Where To From Here?

A New Prime Minister

An all party government that commands at least two thirds majority in the parliament would be the best for giving the country a new constitution. When the three big parties and all the Madhesi parties get together, I think they reach that mark, although I will have to crunch the numbers.

I think it would be fair that such a government be led by a Maoist since they are the largest party in the parliament. Accepting a Maoist at the head of an all party government will also help build trust that is essential to taking the peace process to the next level.

That person I believe is Baburam Bhattarai. If the Maoists manage to secure a simple majority on their own after the next parliamentary elections, it will be entirely upto the Maoist party to decide as to who their prime ministerial candidate will be. But right now they don't have that simple majority. And so they have to be okay with letting Baburam Bhattarai be Prime Minister. He did an excellent job when he was Finance Minister. He has a clean image. His smarts are second to none. A Baburam Bhattarai as Prime Minister will give Nepal a head of state who will match the smarts of any head of state on the planet. I have my ideological differences with him, but I like the fact that he is not a dogmatic communist, but rather a thinking one. Communism is supposed to be science. You have to be willing to face facts. You have to be willing to change your thinking when new ground realities emerge. Whereas too many communists have this don't-confuse-me-with-the-facts attitude.

Army Integration

Allowing for a full debate in the parliament on the issue is the way to go. So far the issue of army integration has failed because the party leaders have tried to discuss it among themselves outside the parliament. Unless the parliament is given its due respect the army integration issue will continue to confound the leaders of the country.

A New Kind Of Democracy

Unless Nepal is turned into a new kind of democracy, one that is a multi-party democracy of state funded parties, truly a one person one vote democracy where the poorest of the poor have that same one vote as the richest people in the country, genuine peace is not possible. Parties like the Nepali Congress want to turn Nepal into a democracy like India, Britain and the United States and that is why the Maoists want to keep their army for as long as possible so they can dream of yet another revolution, armed if necessary. I don't blame them.

The kind of democracy I am talking about is a fusion of the two major ideologies of the past century. It would be a first in Nepal. Unless this political move is made, we will keep having problems with army integration.

A multi-party democracy of state funded parties means political parties in the country will have no other source of funding besides the state, and the state funds will be directly proportional to how many votes the parties earn in an election. That would be a step towards classlessness.

Related articles

• Maoists join Nepal government (redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com)
• Save Baburam Bhattarai! (backstreeetboy.wordpress.com)
• Nepal's former Prime Minister Bhattarai dies at 87 (msnbc.msn.com)
• Nepal election stalemate a setback for Maoists - Christian Science Monitor (news.google.com)

Finally A Janajati Party

Image via Wikipedia

Republica: Lekhi launching new party Sunday: Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) President Raj Kumar Lekhi is all set to announce a new political party called Nepali Citizens Party (NCP) .... a seven-member central committee with representatives from indigenous groups, Muslim comunity, Dalits, women and other backward classes of society. ..... the new party will form its organization in about 35 district in the first phase. ...... Bijay Danuwar, Nagendra Rajbanshi, Chandra Kumar Chaudhari, Tajmohammed Miya, Chandrakala Gurung, and Raj Kumar Regmi. ...... Danuwar is an ex-secretary of Nefin while Miya is the chairman of Nepal Muslim Federation. Similarly, Rajbanshi is Nefin vice chairman and Chaudhari is the chairman of the Tharu Welfare Council. Likewise Gurung is ex-chairman of the National Indigenous Women´s Federation and Regmi is the chairman of Society of Parliamentary Affairs Journalists. ..... Nefin, an umbrella organization of indigenous nationalities, had elected Lekhi as president last year.

This was long overdue. There was a need for a national political party that was lead primarily by the Janajatis. The Janajati organization NEFIN had been banging its head against the wall as a pressure group. That was a dead end. Now some meaningful progress can be made, one hopes.

I am happy for this development.

I hope the party works hard to get Dalits and Muslims into its fold. Those are two clear underrepresented groups.

Related articles

• Political turmoil looms over Nepal's peaks (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Constituent Assembly: The Day the Deadline Expires (com.np)
• Nepal's women have a voice in politics but no one is listening (guardian.co.uk)
• Nepal Maoists storm Indian hydropower office (redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com)

CK Lal: New School Event: April 30

Masu-Bhat and homeland politics

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

Chapter 7: Letter From Ministry

It was one December morning, unusually bright, as the mist of pollution had settled down with the rains day before, making snow visible on the mountains far beyond in Nagarkot, like a deity. Sky was clear and spotless, sun felt cold as the wind blew unkindly. I put on my big jacket which I had bought in Buffalo.

