KATHMANDU: Every year, May 29 arrives carrying the memory of a decisive political turning point in Nepali history. On that day, with a major political and moral pledge, the republic was declared, and the 240-year-old monarchy in Nepal came to an end. The pledge was that the ruling power and the authority of decision-making would reach the people, and the people themselves would be sovereign.

The meaning of a republic is not merely the absence of a king’s rule; it means that governing authority is not held in the hands of a palace, a family, or a limited group, but is shared among all people. It rejects the old system of being rulers and the ruled based solely on birth. Its core essence is that everyone has an equal right to build the country, the state, and the future.

In a republic, the center of power and governance does not remain only in the capital; the center expands even to remote villages. Equal political respect is given not just to the powerful class that has found opportunities, but also to the marginalized class. Every decision is made by putting the identity of the community and the essence of the class in the mainstream. Whether it is the Dalit community that has been pushed to the margins for generations, or women and gender-minority individuals who have been uncounted by the social system, everyone has an equal right and stake in a republican state. Therefore, a republic is not just a political structure, but a philosophy of equal respect.

In a republic, no one has the right to dominance. A governance maintained through fear holds no legitimacy in it. The voice of both the rich and the poor holds equal value. The implementation of the law does not happen on the basis of access and connections. Placing the dignity of even the weakest citizen at the moral center of the nation is the most beautiful aspect of a republic.

However, even 18 years after the declaration of such a beautiful republic, there is restlessness in the minds of many Nepalis. The distance between the promise of the republic and the reality of public life remains. Unemployment is forcing youth to leave the country. Due to corruption, public disillusionment is increasing. Citizens have not been able to feel proximity to the state’s decision-making process. Against the backdrop of disappointment, voices are being heard once again against the republic and in favor of the monarchy. This cannot and should not be taken lightly.

When a system cannot ensure justice, respect, and trust in the lives of the people, then people begin to search for alternatives. However, returning to the past is not the solution. The solution is to make the practice of the republic even stronger. It is to bring its core essence into practice more deeply.

The republic does not become strong merely through the constitution, the parliament building, and the speeches of the government. Only when citizens can ask conscious questions; begin to seek accountability from power; when policies and decisions are evaluated carefully rather than popular slogans; and when every citizen remembers their responsibilities along with their rights, does the republic take a tangible form.

The republic trusts the people. To make it successful, citizens must also be conscious, critical, and politically responsible. One must use a critical mind while expressing views and debating. Where citizens are sad, democracy weakens. In a silent society, power begins to centralize. When questions are not asked, injustice begins to become normal. Therefore, Republic Day is not just a day to rejoice as a public holiday, but a day for self-reflection on one’s rights and duties.

While removing the king, we dreamed of building a just Nepal. A Nepal where power belongs to the people; the law is equal for all; opponents are respected constructively without being mocked as sycophants (jholey); and the state protects and empowers the weak. This is in the belief that the voice of even an ordinary citizen holds the capacity to change the direction of the nation. The true beauty of the republic lies right there.

The Nepali people chose the republic to write their own future with their own hands. Today, the time has come to remember that very thing again. The republic is not just an achievement of the past; it is a responsibility of the present and a collective commitment toward the future. If we protect its essence, the republic will not remain just words in the constitution; it will become the self-confidence of the people. That itself will be the most influential beauty of the republic.

(Psychosocial counselor Poudel is a student of Political Science and a queer feminist activist.)