I was very happy when Balendra Shah was announced as the 15th Mayor of Kathmandu. As soon as he was announced as Mayor he directly went to Sisdol to hear from the people of that area. Till today very few governing people have visited Sisdol to hear from the people.
“Carrying the legacy from old leaders?”
But recently his decision on spending Rs. 15,00,000 (Fifteen Lakhs) for the Statue of Anil Adhikari aka. Yama Buddha has really disappointed me. I am a big fan of Yama Buddha but is it the right way to spend the taxpayer money? This decision reminded me of the same decision that old leaders used to make.
For instance, View Tower build in memory of Janayoddha in Rolpa;
I see no difference between Puspa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) spending on the Statue in memory of his son and Balendra Shah spending on the Statue in memory of the late Yama Buddha.
I don’t think it is a bad idea to honor Yama Budhha but as I mentioned above it dragged me to the same decision made by the previous leaders. We wanted change and I am sure that is why people trusted Balendra Shah and voted for him. Lastly, It’s obvious to have a different expectation from the leader with new perspectives and ideas.
What to do then?
Instead of spending 15 lakhs on Statue; he should look for the best approaches.
For instance, Ujjwal Bahadur Thapa’s Organization has been providing scholarships and donating to orphanage.
Endowment fund has been established by Professor Dr. Bipin Adhikari, the founder dean of School of Law at Kathmandu University, named as, “Dr Bipin Adhikari Endowment Scholarship Fund”. The amount of the fund is Rs 20,00,000 (Twenty Lakh only).
Likewise, The amount Rs. 15,00,000 (Fifteen Lakh Only) can be used as a providing scholarship, orphanage, institute, etc. due to which it would get to set their future. Or, I say, don’t just make a statue, make a park where many rappers can chill out and write their songs.
We know that we have legendary singers whose songs are Evergreen, but is it the bold decision to make the Statue of Anil Adhikari (Yama Budhha) only? I don’t think it is the appropriate decision, as it might create conflict and lose trust from the people. There were a lot of legendary singers whose statues have not been made.
For instance, Tara Devi, Bhupi Sherchan, Prem Dhoj Pradhan, Bacchu Kailash, Phatteman Rajbhandari, and many more.
If this trend(making statue) goes on then if someone from my Generation becomes Mayor or in the respective position then he/she would be spending taxpayers money on statues of Sajjan Raj Vaidya, Bartika Yam Rai, Yabesh Thapa, and many more. I see this decision highly biased and favoritism.
As per news reports, Mayor Balen is said to have made this decision to respect Yama Buddha’s contribution to NepHop and for making it famous worldwide. Yama Buddha is the idol of many Nepalese youngsters and keeping that in mind the decision to make the statue was made. However, this step doesn’t seem rational as a better way to honor Yama Buddha would be to lead forth his contribution and make NepHop better and greater.
However, Yama Buddha Foundation has been carrying out numerous social initiatives in the meantime using donations from others’ charitable funds. Even if it has to, the Yama Buddha Foundation can raise the funds to build a statue. He can help them with management and land to build it in specific areas. But, building a statue with the taxpayer money is more biased and sympathetic. I hope Mayor Balendra will reconsider making this decision.
In conclusion, This is very good initiative taken by Balendra Shah (Mayor of Kathmandu), but the implementation process which is spending taxpayers money for a Statue is same thing done by the previous leaders; instead he should form Scholarship provisions because if one unprivileged gets that Scholarship, he/she may go on to be one of the faces to change the music industry of Nepal.
Rastra Bimochan Timalsena, known as Random Nepali is a Advocate and a Youtuber.
Abin Shrestha is a senior cartoonist at Kantipur Daily.
Update:
And he did, which is great, but to honor Yama Buddha and his numerous contributions, development in Nepal’s Music Industry as a whole and making it known to the whole world would leave a deeper impact.
यम बुद्ध फाउन्डेसन र कामपा को सहकार्यमा यमबुद्ध रिदम एन्ड पोएट्री(RAP) मेमोरिअल पार्क बनाऔ, स्केट बोर्ड देखी एम्पी थियटर सम्म होस् यसमा अब कुरा रह्यो लगानिको त्यो १५ लाख हैन १५ करोड उठ्नेछ क्राउड फन्डिङ्, बैदेशिक तथा अन्तरराष्ट्रिय कला प्रबर्धक संस्था तथा दाताहरु बाट। धैर्य गरौ, सकारात्मक् बनौ यम बुद्ध कसैको लागि लक्ष्मी प्रशाद देबकोटा होला कसैको नजरमा मामुली र्यापर खैर जे होस लाखौं युवाहरुलाई यो मेमोरियल पार्कले कुलत मा फस्न बाट जोगवोस, लुकेका प्रतिभा हरुलाई प्रबर्धन गरोस अनी शहरी खेल हरुको माध्यम बाट मेन्टल तथा शारिरिक स्वास्थ्यमा सहयोग पुर्यावोस।