BP Koirala Memorial Day: Remembering the Price of Freedom

‘The pain that one has not experienced oneself can be understood by listening to stories, but it is difficult to feel it with the heart.’ This is the truth of life. This is the truth of history. This is also the truth of democracy. Many of us have not experienced the pain of deprivation. Therefore, sometimes we do not know the value of a morsel of food. Those who have spent the night hungry see God in the aroma of bread. Those who have endured thirst in the desert consider a drop of water to be nectar. Freedom is also this story. Those who have suffered the pain of not being able to speak understand the value of the right to speak. Those who have seen the prison door for speaking out against injustice understand the importance of the constitution. Those who have had to choose exile in their own country because of their beliefs experience that democracy is not just a system of governance, but the breath of life. The current generation has not experienced those pains. This is not their fault, but proof of the success of the previous generation. Because every parent wants their children not to repeat the suffering they have endured. The farmer wants his son not to have to plow the field in the harsh sun. The laborer wants his daughter not to have to carry loads. The poor want their children not to see the tears of hunger. Similarly, the warriors of democracy also wanted their coming generations not to have to live a life of prison, oppression, fear, and autocracy. That is why BP Koirala, Ganeshman Singh, Krishnaprasad Bhattarai, Girija Prasad Koirala, and thousands of known and unknown fighters for democracy dedicated their youth, family happiness, health, and personal lives to the nation.