Not through punishment

I was stunned to read the news regarding the inhuman punishment meted out to the students in a school in Pokhara, who were forced to lick human excreta. A teacher has no right to punish students in such a manner. In the West, even the parents do not reserve corporal punishment for their kids. However, in Nepal, teachers are used to resorting to physical punishment besides the mental torture they inflict on students. Sometimes, teachers also get annoyed at homes and spill their anger onto their students.

In a society like ours, people believe that punishment is necessary for students’ own good. However, students begin to resent such teachers and finally they lose interest in studies. In most of the cases, they become unfriendly too. Instead of becoming disciplined, they become violent. Moreover, they cannot excel in their studies. Thus, the teachers should encourage the students even when their performance is not too good. A good teacher should revive interest in students and encourage them to quench their thirst for knowledge.

Prita Malla, via e-mail

Damned sense

We are familiar with terms like human rights and basic laws that take care of human values. However, in practice these seem to be nothing more than fables. What meaning does an Act have that cannot be implemented? How would you feel if seven people, moreover, security personnel, assault you for a trivial mistake? I guess no one can do anything in such a case.

I witnessed a similar incident in front of Agricultural Development Bank at Ramshahpath on June 24. A group of security personnel was crossing the street. A motorbike was coming from Maitighar and when the motorcyclist saw them crossing the street, he tried to stop the bike. He could not control the speed and unfortunately it touched one of the army men. It was an accident. However, in return, the motorcyclist was severely beaten up. To my utter astonishment, one from the group shouted, “Shoot him.” Later the motorcyclist was taken to some unknown destination. Seeing such brusqueness, I was really annoyed. I questioned myself — are guns bought from the revenue collected from the civilians for the security forces to beat up people? Though the sense of human rights was strong among some of the bystanders, they could not react at the moment because of fear.

Tulasi Prasad, via e-mail

Euro 2004

From agony to ecstasy, from despair to delirium, from anguish to anger, if there is any sport in the world that can percolate all of these human sentiments, it is soccer — the most exciting game in the world! Though it is played with feet, it has a direct connection with the heart. A single goal can cause an overwhelming rejoice or an intense pain at the same time. At higher levels like Euro, it is not just a game, it is a matter of national pride and undeclared battle for supremacy. Ever since the Euro 2004 kicked off two weeks ago in Portugal, I feel I am running along with time. My day begins from the midnight hour of twelve. The mega festival like Euro exemplifies the concept of unity and expresses the serenity and quintessence of harmony. But one thing that always hurts is the pathetic state of our own football team at home. It has been pretty long since football touched our hearts, but the level and standard of the game has never improved. Watching the on-going Martyrs’ league at Dasharath Stadium along with Euro, I get the feeling that we will surely retain our tag of losers in international arena for years to come.

Dipesh Parajuli, via e-mail