Monday, April 21, 2014

If There Ever Was A Primitive Map

I was just reading an article by Sukhdev Shah in Republica. And the map caught my attention before I had even finished reading the first paragraph. If this is the map the Congress is going to try to push, the country will see major political upheaval. An anti-incumbency electoral wave can not be seen as a mandate against federalism. Decentralization, King Birendra style, is not federalism. Another attempt at it should not be made. The Madhesi Kranti of 2007 gave the country a clear mandate for federalism. That has to be stuck to.

The only debate as far as the Terai is concerned is if there will be two or four states in the Terai. Chipping off the far eastern, the far western and the central Terai districts is British style divide and rule. That will not stand.

I could live with four states in the hills and two in the Terai, or even four.


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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

I Am Indian



The Madhesi political consciousness came to me much later. At the Kathmandu high school I attended, the m-word was in the air, people would tell racist jokes about your people like you were not even there, comedian Santosh Pant made a living out of it, and the guy was on national TV. But as a successful student who went on from leadership position to leadership position, I was to an extent shielded, but that was a false shield. It was weak. And one administrative blow crashed the glass around me towards the end of my Class 10 year. After that it took me years of emotional pain, and meandered career trajectories, and political action led more by a hunger for all things political than the Madhesi rights issue that I ultimately floundered upon the Sadbhavana types, and that gave me some of the vocabulary, which I quickly found highly inadequate.

Race matters powerfully, Barack Obama has said. I had a very happy freshman year at college in Kentucky. And then the blow of an administrative decision crashed my glass all over again. It was yet another experience in disenchantment with yet another highly reputed educational institution. And so I am a huge proponent of taking as much of education online as possible. Knowledge has to be freed up from the power structures of the day.

At college I was not thinking Madhesi rights. I was not thinking about it after. After the king pulled his coup in early 2005, I had no plans to get involved with the democracy movement, although I was much concerned, and when I moved to NYC a few months later, my full time involvement was gradual. I had no idea I cared so much about Nepal, the country I grew up in. I guess I did. It came from inside. But it was also the ideological purity of a democracy movement that brings a clarity that makes mobilization more black and white.

Late in 2006 the Nepalgunj riots happened, and that triggered the Madhesi Kranti, might as well, because it was that movement that mirrored the April Revolution of 2006 that gave Nepal the gift of federalism. I put full time work into the Madhesi Kranti. In many ways it was tougher than the democracy movement. Comrades in the democracy movement were now vocal, energized opponents.

When Upendra Yadav landed in Los Angeles a few months later, the first question he asked was, “Where is Paramendra Bhagat?” We had never met, we had never talked on the phone before. I used digital tools to do political work. It was no journalism.

Becoming NYC’s first full-time volunteer for Barack Obama brought it full circle. This was 500 years of world history come full circle. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

There is the macro politics. And there is the micro politics of emotionally damaged Madhesis and Janajatis you deal with at close range. NYC has allowed me interactions to see things up, close and personal.

But then the political compass is already pointing in the direction of economic growth. And if land-lockedness is Nepal’s biggest handicap, the solution lies in a South Asian economic union, and that basically asks for killing the false nationalism in Kathmandu that rests on all things anti-India. If Nepal’s political boundaries will have to weaken for Nepal to achieve prosperity, where will the identity come from? There are healthy sources of identity like culture, language, and religion. A South Asian economic union will not dilute those, quite the opposite. A more prosperous people will take better care of their cultural heritages. The resource crunch will wane.

Nepal’s future points in the direction of the land of my birth. My mother’s side of the family is Indian. If you have any idea about Mithila, you know how ridiculous the Nepal-India border is. My official birthday is not mine, but that of my favorite movie star, Amitabh Bachchan. I am Indian through and through.

I am 100% Indian. I am 100% Nepali. I am on the way to becoming 100% American. 300% is more than 100%. People with multi-cultural heritages are richer, and quite literally so. In today’s globalized world, being instinctive about cultural diversity gives you advantages. I deal with engineers in India. I happen to think Nitish through example has set an example to most of Nepal’s challenges. He is the ultimate Bihari Babu.

