Saturday, October 03, 2015

Madhesi Self Hate, Indian Self Hate: One And The Same

Madhesi Self Hate
SD Muni, Rakesh Sood
यता प्रतिगामी संविधान बन्नु, उता चीनले झापामा ३ खर्ब को फैक्ट्री बसाल्ने निर्णय गर्नु
बंद हुँदा पनि प्रतिक्रिया मा बिभेद
आपूर्ति मा चीन ले भारत को स्थान लिन सक्दैन
Nepal-China-India
नेपाल भारत रोटी बेटी सम्बन्ध तोड्ने संविधान
समस्याको समाधान: नेपाल भारत राजनीतिक आर्थिक एकीकरण
भने पछि सरकार र संविधान ढाल्नु पर्ने भो: Humpty Dumpty संविधान
#HumanChainTerai
राहुल जी, आप किस दुनिया में रहते हैं?
यो यति हरामी संविधान बनेको छ
उपेन्द्र महतो
Types Of Groups
Mass Grave Enearthed In Janakpur



Mass Grave Enearthed In Janakpur
Hrithik Roshan Riots Redux?
The Earthquake, Facebook, And $17 Million
Former Indian Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee
Pahadi Men, Take Note
Indophobia In Kathmandu
70,000 In Janakpur
Why Nepal's New Constitution Is A Sham
The Indian Century Begins In Nepal
Indian Blockade: Gamechanger
Madhesi Kranti 3: In Solidarity
Former Indian Ambassador Jayant Prasad
Nepal Is Burning, Madhesh Is Burning
Extreme Police Brutality
SSS = KKKK
Nepal Needs A Constitution
The Tamils Of Sri Lanka And Me


The Indian ambassador in Nepal is powerful the same way a Marwari is rich, like the president of Nepal is powerful: he ended Prachanda's, the fierce one's, political career. But the president gets humiliated repeatedly and has to act like he did not notice. The Marwadi was the primary target of the 2000 Hrithik Roshan riots. An Indian ambassador who regularly doles out goodies to the India hating politicians of the Kathmandu establishment is really not that different from the Madhesi president, or the Marwari multi-millionaire. They are all Indians not being able to, refusing to come to terms with their Indianness. There is disbelief, there is denial. When I first experienced the anti Madhesi anti Indian racism in Nepal (and I have been stopped dozens of times in America in the post 9/11 world including while the two buildings were burning on TV and the locals in that small Kentucky town called the cops on me, and the racism does not come even close), so what I experienced was not racism, but something much more virulent, only I was attending the top school in the country, where I had been the top student in class for all seven years to that point, held all major leadership positions, (I did not exactly lack friends or popularity). But when the racism hit, years before I finished high school, I felt it extremely deeply and fiercely, and totally, and the helplessness came from the fact that I had no words to describe what was going on. It is like you see water but don't know the word, what would you call it? But the impact was total. My grades nosedived and I barely inched past graduation a few years later. It was a doubly whammy, a Bahun-British double whammy. It was lack of vocabulary to describe what was going on that threw me so off balance. The experience was an emotional equivalent of someone jabbing a knife into my thigh while I was running full speed. I fell on the tracks, reeled in pain. It was as if I had entered a different dimension that people around me simply did not have access to.

I won an election in the US South before Bobby Jindal did, in the Deep Bible Belt. Within six months of landing I got myself elected student body president. I won on charm. But if I don't "go back" it is because I want to play a global role to help take India to becoming a 240 trillion dollar economy. I wish to colonize. I wish to help colonize. If equality is not an option, we might as well counter colonize. Nepal is as good a place as any. We might as well start in Nepal. I have created a space in the digital realm. I personally know people like Rajendra Mahato, Upendra Yadav, Hridayesh Tripathy, CK Raut. My digital activism helps me do what I could not do in person. And that is great because I have no plans to show up in person. I am never going to run for public office. I moved past the joy of retail politics a long time ago. My path is digital activism and tech entrepreneurship. What burns in my mind is the bruteness of the possibility of the Indian Century, or two. The funny thing is, I was not even rooting for Modi in 2014. I admired his work in Gujrat plenty, and I did not hold 2002 against him because the Supreme Court of India didn't, but my Bihari roots had me rooting for Nitish. But Modi won me over when he kissed the steps of the Indian parliament, and burst into tears in his first speech to the BJP parliamentary party and said, "Jis tarah Bharat meri maan hai, usi tarah BhaJaPa bhi meri maan hai." And I was like, this guy is different, he is not a career politician. This is a man on a mission. I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City. Modi is the Obama I was looking for. My dignity in America is tied to how well India does.