It felt good walking and most things passed unnoticed, in the joyfulness of the morning.

Unlike most other ministries, health ministry was in a modern new building, with the red bricks wall. Just beside the main entrance, there was a small army post, with two army personnel pointing the gun towards the gate through a hole, each had the finger on their trigger; it seemed comical as it implied, they sure knew the trouble will start in the front. As I entered the gate, one of them called and asked me for the identity card. I showed my citizenship card. They inquired about the purpose of my visit. I need letter of statement from Health Ministry for my training in United States, said I. They were amused hearing United States. They asked with great interest about America.

With some brief, but delightful conversation on their calm curiosity, they asked me to sign my name and let me in. I walked to the information desk, and asked a smaller looking fat man behind the glass about the secretary’s office. The man was talking on the phone really loud, as if the person on the other end were deaf; his hands movement mimicking some kind of chorea, continued at his leisure showing no sign to end.

Seemingly annoyed at my intrusion, he pointed up with the fingers, with unrestrained irritability.

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

I took stairs. There was no sign of inefficiency or lack of economy in the building; the erection of monument, for it’s paradox, was aesthetically indefensible as it represented health of a country where maternal mortality was still highest on this planet, but I invited no other thoughts beyond a shame. In few minutes, a man readily approached me and asked, if he can help. At the time of insurrection, strangers wandering in the building must have made him paranoid, but his tone lacked any of those concerns. He took me to Nirakarman Shrestha’s office, the health secretary then.

A gentle looking woman, in red sweater and red scarf, sat at a desk, in front of the secretary’s office. She was the personal assistant of Nirakar Man Shrestha. I approached her and explained to her about the letter. She seemed familiar with the kind, I was talking about. She asked me to come in a week, she will have it ready. The conversation was unusually simple and straight. Considering, I just had come from United States, still little delirious of its effects, her courteous manner struck me as Déjà Vu. I thanked her, promising to be back again. Next week, she told me that Dr Shrestha was on vacation, and I might have to wait another two weeks. I went back twice after that man had returned from his vacation, but couldn’t see him, as he was always in some kind of meetings; it frustrated me.

Almost after four weeks of my initial visit, I had a chance to see him. The meeting was marked by brevity and refusal to give me the letter I needed. He dismissed me saying “Nepali Government has decided not to issue the letter.”..... Law of the land changed overnight, but his curtness stunned me. He pressed a buzzer on his desk, the door opened and the secretary lady anxiously asked me to come out.

She had a look on her face “What happened?”, as for sure, she had not anticipated any problem.

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

Just few weeks old, I was puffed up with conceit, rapidly it evaporated like a monsoon rain in Terai. My rage was so acute to find the odd secrets of where I stood in my own country, that my pride receded in disappointment and my worthiness filled suddenly with doubts.

“We could do nothing without his signature.”- She told me, in a casual easiness, as if her perverse sympathy begged the conclusion of a justifiable horror. I looked back on her, ungrateful and unimpressed. For few minutes, couldn’t think straight, knowing not what to do, I implied not leaving until I see someone else.

She showed weariness to the vicissitudes of event, but her promptness to admit the unacquaintedness of similar case gave me a fresh misery and strengthened the distaste of everything and everyone around. I was furious, knowing most people, who applied for the same letter, had received without any inconvenience before.

Confused lady hurriedly took me to different office, seemingly, happy to get rid of me, at the time.

This new person (I hardly remember his name) seemed to have a good eye contact, and was engaging in conversation.

With a degree of moderation and composure, which seemed consistent with the common feelings of an educated man, he offered to explain, at times, in a tangential manner, about the brain drain. His lecture lasted about twenty minutes before he asked me anything.

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

One was utterly rude and hostile, another was articulate with ostentatious wit; message was plain and simple. I felt betrayed by own health ministry. The concept of brain drain seemed to have been constructed to coerce me, and I, surely, made no effort to appreciate it’s austerity.

Unrestrained anger, I could feel a throb chocking my throat during his lecture. He was done talking.