Eating MoMo was the best thing I learned in the decade plus I spent in Kathmandu. And I happen to think the dish is a billion dollar idea. I will forever remain fond of Narayan Gopal. I am a Buddhist. Buddha was a Teraiwasi like me. I earned the top marks in class in Nepali at high school. I got published a poem in Royal Nepal Academy’s Kavita, the most prestigious poetry magazine in the country at the time, when I was in Class 10. I have a love for the language.

I have been everywhere in America. The first question I was often got asked was, “Are you from India?” I never said no. I am Indian.
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Friday, April 04, 2014

A Roadmap For Madhesi Parties

Mural in Kathmandu with the slogan 'Long Live ...
Mural in Kathmandu with the slogan 'Long Live Marxism–Leninism–Maoism–Prachanda Path' (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Flag of Tarai-Madhesh Loktantrik Part...
English: Flag of Tarai-Madhesh Loktantrik Party - a political party from Nepal. The design, 2:3 dimensions, colours and construction details were based primarily on the template from nepalnews.com article from 28 December 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal
Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Abhishek Pratap Shah is a Nepalese po...
English: Abhishek Pratap Shah is a Nepalese politician, belonging to the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Nepal
Nepal (Photo credit: Mathew Knott)
English: Flag of Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum - ...
English: Flag of Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum - a political party from Nepal. The design, 2:3 dimensions, colours and construction details were based primarily on Mjf-flag.PNG, where it was based on mprfnepal.org. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: politician of nepal
English: politician of nepal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"कुनै पनि मधेशवादी दलले प्राप्त गरेको मत हेर्ने हो भने कुल मधेशी जनताको २५ प्रतिशतभन्दा बढी छैन । ७५ प्रतिशत जनताले त अझै पनि मधेशवादी दललाई मत नदिएका हुन् नि । ७५ प्रतिशत जनताले के कारणले दिन सकिरहेका छैनन् । किन हाम्रा मागलाई उनीहरूले स्वीकार गरेका छैनन् । ...... कहिं न कहीं ‘ग्याप’ छ । दलहरू जसरी प्रस्तृत भइरहेका छन् । ७५ प्रतिशत मधेशी जनताले मधेशी दलहरूलाई मत दिन सकिरहेका छैनन । त्यो ग्याप भर्नुपर्ने भएको छ । त्यसका लागि सबैले सहयोग गर्नुपर्छ । ..... अहिलेसम्म मैले बुझ्न सकेको छैन । म खोज्दै छु, तथ्यहरू संकलन गर्दैछु । कारण के हो म बुझ्दैछु । मधेशी समाजका विभिन्न पक्षसँग म अन्तत्र्रिmयामा छु । व्यक्तिगत रूपले पनि म बुझ्दैछु ।"

- हृदयेश त्रिपाठी (उपाध्यक्ष तराई–मधेश लोकतान्त्रिक पार्टी)

(1) Unification Is A Must

50 MPs have to come together under the umbrella of one unified party. That is the starting point for Madhesi parties right now. It was the lack of one unified Madhesi party that killed the idea of one unified state across all of Madhesh. You can't talk about Ek Madhesh Ek Pradesh and be 30 political parties. It is not convincing. Now that we know there is not going to be Ek Pradesh in all of Madhesh, we know who to blame. We have to blame the 30 Madhesi political parties.

If all Madhesi parties had been one, that unified party would have competed with the Maoists in terms of its size in parliament. Don't blame the Madhesi voters. Take responsibility.

(2) Unification In Stages

The three Madhesi parties coming together is a good start, but the whole process has been taking too long. I get the impression Upendra Yadav has been dragging his feet. He tries to take too much credit for the Madhesi Kranti. People like Hridayesh Tripathy and Rajendra Mahato, and even Bharat Bimal Yadav and Rameshwar Raya Yadav were working night and day for Madhesi rights for a full decade and half while Upendra Yadav was busy with the UML and the Maoists. He does deserve credit but not all of it.

