Hiroshima day was observed, as in the past years, in Kathmandu by PSRN on 6th of August, 2007. The executive committee had decided to observe the day this year in a slightly different way and to use the opportunity to reiterate our commitment to the civil society and the people of the country.
With Dr. Arun Dixit, the Treasurer of PSRN as the Organizer, and assisted by Bhisma, the event was brief, and powerful. As the purpose was to express our commitments to the civil society, we did not go for media publicity. In stead, we tried to cement the close and strong bond between activists and civil society dedicated to the cause of peace, human rights, democracy and social justice.
Dr. Sharad Onta, the general secretary PSRN, acted as the master of Ceremony. No formal ‘Dias’ for the ‘dignitaries’ was used. Everybody including the President of PSRN, who was also chairing the session, was seated cross legged on the floor of the Sama Theater of GURUKUL- a drama school dedicated to movement for democracy and peace through theater arts.
The commemorative program started solemnly with one minute of silence in memory of victims of nuclear and all wars that took place on the planet. To add further gravity and solemnity to the environment, Raamesh and Rayan, two prominent and popular singer/musicians who have been working for about four decades for the cause of democracy and social justice through music, started the program by singing a song that said
“You give me your hands,
And I’ll give you mine,
For the cause of justice and equality
Come, let’s work hand in hand…
You give me your voice
And I’ll give my voice
…. … …”
The song created a serene environment.
This was followed by poetry recitation by well known poets like Durgalal Shrestha, Bikram Subba, Arjun Parajuli, Aruna Uprety, Sulochana Manandhar and others. “Artists of the Democratic Movement” Gopal Thakur and Nanda Krishna Joshi sang songs that clearly indicated the need for doing away with monarchy and take the road of Republican Democracy.
In between these songs and poems, Dr. Saroj P. Dhital took the floor and spoke on the concerns and stance of PSRN regarding the current national and international scenario.
He made it clear that observing Hiroshima Day by Nepali physicians is more than just rituals. The danger of nuclear war being not much farther than a nuke accident, Nepal needs to be concerned about and continue opposing the presence and increase in the number of nuclear war heads in the region- he said. He also expressed the grave concern regarding the US-India nuclear deal. With the military dictatorship in Pakistan getting more and more unpopular, the possibility of US entering the region on the pretext of fighting terrorism was another concern. He expressed the commitment of PSRN on relentlessly opposing these anti-human phenomena in the region. “Besides the nuclear threats, PSRN is also concerned about some regional and and national issues. We abhor the illegal construction of dams in the Indian territory by the Indian government just across the border and parallel to the Nepal-India border. That has been causing floods and causing immeasurable harms to the people in the Terai planes of Nepal for years, yet the Indian government has been paying deaf ears to the Nepalese pleas. We are equally sympathetic to the sufferings of Indian people across the border. But the man-made problem due to the dams and roads above the ground level needs to be eliminated”. Talking about the movement by Madheshis and ethnic groups of the people for inclusive democracy, Dhital made it clear that their struggle is for a just cause and that has to be addressed immediately by the state. He also warned that failure to be inclusive will abort the republican democracy and may bring back monarchy to life. He also expressed his opinion about the Citizen’s Movement for Peace and Democracy and said that the movement is a never-dying-movement that keeps on being shaped by the need of the times and of the nation. The President of PSRN, Prof. Mathura P. Shrestha, who was chairing the session, concluded the meeting with his scholarly remarks that was, in reality, not only a source of energy for all to continue fighting for a better world to live in, but also an intellectual discourse on the important issues of peace, justice and subtle realities concerning republic and democracy . Finally, the artistes and students of the GURUKUL School of Theatre Arts, following the Augusto Boel’s style of “theatre of the oppressed” gave a performance that left the audience with serious questions regarding the obstacles on the path towards a democratic new Nepal.