Bangladeshi Catholic Students Meet Nepalese Counterparts In IMCS Program

KATHMANDU (UCAN) -- Visiting Catholic students from Bangladesh and their Nepalese hosts shared parallel experiences of living amid social and political tension, and forged bonds of solidarity during a recent exchange program.

"It showed how youths can function well as a united force. It also displayed the feeling that though from different countries, we all share the same feelings, emotions and ambitions," Bipul Alite Gonsalves, a participant from Bangladesh, told UCA News about the program. Gonsalves is a member of the Asia Pacific team of the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS).

Students of IMCS-Nepal and the Bangladesh Catholic Students Movement organized the exchange program, held Aug. 28-Sept. 2 in Godavari, on the rim of the Kathmandu valley. Four students from Bangladesh and six from Nepal took part in the program, titled "A Journey for Peace Towards Solidarity."

Organizers said their main objective was for Catholic students from the two countries to feel closer to one another and less isolated by realizing they share many things in common. Both Hindu-majority Nepal and predominantly Muslim Bangladesh are in the grip of political turmoil, and Catholics are a miniscule part of the population in each.

The program was scheduled to begin Aug. 27 but was postponed a day when the visitors from Bangladesh were delayed because of a curfew the army-backed interim government imposed in all major cities there following widespread student riots. The country has been under a state of emergency since the interim government took over in January following the cancellation of national polls and weeks of political violence that killed around 25 people.

On Aug. 28, the students visited people who suffered violence at the hands of Maoist rebels, St. Xavier Service Center for street children and Freedom Center, a drug rehabilitation facility. Jesuits run the two centers. The following days were spent sharing, discussing and analyzing situations the students have experienced in their respective countries.

Subash Chhetri, a Nepalese participant, told UCA News: "Youths of both countries share very many common factors. Their anxieties in recent days are also very similar."

In Bangladesh the government accused students and some teachers of trying to destabilize the country and undermine its administration. It closed university campuses in an attempt to prevent conflict between security forces and students campaigning for an end to military rule.

In Nepal the decade-long Maoist insurgency to install a communist republic affected students heavily. The student wing of the Maoist guerrilla movement repeatedly brought normal life to a halt through blockades, strikes and violent attacks to press its demand for closure of all private schools countrywide. The Maoists want all schools to be government-run and free. They charge that operators of private schools run the institutions for profit.

More than 11,000 people were killed during the insurgency that officially ended in November 2006 with a peace accord among political parties and the Maoists. On the political front, Nepal is due to elect a National Assembly that will decide whether to replace King Gyanendra Shah's 238-year-old dynasty with a republic. The monarchy came under immense pressure when pro-democracy rallies in 2006 defied curfews and even shoot-on-sight warnings to force the king to reconvene in April 2006 the parliament he had dismissed in May 2002. Parliament then stripped King Gyanendra of most of his power.

According to Chhetri, exchange programs such as the recent one in Godavari have "brought students closer and given them the feeling of looking at each other without prejudice." In his view, "this is a very positive step in the making of young people into a strong united force."

Salesian Father Augusty Pulickal, Nepal's national youth chaplain, called the program "a very good exercise." He told UCA News it was "a real living exchange experience."

According to its website (www.imcs-ap.org), IMCS Asia Pacific is a movement of university students in the region who are inspired and motivated by the person, life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The movement is "situated in the realities of Asia and Pacific."

 
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