And Upendra Yadav is not the only left-leaning "Socialist" making the rounds. Hridayesh Tripathy was a Soviet trained Socialist before he was a Madhesi rights activist.

It is okay to have an awkward sounding name like Terai Madhesh Sadbhavana Forum or Democratic Socialist Forum, Nepal. To start with, that is. But both are odd names. A 300 member central committee might be the only way to bring everyone together, but that jumbo size is untenable and looks senseless on the surface.

There is a solution to both those problems. It is called going for a national convention and letting the democratic process decide things.

Democratic Socialist Forum, Nepal is a little bit of a biased name. You are picking two words from Yadav's party and none from Thakur's or Mahato's. That does not sound fair.

It would be best to go for a neutral name like Lok Dal. You want a party that could also grow into the hills. Or even a Sadbhavana Forum. My bias is for a two word short, sweet name. Nepal Sadbhavana Forum. NSF. The word Sadbhavana represents the decade and a half before the Madhesi Kranti, and the word Forum represents the first Madhesi Kranti.

(3) Party Democracy

The democratic process is the answer to pretty much every contentious issue. Who should be the parliamentary party leader? Hold an election. Who should be party president? Hold an election at the national convention. By applying the democratic process at the wada level, at the village/town/city level, at the district level, at the state level, at the national level all contentious issues can be resolved.

(4) Federalism

The Madhesi parties will want two states in the Terai. The Pahadi parties will try to create four states in the Terai. That is a tussle that will play out over the course of the year. And there the best bet for the Madhesi parties is if all 50 of their MPs are under the umbrella of one political party. Even the Maoists are not with the two states in the Terai idea. At the core of it, they are a Pahadi party just like the Congress and the UML.

(5) State Restructuring

Ensuring 49% reservation for the DaMaJaMa in all new entrances into the state bureaucracies was a major achievement. But now the Madhesi parties have to act watchdogs to that arrangement. Already the Nepal Army threw that aside.

The bigger part of state restructuring is to do with downsizing. If federalism is a superior form of government, and it is, then a federal Nepal should have fewer bureaucrats than today's Nepal. You create state level ministries, but you have to drastically downsize the national level ministries in the process.

The Nepal Army is bloated. It has to be brought down to about 10,000 soldiers. It is because what Nepal needs is more teachers, more health care workers.

The Nepal Police also has to be downsized. Policing will largely be up to the states. That is not a federal function.

(6) Nitishism

Once the country gets its constitution and federalism, and the unified Madhesi party is vigilant and proactive about state restructuring, 100% of the focus has to shift to what I am calling Nitishism. It is going to be all about development. And there Nitish is the top role model on the planet. You just imitate him and sweep election after election.

My fear is the Madhesi parties might finally unite too late, and then keep singing the Madheshbad song long after the train has already left the station and is now parked at the development station. If that happens, they will have to make do with a 20% vote share. And at that point I am not going to be blaming the Madhesi voters.

A unified Madhesi party might end up with 35% of the Madhesi votes compared to the 25% vote share of the fragmented Madhesi parties. But if that unified Madhesi party takes to Nitishism its vote share among Madhesis will rise to 50% and it will also be in a good position to make inroads into the hills and mountains.

If the unified Madhesi parties will beat the three Pahadi parties on Nitishism, it will at that point also beat the Pahadi parties in the Pahad itself. Will the Madhesi politicians be able to muster that political will? Only time will tell. That party will have a central committee that will be 20% Khas and 30% Janajati and 20% Dalit and 33% female.

