Kathmandu, 12 May
Writer, researcher and academic, Dr. Komal Phuyal, assistant professor at the Central Department of English terms king Mahendra’s version of modernity a case of ‘self-postponement’ and holds the same responsible for the flourishment of regressive forces during his tenure across the 1960’s. Delivering his paper entitled ‘Self-Postponement versus Visionary in Exile: Nepal’s Quest for Modernity in the 1960’s’ as a part of the monthly Faculty-Talk hosted by the CDE, Dr. Phuyal re-read King Mahendra and BP Koirala’s political speeches, and claimed that the two different in their very conceptualization of modernity. King Mahendra, Dr. Phuyal argued hinged his views of modernity on traditional, strongly non-western and parochial values and top-to-bottom trajectory of wisdom, Koirala was progressive and viewed the people well-informed public as the source of development and progress. Dr. Phuyal lauded Koirala for what he termed ‘critical sensibility’ and ‘rational thinking’ that the latter tried to raise among the Nepali people through his speeches and writings and envisioned a welfare state in which the people had their direct stake. Dr. Phuyal observed that Mahendra succeeded in juggernauting Koirala’s view of modernity by shaking his democratically elected government and imprisoning him for eight long years in Sundarijal, thereby making him incapable of putting his ideas into practice.
Commenting on the paper as a discussant, Prof. Dr. Anirudra Thapa lauded Dr. Phuyal for developing a new way to revisit a content familiar to many. He observed that paper like Dr. Phuyal’s inspire us to decidedly have a plausible purpose of reviewing history, and to lend literary flavour in our research as scholars of literature. CDE Chair, Prof. Dr. Jib Lal Sapkota highlighted the need to have an objective stand on an issue to save ourselves from taking a highly subjective position. Dr. Shiva Rizal, Mahesh Paudyal, Khem Raj Khanal, Hukum Thapa and Maheshwar Sharma lauded Dr. Phuyal for academically reviewing an issue of general public interest and giving the audience new dimensions to revisit history. Dr. Rizal even urged Dr. Phuyal to see if developing a course of study based on Nepal’s unique experience of modernity was plausible in the days to come.
The CDE organizes a faculty talk once in every month and features a scholar, urging him/her to speak on an issue of interest and general public concern from an academic view.