“What is your Name?” he asked.

“Ajay Thakur, Sir. I have a residency spot in University of Pittsburgh in America that requires Letter of statement from this office.” I felt pity for my self-pity.

“I can’t promise but I will take a look, meet me tomorrow at 1 p.m.” he suggested.

I left with a whispering thank you.

Crash course of Nepali bureaucracy had lasted for at least two hours, but seemed longer to me, now with cumulous cloud of uncertainty - felt almost endless. What if they don’t change their mind tomorrow? It already had dragged longer than I expected. I remained anxiously hopeful in human fallibility, not just in virtues but also in their vice.

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

The army waved at me on the way out of the building, the fact that they were protecting somebody like Nirakarman Shrestha was inexplicably incomprehensible to me. Embittered and filled with rage, I set to walk back to my clinic, following the curves at Singha durbar, in front of Bhrikuti Mandap and through Sahid gate. On the way, I noticed unusual nakedness of December trees, dishcloth Bhrikuti Mandap, and barrenness of Tundikhel. I noticed thick fog of pollution, barely seeing beyond a mile.... The constant honking of mini-bus terribly loud..... I noticed the street kids collecting plastic bags, running back and forth, across the street......they were so free, free of all the necessity to identify themselves of any relevance, and here I was, with profession of highest order in my country, carrying a meaningless piece of paper (citizenship card) which identified nothing. Nothingness loathed me, as I dragged on my feet.

I reached life care clinic looking sad. Rauniyar and Tripathi, still seeing their last patient, asked me “what happened?” They knew, I had gone to health ministry for a letter.

“They refused to give me letter, saying health ministry changed the law.” I said.

“My brother is a politician and he knows people, I will talk to him.” said Tripathi, looking at everyone in the room, but talking to me.

Conversation on the subject of prevailing prejudice and corruption lasted for another hour. Artless representation of their sympathy seemed to take a quality of identification, as if I gave them a chance to feel victimized. Whatever the merits of their argument, the skill with which it was put together made me uncomfortable. It gave me a sense that prejudice would yet prevail based on which side one is born; pahade vs. madheshi, high caste vs. low caste, politically connected vs. unconnected... so on and so forth. The distinctive ugliness of recrimination would fly thick and fast between these feuding classes even with reversal of their fate. It would read like a palindrome no matter what.

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

Despite all his education and authority, a psychiatrist by training, Shrestha had lacked any introspection into his own moral decay. But it wasn’t just the Shrestha that surprised me. It was also Tripathi whose abhorring counter arguments made me sick. His flattering effort to be useful and narcissistic account of political self absorption was disturbingly annoying.

At the moment it seemed to reduce me further, of any particular significance. He represented the phoniness of post-1990, prosperity and self satisfaction of few Madhesi over the wretchedness of multitudes. He belonged to class of people who always seemed to add to the insult of many for being insignificant without them. He equally lacked any reflection or earnestness, despite his impatient desire to show solidarity with me.

At 3.30 p.m., it was time for me to finish and go home.

As usual, I took the mini-bus to Jorpaty. I sat in one corner and opened the window. Whispering breeze filled with dust and smoke seemed to express some feelings- not the insolent kind, like the one I felt few minutes before. In that forty five minutes journey to my home, as a result of some interference in my hypothalamus, kinaesthesia impeded dysesthesia and my dizziness seemed to relieve. I liked the solitude of that moving bus.

I reached home, and Kavita was waiting for me, all excited to go out. Unable to commit anything, I simply said, I had a bad headache and lied on my bed. She brought me tea and sat beside me. Her body had softness and great warmth. As if fear of failure had caused an eruption of greater tenderness inside me, I held her tight and fell asleep...

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

I woke up about the dinner time, half delirious yet the throb of headache coursing through my head was impossible to ignore. I called my father from a local booth explaining the day. My father, realizing I was upset, tried to explain with lots of pause and silence on his end, letting un-intercepted ventilation. At times, he wondered if I was calling him from a prison, as the degree of abhorrence made him hard to believe, I came through all those perils unscathed. He saw the danger in my perverse insistence for the letter, as it might somehow be mistaken for an association with violent groups or the ongoing act of subversion, he thought. The conversation ended inconclusively, as to volunteer listening to him was too much an effort, I found.