And, by the way, Democratic Socialist Forum, Nepal would be a lousy name for a party.
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Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Terai Lags Behind

English: "Malnourishment in Niger" M...
English: "Malnourishment in Niger" Malnourished children in Niger, during the 2005 famine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Help, not hinder
Almost all statistics including population density, literacy rate, annual income, unemployment, infant mortality rate, malnourished children, wasted status of children (20.4 percent in Tarai vs. 6.9 percent in Hills), anaemic women (42.0 in Tarai vs. 26.9 in Hills), families without toilet (51.2 in Tarai vs. 24.8 in Hills), Human Development Indicator, Human Poverty Index and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) demonstrate much worse condition in Tarai compared to Hills. Despite this, only a small fraction of foreign aids and grants is allocated for Tarai. 51 percent of Nepal’s population lives in this region and carries the same proportion of burden of the loans by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and other donor agencies. Moreover, international agencies fare much worse than Nepal government’s structures in regards to the inclusion of Madheshis. According to the UNDP data published in 2001 about the manpower involved in 30 major multilateral agencies and 61 projects, they had only 5.2 percent of Madheshis. Foreign tourists, volunteers and journalists often flock to Nepal with their backpacks, full of stereotypes. Their Nepal revolves around mountains, monks and medieval temples. They crave for virgin goddess and yetis, for trekking on trails and resting in resorts. Madhesh is no Nepal-like for them. They are not ready to buy tickets to Nepal and then end up in a place that looks much like India, as a European friend of mine remarked after looking at the landscape and people of Tarai. “If I have to see this and spend time with these types of people, I’ll go to India. Why bother about Nepal?”
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Saturday, March 01, 2014

5,000 Members



The United States possibly was one of the last countries for the Non Resident Nepali movement to enter. It flourished on all continents except this one for years. And finally when it arrived it had managed to accumulate 400 members in four years.

But looks like those days are over. A recent membership drive has put the membership past 3,000. And that is in large measure because you can get your membership online. Estimates of Nepalis in America put the number at 200,000. I think to expect the NRNA will get at least 5,000 members is modest. The NRNA deserves to become the largest Nepali organization in America.

The organization suffered because the democratic process was disallowed. But some recent changes are welcome. You should be able to get your membership online. Any member should be able to contest for Officer positions, and all members should be able to directly vote for those Officer positions. The committees that run the association should organize online meetings. You put those basics into place and the next thing you know you have a truly pan American organization. Geography is no longer holding you back. All book keeping should be kept transparent and online.

The empowerment of the community comes from the organization’s commitment to the basic democratic process itself. Such a commitment to democracy and transparency will jack up the membership base to consistently large numbers. People running for Officer positions would engage in membership drives to boost their chances, and that would be swell.

The annual ANA Convention has a long tradition, and it deserves to continue with it. That convention is as good a platform as any for the NRNA as well.

The dual citizenship issue remains the unfinished business of the NRNA. And that mystifies me. Because making dual citizenship possible for global Nepalis is the easiest and the single biggest step the government in Nepal can take for Nepal’s rapid economic growth. Nepali politicians who oppose Foreign Direct Investment, either through active opposition or, more likely, plain inaction, and those who stand against dual citizenship for global Nepalis are directly responsible for Nepali women ending up in the brothels in Mumbai, and Nepalis landing in body bags from the Gulf states. Those politicians are standing in the way of job creation inside the country.

Only a mass based NRNA in America can help with the cause of dual citizenship. A NRNA with 200 members simply does not have legitimacy. At 5,000 members you are finally talking. At 10,000 members you matter. The membership drive has to be ongoing.

There are more than 30 Nepali organizations just in New York City. There are tens of Nepali organizations in most major urban areas across the country. The NRNA could be that umbrella organization that brings Nepalis together across this country. And it is a good thing the association asks for individual and not organizational membership.

There is power in numbers. For the first time I have some respect for the NRNA in America. 5,000 has been that magic number for me. The membership number has to go past that for me to take the NRNA seriously. Leaders contesting elections and winning after massive membership drives have legitimacy. Enough of backroom deals and undemocratic appointments and shady court actions.

Once the NRNA in America gets the basics of democracy and transparency right and goes past 5,000 members, it will become a serious national chapter of the global NRN movement for the first time. And it might even claim leadership of the global movement at some point. It will be able to add muscle to the dual citizenship debate.

