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In the last week, all this has gone up in the smoke obscuring fuzzy videos of hooded rioters running amok across the city. Before the disbelieving eyes of residents (let alone those of us who think Tottenham's just a football club), the fallout from the death of Mark Duggan has spread far beyond the north London suburb to other British cities across the country. Where will it end, and what does it mean?
The answer to the latter question is best left to those more familiar with British youth, crime, and the impact of the economic downturn. I'm more interested in what it might mean to Nepalis, and our youth in particular.
First off, what is London to Nepalis, beyondbeing everything that Kathmandu and the rest of the country is not (among other things the seat of a working constitutional monarchy)? Clearly it's a destination of choice for students, though many end up working sooner rather than later, along with a motley mix of other Nepalis more or less qualified, from investment bankers to kitchen boys.
Once in London, ground realities quickly obscure the glitter on the dreams of the less fortunate. Especially if they're marking time serving up curry and lager in the subcontinental enclaves of Hounslow (west) or Plumstead (east), far from the faddy crowds of Leicester Square (centre). But limited as their peregrinations may be, Nepalis in London know that the city is more than Notting Hill, Camden Market, Westminister, Chinatown, and the royal parks.
Their perceptions of the rougher neighbourhoods ringing the glamorous centre of London will have been hardened by the recent events. It's clear from the reactions of Londonepalis on Facebook that they don't approve of what is going on. In this, they are one with many London residents who feel that if there was some justification for the 1981 Brixton riots, this time a police shooting has been used as an excuse, plain and simple, to go wild and pick up a flatscreen TV in the bargain.
But there is no disputing the fact that, heinous as it may be to destroy the very communities in which you live, at least some of the young rioters have a problem with the state, or the state in which they live. One commentator labelled the rioters 'the products of a crumbling nation, and an indifferent political class that has turned its back on them', another characterised the 'shopping riots' as a rebellion against a consumerist system 'that denies its bounty to them'. Shift contexts, and we may speculate how the youth in Nepal, with far fewer opportunities that their British counterparts, may respond to much more of a 'crumbling nation' where 'bounty' is increasingly marketed yet remains out of reach.
There's no doubt the political class in Nepal has turned its back on the youth of Nepal, except when it needs to employ the more criminally inclined among them. Our decade-long conflict itself was fuelled by disaffection with the establishment, never mind the irony of Maoist youth fighting the more 'secure' youth in the army and police. With the end of the conflict, labour migration is the new pressure valve, with over 1000 youth leaving the country every day. But with no progress on anything that matters to the Nepali people – including jobs, service provision, and security – there is no telling when and how the youth will respond to their growing frustration.
Rising criminality is inevitable, and we have already seen the evidence of this in urban centres across Nepal. It's likely the continuing failure of the political parties will precipitate increasingly violent street protests in the months to come, some of which may not even be instigated by the parties. The politicians won't have to worry much about dealing with looters; the Nepal Police won't be as reticent as the Met. On the other hand, they should perhaps worry about what could happen to them oncethe Nepali youth decides it cannot tolerate their looting – of the state exchequer – any longer.
As London has shown, however, the articulation of the inarticulate through rioting more often than not, ends up harming the vulnerable as much, if not more than the ostensible targets (the rich and powerful). It's in the interest of everybody in Nepal, rich, poor and in the middle, to try and understand the motivations of those who spontaneously decide against the rule of law, and work together to ensure we don't get to the point of no return.
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