The only full timer out of the 200,000 Nepalis in the US to work for Nepal's democracy and social justice movements in 2005-06.
Monday, May 01, 2006
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Adhikaar
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 23:16:52 -0400
From: "luna ranjit"
To: "Paramendra Kumar Bhagat"
Subject: invitation to a community meeting
Adhikaar for human rights and social justice
26 Thistle Ct., Staten Island, NY 10304 | p: 718-876-5545 | e: adhikaar@gmail.com
April 22, 2006
Paramendra Bhagat
Hamro Nepal
Dear Paramendra dai:
On behalf of Adhikaar for human rights and social justice, we would like to invite you or a representative from your organization to a community meeting. We are writing to you as a leader committed for the betterment of our community. At this event, we will introduce Adhikaar and our plans for the near future. But more importantly, we would like to learn from your experience and knowledge and get suggestions and feedback. The meeting will be held on Sunday April 30, 2006 from 5pm to 7pm at the Nepali Mandir, 34-11 62nd Street, 2FL, Woodside, NY 11377. The nearest subway station is 65th Street on G,R,V.
Started in early 2005, Adhikaar became incorporated as a non-profit organization in New York State in July 2005. In less than a year, Adhikaar has been very successful in raising awareness among the Nepalis and as well as raising visibility of the organization. Using a needs-assessment survey and newspaper articles as tool for outreach, Adhikaar has reached out to hundreds of Nepalis in New York area, and provided interpretation/translation services as well as referrals to other agencies' services to many of them. In July 2006, we plan to launch our "Know Your Rights and Resources" campaign to reach out to more community members and make them aware about their rights and the free or low-cost resources available to them. Adhikaar has also received attention from Nepali, South Asian, and other media groups, including Samudaya.org, Nepali Aawaz, Nepal Khabar, Vishwa Sandesh, and WBAI, a community-based radio station of New York.
We hope that you will attend this meeting and help us develop programs to serve our rapidly growing community in New York and across the country. Please feel free to contact Luna at 917-656-7442 or luna.ranjit@gmail.com for further information. In the meantime, you can also access more information about the organization and its programs at www.adhikaar.org.
Please let us know by Friday, April 28th, if you will be able to attend. We are also open to suggestions of the names of other community leaders. Thank you for your support and assistance.
Sincerely,
Luna Ranjit, Srijana Shrestha, Tafadzwa Pasipanodya
Adhikaar Board Members
--
"If you have some power, it is your job to empower somebody else."
- Toni Morrison
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Dismantle The Two Armies
Would you do it? How would you do it? Is it desirable? Is it worth it? Is it possible?
Is it desirable? I think yes. To dismantle the two armies before going into the constituent assembly elections would be a great way to ensure free and fair elections to the assembly. A population that has suffered from both for a decade will still feel a cloud of fear as it goes into the polling booths with the two armies standing. According to the 12 point agreement, the two armies will still be standing when we go for the assembly elections. I think that can prove problematic. And we can not afford to not have free and fair elections to the constituent assembly, now that we have it: the parliament voted for it unanimously.
The army as a social institution has been as archaic as the monarchy. Both symbolize feudal mindsets. Dismantling it is as appealing as the idea of a republic. How else could the country get a fresh start?
Nepal is a poor country. It needs to be spending on education, health and micro credit, not on defense.
How Would You Do It
The idea would not be to render 60,000 RNA soldiers - or however many there are - jobless. The same applies to the 12,00o Maoist soldiers, or however many there are. The idea would be to offer them all a smooth transition into the private sector.
That would require money. Where would that money come from? There are several sources. If you were to sell the arms and ammunitions the two armies have, that will generate a pot of money. The RNA has a huge fund which is money the RNA has made through its peacekeeping operations to do with the UN. And the Maoists are the richest political party in Nepal: they are going to have to cough up some money. But the biggest chunk will come from the foreign powers, namely India, China, America, Europe and others. If they have sunk tens of millions of dollars into military aid to prevent the worst case scenario, I am sure they will pump in tens of millions of dollars for peace. Because Cambodia will not happen in Nepal.
What will you do with that money? The idea is not to offer job guarantees to these soldiers in the two armies. The idea is to make their transition from the army into the private sector rather smooth. It will be like offering them an early retirement. You would perhaps give them each a year's worth of salary. And you would create a fund that will give them low interest loans if some of them want to start businesses. Or you would give them super low interest loans if they might want to go to school, college, vocational school, job training. As to how much they would get would be determined by a formula that takes into account as to how much they are making now. The top salaried people would get proportionately more.
Likely noone will get devastated economically. They will likely stay in similar income brackets. It will not feel like their lives got disrupted. It will feel like a career change.
GI Bill of Rights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The GI Bill was designed for American soldiers returning home from World War II. There was no way all of them or even many of them could have stayed on in the army. And the education they received is a big reason for the amazing economic boom America saw over the next few decades.
Will It Be Done
I don't know. It depends on many things. Most of all it depends on how gutsy the seven party alliance leadership can be, how imaginative. This is a bold vision.
