Thursday, June 22, 2006

Reform The Nepali Organizations In America



There is not a single mass based Nepali organization in America. That is the sad truth. The ANA Convention gets touted as the biggest gathering of Nepalis outside of Nepal. I don't know how true that is because the Nepali mass rallies in Delhi get tens of thousands of people, but it might be the biggest outside of Nepal and India. But even at the ANA Convention you show up like at some club. You pay your $25 and you go in.

There is too much elitism going on. The mainstream Nepali organizations have done a very good job of acting like the blue collar Nepalis pretty much do not exist, whereas they are the majority. The vast majority.

Recently I wrote up a proposal for the Association Of The Nepali Terain In America, ANTA: Reform ANTA. The message might be relevant to the Nepali organizations across the board. One of the goals of Hamro Nepal, the "world's first digital democracy organization" is the political empowerment of the Nepali diaspora. The 100,000 Nepalis in America should be able to vote in America.

I thought we were working to pass a resolution to that effect at the ANA convention, but later I got told, no, the idea was for the 100,000 Nepalis in America to be able to vote in Nepal. This is classic Nepali diaspora internalization and withdrawal. You compare yourself to the Nepalis in Nepal, not to the people in your immediate surroundings, those in America. The disenfranchisement gets rationalized away. Blacks earned it half a century ago. Nepalis are lagging behind.

Just look at the Nepalese Americas Council.

Organizations Links

Alliance for Democracy & Human Rights in Nepal

America Nepal Friendship Society New York
http://www.ANFS-USA.org

America Nepal Medical Foundation
http://www.anmf.net

America Nepal Society California
http://www.ansca.org

America Nepal Society Washington DC

Association of Nepalese in Midwest America
http://www.anmausa.org

Association of Nepalis in the Americas
http://www.ana-home.org

Florida Nepal Association
http://www.FloridaNepal.org

Friends of Nepal - Los Angeles
http://www.friendsofnepal-losangeles.org

Greater Boston Nepali Community
http://www.gbnc.ourfamily.com

International Nepali Literary Society
http://www.inls.org

Nebraska Nepalese Society
http://www.nnsociety.org

Nepa Pasa Pucha Americaye
http://www.nppa-us.org

Nepal Association of Northern California
http://www.cea.edu/7Ekbt/nanc.html

Nepal Center of North Carolina
http://www.nepalassociation.org

Nepal Center of North Carolina, Inc.
http://www.ncnc2056vs.org

Nepal Hawaii Society
http://www.nepalhawaii.hypermart.net

Nepal Human Rights Committee U.S.A.
http://www.inpros.com/nepal/nhrc/nhrc.html

Nepal Seattle Society
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/nss

Nepalese Association in Southeast America
http://www.Nepal-America.org

Nepalese Association In Vancouver, Canada
http://www.vcn.bc.ca~ncsbc

Nepalese Association of Houston
http://www.houstonnepalese.org

Nepalese Community Network of Canada
http://www.geocities.com/ncnc_ca

Nepalese Society, Texas
http://www.nepalesesociety.org

Nepali Women's Network of North America
http://www.nepaliwomen.org

Nepalis and Friends Association
http://www.west.asu.edu/Nafa

Nepalis in Oregon
http://www.nepaloregon.org/

Nepalis Living in Texas
http://www.stedwards.edu/instres/nptx/neptx.htm

Sherpa Friendship Association
http://www.bena.com/sherpa1/sfa/sFA_home.htm

The Esther Benjamins Trust
http://www.ebtrust.org.uk

Utah Nepali Samaj
http://www.utahnepalisamaj.org
I think there should be a push for these organizations to become transparent, and mass based. Each organization should be able to say how many members it has, and all members should directly elect the president through open voting.

Open Voting

The concept of open voting is that you can not assemble all potential voters in one physical setting at one particular time, and so you let them vote any way they can, over email, over the phone, and you make sure the process stays clean by posting on your website as to who voted for whom. You call people up, you email them, and you ask them to vote.

Before the 100,000 Nepalis can hope to vote in America, they are going to have to first start voting within Nepali organizations. And you don't just vote once a year for the office holders. You also vote in between to make decisions.

Free Membership

I think this idea will go a long way in helping the various Nepali organizations become mass based. If not free, membership fees should be nominal. You can always host fundraisers among the more well to do.

Transparent

It is so easy to put stuff online, and so cheap, virtually free. All members should be listed online. The minutes should be posted online. All book keeping should be kept online so members can see how money gets raised and spent, and there is ensured accountability.

National

As many organizations as possible should strive to go national. As to how, I have made some suggestions in the Reform ANTA document.

The basic suggestion is that all of the 100,000 Nepalis should get organized. They should be members of one organization or another. It does not matter which organization you join, as long as you join at least one organization.

Of the 100,000 Nepalis, I am guessing less than 2,000 are members of at least one organization. There is a lot of room for new organizations to grow. There is a lot of room for new organizations to get launched.

Right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental human right. It is like free speech. You don't need anyone's permission before you can speak free. And so it is okay to launch new organizations.

Umbrella Organization

There might even be a need for another umbrella organization. An organization will have to go through all these reforms before they can become a member. The president and central officers have to be directly elected by the general membership through open voting. The organization has to be mass based with at least a hundred listed members. All members should be listed online. There has to be transparency to debates, decisions and money matters.

Each member organization should be able to say how many members it has. That would be the weight of that organization within the umbrella organization. All organizations are not equal.

Annual Convention In New York

I have seen this with Indians. They don't have just one convention. I think by now the Nepali population is big enough that New York City needs its own annual convention. Of the 100,000 Nepalis close to one third are in New York City. And even among the rest, most live in the Boston-DC corridor. And New York City is in the center.

What could it be like? It would be in Queens. It would be as cheap as possible for those who attend. It would be festive and mass based and informal.

Nepali Convention.






Upendra Mahato And Some Gadfly Pahadis



I hear some misplaced Pahadis are hoping to jeer Upendra Mahato when he is in town for the ANA convention.

I think it is a big deal Upendra Mahato will be with us on July 1. The Pahadis have Gyanendra, the Madhesis have Upendra, only Mahato is self made. Some Pahadis have been making a fuss about his business investments in Nepal. Well, did Coca Cola shut down its plants in Nepal after the king's coup? Pahadis are not used to seeing successful Madhesis, and some of them have heartburns.

The gadflies will be countered. So abstain!



My Most Controversial Blog Post To Date: On Madhesi Issue
Your Many Identities
Not Journalism But Politics At The Speed Of Thought
Janakpur Rally, Biggest In Nepal Since 1990

My Proposal To The Saturday Symposium At Columbia
Nepal Needs To Be Hitting The World Headlines: Write To The Media

Diaspora Dynamics
Time For Madhesi Militancy Is Now
NDF Owner, Stop This Nonsense, Reinstate Immediately
NAC Goes Proactive
In The Quest For Social Justice Feelings Are Going To Get Hurt
ND Dynamics
The Cloud Model, Not The Pyramid Model
ND Glasnost
Umesh, Turn It Into A Business
Diaspora Logistical Help To The Movement
Logistics To Bring Down The Regime
To: ND Group, c/o Puru Subedi
Madhesi
Nepal Democracy Google Group Does Not Believe In Free Speech

Hindi, Desi

I am a Madhesi, but I am also a Nepali. I am also Asian. Similarly all Nepalis are also Desi. Desi is the term for South Asian.

I urge all of the 100,000 Nepalis in America who are mostly Pahadi to shed their false nationalism based on irrational anti-India sentiments and claim their Desi identity. That is the only way to empowerment within America.

We also have to work to make Hindi the sixth UN language.