I had lived my life unconcerned to the matters like this, at times, indifferent to my own Madheshi background, but now I felt so naive to suppose my indifference was shared by the people on other side of social geography. As a matter of fact, it was not too bad until I had a dream or a future. In Buffalo, I had witnessed a qualitative shift in the way some stranger would treat me, but here I was faced to seek the good of men filled with prejudice, as sanction for my right to pursue the future that I want. The burgeoning of a fragile dream seemed receding back, even before it had begun.

My father must have had his share of imposition; everyday refusal of acceptance, denial of a dignity, and so many other things he would never talk about. He had admirably adapted to its course, with the load of unearned guilt he came to deserve for belonging to Madhesh, and that had remained largely unknown to my grandfather. He endured it, without ever complaining; I was the one impatient kind, mistaking his carefulness for his lack of empathy in this capricious climate.

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

It would become clear to me, in years to come, that survival depended on quality of his, in the places like Nepal, which I would have yet to learn.

All night, I could not sleep. I inhaled and held my breath, and then painfully releasing it, making Kavita acutely aware what was going through my mind. I tried to perceive the provenance of my contentious past, revisiting the history in absurdity. Next morning I felt worse. I asked Kavita if there was enough water for me to take a bathe, she said no. I dressed up and went to clinic disheveled; humidity made my cloth stick to my skin and it felt uncomfortable all day. Later at noon, I walked to the ministry again. The lady smiled and handed me a folder. I thanked her, in earnest.

Two months later, I was notified by ECFMG, about a mistake in that document, and it would need correction, my heart sank!!

#################################################

Brain drain, no doubt, is a tremendous problem and countries facing it are overwhelmingly undeveloped. Migration of human capital is the greatest loss. However, what one has to understand is that developing countries are poor not because everybody in those countries are poor, but because it has the worst economic and opportunity stratifications. The difference between rich and poor is not just the assets, but the distance and degree of access to the information and education and well beyond. An educated young man from privileged minority has easy transition into adult life within the country or outside; one from humble majority confronts obscurantism. (According to Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) 2003/04, during the last eight years, Gini-coefficient which shows the inequality of income distribution has increased from 0.34 to 0.41 which indicates that the gap between the rich and the poor has increased further.)

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

For all its benevolence, the entire philosophy of brain drain seemed to me, a cryptogram to coerce others or deny them the freedom of choice based on class. It bestowed favouritisms. It was pitiable for them to give me lectures about it, as I knew one of theirs daughter too was coming for the residency the same year. I am sure the law of the land didn’t apply to her.

#################################################

Janakpur is land of Maithili people. Mark Moxon in his travel diary wrote “Janakpur is an Indian town in all but geography”, that is part-true and part-tragic. Any central government treated this region as far from source of beauty and grace, not to mention, not sexy like mountains. (Tourism never happened in Madhesh). The fertile land was treated as mistake by all kinds of people in Government, and it was a liability to be born there, I would come to know.

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

Enduring Everest By Ajay Thakur

Madhesi Self Hate

Nepalis In New York And The NRN Movement

Looks like there is some kind of a NRN event in New York City next month and I have been approached by a friend to try and get a VIP local politician to show up as the Chief Guest. I have a State Senator friend in mind, Bill Perkins of Harlem who was the first elected official in New York to support Obama when he first ran for president. Once I know the precise date and time for the event, I can try and approach him to see if he is available.

New York City For Barack Obama 1-10
Staff, Volunteers, Elected Officials
DL21C Annual Summer Bash: Barack Won The Straw Poll

The conversation made me think though. I was the only Nepali in America to have worked full time for Nepal's democracy movement of 2006, and later the Madhesi movement. But my style was one of digital activism. I did not join any organization.

I have a newfound interest in Nepal. That's there. But it is hard for me to ignore some of the very real issues the Nepali community in New York City, in America, and the world at large grapples with. Instead of being the best and the brightest who went global and are willing and able to lead Nepal to an era of rapid economic growth, we find little gatherings of locally relatively well to do homesick Nepalis begging the Nepali establishment in Kathmandu for very basic rights. Much of that comes from how we have attempted to organize ourselves. There has been no desire to go mass based. A lacking culture of basic democracy, transparency and egalitarianism has been holding us back.

