showed right direction for all of us if we want to be real preachers of academic values. However, Suresh Raj has always disappointed many of us as he could not proportionally reciprocate these sacrifices by leaving KU in dignified manner. Suresh Raj regime might have thought that they would fight back thorough intimidation, coercion, misleading campaign, and alliances with academic mafias of Nepal to silence dignified faculty members.
It would be foolhardy on the part of Suresh Raj to think that most of the people in the protests against him are either puppets of bad leaders or want to install someone as VC in KU. It is better to think that many people are in the protests not due to any motives for personal benefits but due to shared vision for an enlightened leadership of the system which can address the grievances of now awaken faculty members, students and other staffs of KU. And, it is also true that some regressive and opportunistic elements may have utilized this as a good opportunity to destabilize our fraternity and bond; they could not have any better opportunity for pouring ample fuel than when there is fire. Irrespective of these elements, let us continue our attempts to dislodge bloodthirsty regime of Suresh Raj as an awakened member of KU for better academic environment in KU.
A handful of visionless, uncompassionate and bootlicking deans and their henchmen, HODs, are ruling KU for many years by keeping the faculties and staff at large in a servile, hostile and suffocating state. It was next to impossible for KU faculties who were living in perpetual indignity and neglect to experience any event to shore up their self esteem, confidence, emotions and passions. The changes in KU that gradually unfolded after exposure of highhandedness of Suresh Raj and Sitaram by this blog, and especially during the last 6 months has brought a heightened awareness among KUs previously powerless faculties and staffs. Every belittled faculty and staff has now started to figure out that he/she is somebody like every other VC or Dean or Registrar or HODs and no one could ever dwarf his/her potentials through the continuation of unjust practices in KU.
This awakening is a tremendous blessing for an academia that is in a dire need of transformation. This awakening allows the powerless faculties and staff to take huge and bold steps that they could never have taken in the past. Also, it allows them to correct the injustices of so many years in a timeframe of a few months and release fresh energy required to fuel academic excellence of KU. Having said that, the same awakening can also turn into a curse if power hungry elements become bootlickers of Suresh Raj and confuse the present movement to save so called relatives. People who charge Suresh Raj of exercising Nepotism must never practice it. However, it is a bitter reality that people who generally represent oppressed voices too turn into the oppressors. In such situation, questions arises, who is going to show the light to oppressed people who are in the process of awakening and searching for that illusive goal of fairness and justice?
The answer to this lies in one thing and that is to trust our common wisdom. If we trust our common wisdom, then we all awakened people will without doubt be able to steer present crisis in KU to an opportunity for better academic excellence. It is not difficult to assume that if we loose our confidence, then we are likely to fall in the vicious campaigns of our common oppressor Suresh Raj and his cronies even after putting such a long and arduous fight for the liberation of KU from petty elements. A challenge has, therefore, emerged in front of all those who stand for academic freedom and to those who have constantly used their intellectual dexterity beyond protests to make the whole world aware of greed, avarice and hunger of Suresh Raj Sharma. We are not required to be compassionate to those who are knowingly hobnobbing, licking the boots and attacking righteous faculties at the prodding of Suresh Raj, Sitaram, Bhola Thapa, Pushpa Raj, and Bhadra Man Tuladhar and exploiting our awakening for unethical profit. But we must open our hearts to all those who are awakened with pure sincerity. It would be important to emphasize that others will trust us only if we prove to be trustworthy to them and vice versa.
For the last six months, the KU authorities has steered KU situation so badly that many staffs – academic and administrative have either lost their jobs or lives. Merely for speaking up their voices in support of a fight to gain dignity for the oppressed, the devolution of an honest academic and working environment, correction of old nepotisms and the construction of a fair society in KU, these sacrifices are monumental. All these people who came under direct attack of Suresh Raj regime have showed right direction for all of us if we want to be real preachers of academic values. However, Suresh Raj has always disappointed many of us as he could not proportionally reciprocate these sacrifices by leaving KU in dignified manner. Suresh Raj regime might have thought that they would fight back thorough intimidation, coercion, misleading campaign, and alliances with academic mafias of Nepal to silence dignified faculty members.
It would be foolhardy on the part of Suresh Raj to think that most of the people in the protests against him are either puppets of bad leaders or want to install someone as VC in KU. It is better to think that many people are in the protests not due to any motives for personal benefits but due to shared vision for an enlightened leadership of the system which can address the grievances of now awaken faculty members, students and other staffs of KU. And, it is also true that some regressive and opportunistic elements may have utilized this as a good opportunity to destabilize our fraternity and bond; they could not have any better opportunity for pouring ample fuel than when there is fire. Irrespective of these elements, let us continue our attempts to dislodge bloodthirsty regime of Suresh Raj as an awakened member of KU for better academic environment in KU.
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