I think it should be done, and I sure am pushing for it.
Double Digit Growth
I think dismantling the two armies is key to being able to imagine rapid economic growth for Nepal once it becomes a federal republic.
Ending 238 Years of Civil War in Nepal
Dr Brian Cobb, May 2
King of Nepal bowed before peoples' power By Michael Van De Veer Asian Tribune - Bangkok,Thailand
IS NEPAL’S ORANGE REVOLUTION SQUEEZING KING INTO EXILE ?
Kathmandu, Nepal
April 30, 2006
The struggle to create a Democratic Republic in Nepal has surprised the world.
People’s Power and largely peaceful nationwide demonstrations have laid the basis for Nepal to break the chains of a 208-year-old Monarchy.
Many compare the recent peoples’ victory to the “Peoples’ Power revolution” in 1968 when the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos was brought to an end in the Philippines, or the successful nonviolent “Orange Revolution”in the Ukraine in 2004.
In Kathmandu a 19-day general-strike left piles of rotting garbage lining the streets and there were serious water and food shortages, as well as LP-cooking-gas, kerosine, aircraft-fuel and medicine shortages. Each day the peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations grew, and each day they were met with increased Police and Army brutality. People from every level of society, even children, were brutalized, shot with live and rubber bullets and in at least 14 cases, killed by Security Forces.
At around 5:00 p.m. last Monday the 24th of April, as an estimated 2-million Pro-Democracy demonstrators were encamped around Ring Road which encircles the Capital, the enraged Crown Prince Paras piloted the Royal helicopter around Kathmandu Valley to survey the massive crowd.
As reported by a Nepali Weekly, Jana Astha, at around 6pm.the Crown Prince stormed into the Palace and along with other Royal relatives demanded the “king hang on to power and incited the Security forces to shoot at demonstrators.”
The embattled King, faced with a bloodbath, addressed the Nation at 11:30 p.m.(April 24) on local TV and radio. In a few words the King relinquished absolute power and reinstated the parliament which had laid dormant for four years.
It reportedly “took the King to nearly midnight to pacify his enraged son and send him back to his residence.”
Within hours the 7-Party Alliance (SPA) chose the ailing Congress Party leader, 84 year old G.P. Koirala, as the Prime Minister-designate.
On Friday, April 29th in the dusty parliament building at Singhadubar, the historic Parliament meeting was convened at 5:30 by Deputy Speaker Chetra Lakha Yadav. Her militant voice filled the chamber and the message from PM-Designate G.P. Koirala was met with thunderous applause.
For the 1st. Time in history there was no Crown in the Gallery Batithak and Royal-Power was replaced with People’s Power. Even with senior political leaders assuring that the Parliament is committed to the 12-Point Plan Agreement and Constituent Assembly elections, and tens-of-thousands of demonstrators demanding an end to Autocracy, the establishment of a Republic, the parliament adjourned without voting on these important matters.
A Constituent Assembly not only represents political jurisdictions but caste, class, oppressed minorities, unions, civil society groups, women and other under represented groups. In 1786 after the French Revolution, the first Constituent Assembly was formed to draft a constitution. This form of drafting a constitution was followed in 1918 when, during the October-revolution, the Russians adopted a draft-constitution. In 1946 a Constituent Assembly met in New Delhi to draft a constitution for an India. It took 165 days to complete this historical task.
It is clear that anti-monarchy sentiment is seething and that if the Maoists are brought into the government, the King, the Crown Prince and the Royal Family who no longer enjoy the support of the government or the Nepali people will either remain in Nepal as ordinary citizens or have to seek asylum and exile.
D. Michael Van De Veer-Freelance Journalist-in Kathmandu
Contributor to UnitedWeBlog-Voice of Democratic Nepal, &
Pacifica’s Free Speech Radio News.
Member: SAJA (South Asian Journalist Association).
Host OUT OF THE BOX KKCR-FM www.kkcr.org
PO Box 21218, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal
Saturday, April 29, 2006
To: The Kathmandu Media
Hamro Nepal
April 29, 2006 (sent to The Himalayan Times)
I am the only Nepali person in the diaspora I know of who has been doing Nepal work full time - more than full time - for almost a year now. Even before that I was giving it a whole lot of time right after 2/1. And so I keep getting suggestions that I should go to Nepal to enter politics. I think that suggestion does not take into account the two megatrends of the contemporary world: globalization and the internet.
Instead of going back to Nepal, I have invented an organization: Hamro Nepal. The name has a definite ethnic flavor, like Taco Bell, and was coined by the founding Vice President Anil Shahi.
Hamro Nepal has been talked about for months. It has been taking shape. Finally it was launched on the D Day of the April Revolution, when the people were going to gather around Ring Road and march onto Narayanhiti. It is an organization committed to a Democratic Republic. We believe the revolution is very much on, and we hope to see it through. Money, message and organization: those are the three tools of power in a democratic setup. We hope to marshall all three to the cause.