I love New York City. I love diversity. My favorite thing about America are inter-racial, cross-cultural kids. And that is not in contradiction to my talk of the Indian Century. For as long as I can remember, I have been for equality, not segregation. I like mixed crowds. The thing is only political equality can make mixed crowds possible.

It is for India to prove democracy really is the superior system by growing faster than China did: I think 15% possible. It is Indian Muslims who are best positioned to bring about a total spread of democracy across the Muslim World, the only way to conclude the War On Terror. I want a casteless Hinduism that seeks converts across the world. An International Yoga Day is not a bad start. I want an India that helps Africa. Because only Africa can help African Americans in ways the first black president has not been able to.

So when I say I want India to colonize, I don't mean let's go kill like Hitler killed Jews, or Churchill Indians, or America killed in Japan and more recently Iraq. Israel, India, and Japan stand together because they are three Asian democracies who can feel each other's pain. When I say India should become a 240 trillion dollar economy, I think of Israel as the Guru that will take us there. Churchill killed more Indians than Hitler killed Jews and around the same time.

When I talk of the Indian Century, I mean in terms of creating a world where Indians nowhere get mistreated, nowhere get treated second class, not in any country in Africa, not in any town in America, least of all in a country like Nepal that is 200% dependent on India. British colonialism ends for India in Nepal. It has not ended yet. The Nepal India border was drawn by the British and is highly arbitrary and unscientific.

A global superpower India is one that has created trillions in wealth to wipe out poverty in India. A global superpower India represents not just Indians in India, but Indians everywhere, Indians in every town in America.

A global superpower India spreads democracy like America has not been able to, because it is not a Third World country, because it does not have a large enough Muslim population, because America is still too enthralled with its original sin: race.

But all that starts in Nepal. In Nepal I will get to see if Modi is for real. In Nepal now, today, I will get to see if Modi really embodies the beginnings of an Indian Century. All he has to do is stay the course. India can grow at double digit rates and achieve parity with China and America in decades, but it can not go past that unless it takes free speech and diversity to unprecedented heights. But all that is later. For now you can not be seen struggling with basics like dignity and equality for your own in a country that is so dependent on you. All Madhesis are asking for is citizenship papers, and one person one vote, and a federalism that is a simple extrapolation of that one person one vote. Madhesis are asking for equal status for Hindi in Nepal. Madhesis are asking for 20th century rights in the 21st century. If Modi blinks now, I will feel like I placed my bet on the wrong man. I will have to wait for someone else to help shape the beginnings of the Indian Century. You can't jump onto the development bandwagon unless you have those basic rights. Democracy is not India doing America's bidding. Democracy is native to India. The world's first republics were in the early days of Buddhism. India is reclaiming those roots. It does not seek to invade, kill and convert. Democracy is best spread peacefully. The Indian Century is about Indians everywhere getting organized to achieve and protect equality, it is about Indian getting educated and prosperous: all achievable.

Rohingya: India's Responsibility
ब्रिटेन का Cyber Colonization संभव है
A Fan Of Israel
Shashi Tharoor: Impressive Speech At Oxford
स्वच्छ भारत संभव है
नरेन्द्र मोदी और "काला धन"
लालु यादव: मौसम वैज्ञानिक
Making Peace With Pakistan

No comments: