Dear women of Nepal,
You are making so much noise again on the streets to be political and legal part of New Nepal. But do not you know you are needed in the kitchen 24/7? You are needed to the mankind to make babies so that human race could continue. You are needed to men when they are feeling lonely. You are needed to the political leaders for showing their strengths on the streets and going to power on your vote planks. Once you take to the streets, political change (a revolution or an evolution) becomes possible, but it is the men who grab the power. Your role as a political animal is finished before you get back to the kitchen, taking care of children, utensils, needles and clothes. You are needed for political leaders and men to show, internally and internationally, that they are very gender sensitive and would do anything to make you empowered so that you could take part in development work and all that is so good in papers, radios and TV!!!. To translate the rhetoric into reality, however, political leaders have a second thought, “Why are these women making so much noise, don’t they know that we are working for women and we know all the problems they face?”


Of course we have brought a revolution in our country but it does not mean that we should forget our cultural and religious values.


“Women are needed to continue to do their religious duty to look after the family. They are not able to think seriously on political and legal issues. We men are here to talk on behalf of them and promise that they would be given due respect. We are talking about 33% seats for them in every aspect of life but women should be able to hold their responsibilities, we men are born with the ability but women have to learn that. So how could they compare with us, the political leaders, the best brains of the society, with themselves? We have to make them understand that they are inferior to us and we are trying to improve them. It will take time and energy. Nepalese women don’t have energy so we will give them power and will teach them how to use the brain. So women, please, stop making noise and let us the political leaders work seriously for the development of the country.”


So my suggestion to women of our country is that there is no point talking about the women’s issues as it will be taken care of by men. So please women do as our religious scripts say and our cultural values command. If you will make a lot of noise our societal structure will be destroyed.  Once political leaders have promised that they would continue to help us, why you are demanding so much? It is their kindness that they have thought about us as we are weaker sex and we need their help to go ahead all the time. As the political leaders have  more intellect, have better exposure and also can think in a broader prospective, as they have bigger shoulders, also bigger heads, hence they can  analyze much better than women. So please, please, let us avoid all the shouting, noise, demonstration and rest assured that your representation will be done by our men political leaders. I am very much confident about it and that’s why I suggest you be polite and make no more demonstrations, Dear Nepalese women! I m sure that after reading this open letter you will have some ideas in your small brain that women will be well taken care of by our politicians and all the problems we are facing will vanish once they will elect themselves as our representatives. They will work day and night for the development of the country and they will think sometimes about women which will be a great contribution for our issues and we will be happy ever after.


Till then, you please go to the kitchen again and make good food for our men so that they could have better ideas and would bring thoughts to solve women’s problems. But you also have to assume that there are other priorities in front of our political leaders than women’ problems and issues. So Nepalese women, like good girls, be passive and silent and pay attention to our political leaders and do as they advise. They have advised us to be quiet. In order to make them happy and satisfied we have to go to the kitchen and work as there is a saying ‘in order to win the heart of political leaders we have to go through their stomach’ ( it  means through good food).
(Uprety is a Women’s Right activist).