Kiva Is In Nepal

There are no rich Nepalis in America. If there were, I'd have read about them in some magazine. I never have. So for people who might be in professional white collar jobs to dissociate from the masses who might be working below minimum wage salaries is not classist. It is self destructive behavior. Because the power rests in mass organizing. Power is in numbers. Unless Nepalis get organized in large numbers, we can not better our situation locally, and we can not earn our rights inside Nepal, and we can not help Nepal in major ways.

The well and alive anti Madhesi prejudice among the diaspora Nepalis is another self destructive behavior. Unless the Nepalis in New York City claim their larger South Asian identity, they are not going anywhere. Working for Indian bosses by the day, and talking hate speech against them by the night are not exactly the way to go.

I have no desire to become yet another token Madhesi in New York City. I was one of Barack Obama's top volunteers in the city. This is a city where Indians matter little, and Nepalis are not even on the map anywhere. There has to be an acknowledgment among the Pahadis that things were and are wrong in Nepal and that is why you see so few Madhesis in New York City. Talking hate speech is not how you express that acknowledgment. And there has to be a sense of mutual respect. And we have to forge a new Nepali identity. And that is how we can become better organized.

There are about 50,000 Nepalis in New York City. Most of them party in small groups about once a a week. Identify those party organizers. Every Nepali in the city has a mobile phone. Those parties and those phones are the key to going mass based in terms of organization. 50 white collar Nepalis meeting in some five star hotel is not my idea of a mass based organization. And for as long as we don't go mass based, we will stay largely irrelevant.

Nepali Slaves In The Middle East
Image via Wikipedia

Related articles

• Reasons to Come Home (wagle.com.np)
• No Citizenship for Nepali Orphans (news.change.org)
• Nepal votes again to elect new PM (bbc.co.uk)
• Op-Ed Contributor: Nepal's Stalled Revolution (nytimes.com)
• Perkins: Obama's Speech a 'Twofer' for Harlem (observer.com)
• Sources: Obama Returning to New York for Fundraiser (observer.com)
• Obama Returns to Harlem for a Lucrative Fund-Raiser - New York Times (news.google.com)
• US immigration reform dead before it began (rt.com)

Nepali Slaves In The Middle East

Source: The Guardian

A Smart Political Move By Prachanda

Image via WikipediaAn all party government in Baburam Bhattarai's leadership was the best option for the peace process and constitution drafting. But this move by Prachanda to prop up Jhalanath Khanal is smart on Prachanda's part.

Jhalanath Khanal has had seniority. He was General Secretary of his party when Madan Bhandari was junior to him. The guy obviously has a long tail.

Hopefully now there will be some political stability and the lawmakers will get down to business.

The smart part is that suddenly Prachanda has forced a political bi-polarization in the country. He has formed a left alliance. By default now you are going to have a non left alliance of the Nepali Congress and the three Madhesi parties. Upendra Yadav has decided he is on the left side. He was a communist all his life before he launched his new party. So that move is not surprising.

The calculation Prachanda has in mind is to do with the elections after the new constitution takes shape. He is envisioning a scenario where the Maoists again emerge the largest party, and if it does not get an outright majority it can rely on Jhalanath Khanal for UML's support to make Prachanda a full four year term Prime Minister under the new constitution. That is what this Prachanda move is about. It has been about slamming the Nepali Congress, its primary ideological rival.

This is a smart move on the part of Prachanda. He has killed two birds with one stone. There is going to be no more talk of Baburam Bhattarai or the Nepali Congress for the top political job for a few years.

As long as there is stability after this, the country will also benefit.

Related articles

• Nepal's new leader begins forming govt - AFP (news.google.com)
• Nepal gets new leader, but future still jittery - Christian Science Monitor (news.google.com)
• Prime Minister Chosen in Nepal, Ending Stalemate (nytimes.com)
• Election of New Leader in Nepal Brings Hope of Peace - Voice of America (news.google.com)
• Nepal Selects a Premier, Ending a Stalemate - New York Times (news.google.com)
• Nepalese parliament elects new prime minister (cnn.com)
• Maoists don't take India as arch foe: Muni (thehimalayantimes.com)
• Nepal election stalemate a setback for Maoists - Christian Science Monitor (news.google.com)
• Prachanda puts forth fused document (thehimalayantimes.com)
• Big 3 agree to hold further talks on Nov. 15 (thehimalayantimes.com)