The organization hopes to achieve the goal of a republic, and then it hopes to contribute to rapid economic growth. Other than that, it also hopes to earn voting rights for Nepalis in America. Blacks earned it half a century ago. Nepalis don't even realize they don't have it. It is not true Nepalis in America are ahead of the Nepalis in Nepal.
We hope to grow the organization in as many countries as possible. Each country chapter will be locally registered and autonomous. The goal is to politically empower the members and Nepalis in general. The organization will also work to expand and reach out and forge a stronger Desi, and a newly coined blac identity, Black Latino Asian Caucus, to inject some much needed pride and dignity among the non-whites of America and Europe. The April Revolution just might have launched the Asian Century. The revolution's reverberations are already being felt in New York City. It has been a novel experiment in non-violence.
Hamro Nepal has been hailed in the blogosphere as the "world's first digital democracy organization." Lofty as the goals are, the real innovation Hamro Nepal is offering is in the way it is set to be organized. I would like to believe it is cutting edge.
At the core of the organization is to be a virtual parliament. The organization hopes to cultivate a culture of transparency, democracy, egalitarianism, empowerment and efficiency. Elections are to be held for the five Officer positions each year, online. There is face time, there is screen time, and there are bridge activists, members who connect the offline members to the organization's online interface and vice versa.
I expect the organization to grow at a rapid pace, and I expect its culture to become infectious. Hamro Nepal might be a much needed antidote to the racism prevalent in the west, as much as it might end up the most effective bridge among the Nepalis worldwide.
Going Forward
April 29, 2006 (sent to The Kathmandu Post)
The April Revolution of Nepal will go down in world history as the first major revolution of the 21st century. Nothing like this has happened in recenty memory in any country. Not in Eastern Europe, not nowhere. It was like the entire country poured out into the streets for 19 days. The entire country was shut down. People were out literally in all towns, all villages, all cities, people from all walks of life. The people surprised the seven party alliance, the Maoists, the king, and the world. The people surprised themselves.
House revival was a political decision. There is no particular provision in the 1990 constitution that would have allowed for House revival. And thus this paves way for the next few political decisions all the way to an unconditional constituent assembly.
But challenges lie ahead. The Maoists are still an armed group. The seven parties are still unclear on many specifics. If the spirit of the revolution is to be respected, all seven parties need to formally adopt the concept of a federal republic. So far the parties have been saying on the monarchy that it is for the people to decide, and that is skirting responsibility. Each party is going to have to take a formal stand on the monarchy. The two Congress factions, the Sadbhavana are going to have to come out and say if they are for a republic or not. The UML, the Maoists and the Jana Morcha are formally for a democratic republic. The other parties need to follow suit. And if not, if they are going to come out for a ceremonial monarchy, I believe that is going to cost them a lot of votes.
Looks like the two Congress factions will stay separate, and that is not a bad thing at all. It will be healthy for democracy to have four large parties - the two Congress factions, the UML, and the Maoists - and three small ones: the RPP, the Jana Morcha and the Sadbhavana. Like in India, we might be about to enter an era of coalition governments, and that can work beautifully. A united Congress was too much bigger than the UML in the parliament, and there was not enough healthy competition for power.
I believe the April Revolution has given Nepal an opportunity to shoot for a cutting edge democracy such that the April Revolution can stand in the same league as the October Revolution in Russia, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and the Indian Struggle For Independence. But whether or not we will qualify will depend on if or not we can give an original twist to the concept of democracy in our next constitution. I think we should shoot for a democracy where parties do not get to raise funds, instead they get state funds in direct proportion to the number of votes they earn, and they keep all their book keeping online.
The people have barely earned the right to free speech, the right to peaceful assembly. Now they need to use it. The Madhesi community comes to mind. Madhesis in all towns and all villages and in all parties need to organize and march for a federal republic, for language rights, for one person one vote democracy. The same might apply to other marginalized groups like the Dalit, the Janajati, and the Mahila. All four groups qualify for reserved seats in the parliament. The pressure has to be maintained or the political party leaders might go slack.
But the key issue still is Maoist disarmament. I propose that we dismantle both armies. Nepal does not need an army. We are not about to go to war with China or India. We need to be spending on education, health and micro credit, not on defense. Dismantling the two armies is the least complicated path to lasting peace. A second choice option would be partial or total integration, but that has to be tantamout to reorganizing the army to make sure all communities get represented, the Madhesis more than most, since the army so far has acted like the Madhesis are not part of Nepal.
Many questions have been raised as to the procedures of a constituent assembly. I think the solution is easy. Divide the country into 300 seats of roughly equal population, roughly squares or circles or approximations, ignoring the district boundaries, and hold elections. The largest may not have more than 5% more people than the smallest. Otherwise it will not be one person, one vote, but something else.
I stand optimistic, but I do realize there is still a lot of work to be done, a lot of revolutionary work. The revolution is very much on. People came out into the streets when they had to face batons and bullets. Now they will have to come out in the streets when they do not have to fear batons and bullets. This is extra true for the DaMaJaMa: Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati, Mahila.
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