In a culturally diverse country like America, and especially in cities like New York, a well run NRNA will bring up opportunities for alliance building with organizations that represent other countries. Transparent and online book keeping will create opportunities for massive fundraising and creating new programs.

If the Officers of NRNA America will hold online meetings, that means the gulf between the NRNA chapters in the 60 plus countries is going to be zero. Everyone can come on Skype. It is amazing how Viber has taken off. The NRN movement was always meant to be global. But lack of robust coordination has kept the movement in the doldrums. I am for more skyping and less air travel. Use social media to the max. Keep all interested members in the know. Publish meeting minutes and money details on Facebook groups.

5,000 members spread across the country might mean those running for Office might also have to conduct primarily online campaigns. That would be interesting. That would also be cheap. Which means anyone could participate, and that would be a good thing.

I have wondered out loud many times in many places as to why the top global Nepali entrepreneurs are not out of America but rather Second World countries like Russia. If America is the ultimate country, what gives? One of the things holding the community back has been a lack of large, mass based, democratic, transparent, robust organizations. Minus that the community has been nimbling along with some sort of an inferiority complex.


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Friday, February 28, 2014

A Unified Madhesi Party Will Sweep The State Elections In The Terai

सप्तरीमा ‘मधेशी मोर्चा गठन’


सप्तरी, १ माघ । मधेशकेन्द्रित दलका सप्तरी जिल्लामा जिल्लास्तरीय मधेशी मोर्चा गठन गरिएको छ । जिल्लामा मधेशी मोर्चा गठन गर्दै उनीहरुले जिल्लाको तथा मधेशको हकका लागि सामूहिक रुपमा लाग्ने प्रतिबद्धता व्यक्त गरेका छन् । गठन भएको मोर्चाले मधेशी जनताको भावनाअनुरुप अधिकार सम्पन्न शक्तिशाली संघीय संविधान निर्माणका लागि दबाव दिने उद्देश्य लिएका छन् । जिल्लास्थित विकासीय कार्यालयलगायत अन्य सरकारी तथा गैर सरकारी कार्यालयहरुमा भइरहेको व्याप्त भ्रष्टाचारलाई अन्त्य गर्ने, सेवाग्राहीलाई सर्वसुलभ ढंगबाट सेवा प्रवाह गराउने, सबै गतिविधि पारदशी गराउने लगायतका कार्य गर्ने जनाएको छ । मधेशी जनअधिकार फोरम, नेपालका जिल्ला अध्यक्ष युसुफ अलीको संयोजकत्वमा बनेको मधेशी मोर्चामा जिल्लास्थित सबै मधेशवादी दलहरुले सहभागिता जनाएका छन् । मोर्चाको सदस्य सचिवमा फोरम लोकतान्त्रिकका जिल्ला सचिव भोगेन्द्र चौधरीलाई चयन गरिएको छ । सदस्यहरुमा लोकतान्त्रिककै जिल्ला अध्यक्ष शैलेशकुमार चौधरी, सद्भावना पार्टीका जिल्ला अध्यक्ष सुनीलकुमार झा, राष्ट्रिय मधेश समाजवादी पार्टीका जिल्ला संयोजक गजेन्द्र मण्डल, तराई–मधेश लोकतान्त्रिक पार्टीका जिल्ला अध्यक्ष रामप्रित यादव, फोरम गणतान्त्रिकका जिल्ला अध्यक्ष भागवत मण्डल छन् । यस्तै तराई मधेश सद्भावना पार्टीका जिल्ला अध्यक्ष मुनीलाल साह संघीय सद्भावनाका जिल्ला अध्यक्ष जागेश्वर राय, नेपाल सद्भावना पार्टी (गजेन्द्रवादी) का जिल्ला अध्यक्ष दानी मण्डल र नेपाल सद्भावना पार्टीका जिल्ला अध्यक्ष मंगल राय पनि सदस्यमा रहेको मोर्चाका सदस्य सचिव भोगेन्द्र चौधरीले मंगलबार जारी गरेको विज्ञप्तीमा जनाइएको छ । 
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