A comedy of errors led to the tragedy at Balkumari, Lalitpur, on Friday that resulted in the deaths of two Nepali youths. Birendra Shah, a 21-year-old from Achham district, and Sujan Raut, a 23-year-old from Dailekh, died when police intervened in a protest. The two were among the hundreds protesting outside the EPS Centre at Balkumari, demanding that they get to appear for a language test for employment in South Korea. Citing the Korean government’s policy of not entertaining applicants for one job to apply for another, the Department of Foreign Employment had barred them from the ‘Employment Permit System [EPS] Test of Proficiency in Korean’, a specialised language ability test designed to select foreigners for South Korean jobs. What angered the protesters is that the Nepal government had allowed 18 others who had also failed the earlier test to sit for the new test. This was in keeping with the Patan High Court interim order last week that the government allow the 18 people who had petitioned it to appear in the new language test. Only after the deadly clashes early on Friday did the same court rule that everyone who had earlier failed can take the new test.

Two things about the twin high court rulings jump out. One, why did the court wait for people to get killed before deciding that all those who failed earlier could sit for the new exam, instead of just the 18 petitioners? Two, the provision that candidates who fail one test cannot sit for another is a requirement of the South Korean government. Can a Nepali court of law change such a requirement of a foreign country? Besides the confusion around the court verdict, there were egregious errors by others, too. The protesters had been gathering at the same site for days without any incident. There is some evidence that the sudden arrival of the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala at the protest site enraged the protesters. After arguing with some protesters, Jwala had to be escorted to safety, whereupon his vehicle was set on fire. The riot police at the site panicked and resorted to the use of extreme force. Whether the public anger against the minister was justified, he had no business being there, then. That Jwala found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time suggests a complete failure of his security detail.

State agencies arbitrarily setting the terms of reference of a foreign agency. The failure of security agencies to manage VVIP travel. A minister out of tune with common sentiment. A bunch of frustrated youths ready to do anything to punch their tickets to a lucrative job destination. Police personnel perhaps dealing with their own discontent over poor pay and perks. It was the perfect storm. Not much will change unless Nepal creates enough good jobs and people feel a sense of economic security. The more immediate lesson from what happened on Friday is that given the high level of frustration all around, the state and its agencies must always err on the side of caution. In these volatile times, even a small spark can quickly turn into an uncontrollable inferno.

Published on: 2 January 2024 | The Kathmandu Post