Friday, January 05, 2007

Dr. Brian Cobb: Jubilee Member Of Hamro Nepal


Hamro Nepal: 50 Members

On December 24, I erroneously declared Peetambar Kushwaha as Hamro Nepal's Jubilee member. Dinesh Tripathi's name had been listed twice, I later realized. It is my great honor to bring in Dr. Brian Cobb "The April Revolution Doc" as the 50th member of this digital democracy organization.

Brian Cobb: An Illusion Of Peace
Brian Cobb: Perpetual Andolan
Dr. Brian Cobb: Speech At Gongabu
Brian Cobb: Savagery On The Roof Of The World
Brian Cobb, Brave Man

Brian Cobb was out on the streets of Nepal during the April Revolution providing immediate medical care to the injured. He paid an immediate price for it from the repressive regime. The aftermath was not less painful. In trying to renew his visa so he could keep serving the poor, Brian saw firsthand the enormous work that lay ahead if the people of Nepal, especially the marginalized, are to get their rightful place.

Brian's running social commentaries to me in emails and our regular chat sessions remind me of Rajeev Goyal who authored an amazing report on Dalits in Nepal.

Rajeev Goyal Talks Up Caste
Caste Discrimination Leads To War

Rajeev is an ethnic Indian who was born in the US. He grew up in the US. He was a Peace Corp volunteer in Nepal. When he talks about Dalits, he brings forth a freshness to his perspectives that I can not bring forth. I guess I was too close to the reality growing up.

Brian brings the same freshness to the abject social issues in Nepal. He knows and understands a lot of the ground social realities in Nepal. He is not one of those big money, feel-good type western donors who end up fattening the elites with little if any of their donations actually percolating down to the poor, the needy. Brian sees the b.s. and he talks about it bluntly. To those democrats in power who might be used to working the system as it exists in Nepal, Brian might even come across as naive. He wants too much too soon. He expects too much social progess to happen at once. But if we are going to just settle for the reality as it exists, we don't need Brian, we hardly need each other.

Brian has been a digital democrat all along. Only now he has formally joined the organization. He has all along been a member in spirit. Between him and me, we are going to compete as to who will be the more active member. Many of the rest of the members have been lying low. I think Brian is going to set an example for the rest of the members.

After an activist in Nepalgunj reached out to me, I have tried to expand Hamro Nepal into that town. And now Brian's formally joining the team, I am eager to think large in terms of Nepal.

Madhesi Alert, Nepalgunj Pahadi Attack On Madhesi, Raw Email, Video Footage

What would it take? What could be some of the scenarios?


A political party that might have 100,000 members in Nepal is in good standing. So if Hamro Nepal could grow to being 10,000 strong, we could emerge quite a force. We have to hone the message in a participatory way, but we also have to expand the organization in a robust way.

I know there are at least 15 cyber cafes in Janakpur. There must be several hundred of them in Kathmandu valley.

Let's say there are 50 towns in Nepal, and each has 10 cyber cafes on average, and that we could collect 500 email addresses per town. That is a total of 25,000. But then there are millions of Nepalis outside Nepal. Many of them are also online.

The idea would be to really grow this mailing list, already the largest Nepali mailing list in the world at 6200 and probably the sixth largest South Asian mailing list according to SAJA, South Asian Journalists Association: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/DFN-Blog. I want the list to become the largest mailing list in the world at Google Groups, period.

The best way would be for people to go to the bottom of this blog and sign up on their own. Or you collect email addresses and send them to me, and I add them to the list, about 100 per day is my capacity. These are just members of the mailing list. These are not necessarily members of Hamro Nepal. But this would be a great way to penetrate political parties, NGOs, civil society organizations, government bureaucracies, and the population in general.

The second is to expand the organization itself. Hamro Nepal is an invention. And as we wage the social justice revolution, we really have to become our own media. Do events, videoblog events.

Revver
YouTube
Google Video

There is a common criticism that the Hamro Nepal way is not suited for a country like Nepal where the internet penetration is minuscule in the first place. Hamro Nepal thinks of the internet as its nerve system, true. But it does not bar its members from doing any of the offline stuff. We can still print and distribute pamphlets, for example. We can organize events. We can try and get pubished in the traditional media.

In The News

Thirteen UN monitors arrive, Martin to leave for New York today NepalNews
India should not suspect our intentions, says Gajurel
Nepal-India agree for construction of transmission lines
Judge worked for RCCC without JC's permission: JC
NWCS staff protest Act amendment; to halt distribution of water
CPJ calls for probe into attacks on journalists in Nepalgunj
Nepali Middle Class and Nepal’s Economic Future
Cold wave toll hits 28
Home Minister directs to re-establish police posts within a week

Nepal govt restores 73 police posts after Maoists agree Zee News, India
Plight Worsens For Nepal's LGBT Community 365Gay.com
Nepal’s gays hit by Maoist clean up drive Daily News & Analysis
Cold spell kills 74 in Nepal, Bangladesh Peninsula On-line, Qatar
Rare Nepal rhinos mysteriously disappear Scientific American
Displeased Nepal King Ignores Government Salary Playfuls.com, Romania the Royal Palace had not collected the first installment of 23.7 million rupees (330,000 US dollars) allocated solely for the royal family's salary and allowances. .... this might be an attempt to show its displeasure over the imposition of income tax on the royal family. ..... in previous instances the Royal Palace collected the money within 48 hours after the announcement of the budget, and that they were surprised this has not happened this year. ..... the royal palace had already collected 79.8 million rupees of the 177.4 million rupees set aside
Zimbabwe: Nepal tightens visa requirements for Zimbabweans GoZimbabwe.com, Zimbabwe
CAN, Standard Chartered and Surya Nepal ink mega sponsorship deal Nepalnews.com, Nepal

 Cold wave claims two more lives in Siraha Kantipur
'Interim constitution will be passed soon'
Pvt firms to build first India-Nepal power highway The Indian Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (ILFS) will form a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nepal Electricity Authority this Friday to open doors for the setting up of four 220 KV “double-circuit” transmission highways. This will help Kathmandu import power from India in the short term and export in the long term. ...... The four transmission highways — Butwal (Nepal) - Gorakhpur (UP), Dhalkebar- Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Duhabi - Purnea (Bihar), Anarmani - Siliguri (West Bengal)— will cost around Rs 250-300 crores will link India’s energy-surplus eastern grid with Nepal in the approaching eight years. .... The entire project has nothing to do with the two governments; it will be a commercial venture between ILFS and the Nepalese power authority.
Maoists hurdling CA polls: Sushil
Police poaching in park: Warden
Cold spell kills 9 more, toll climbs to 27
गैंडा संरक्षणका लागि डेढ करोड प्र्रस्ताव
माले विभाजित
माओवादीबाट जनतान्त्रिकमा
रेमिटेन्सबाट विद्यालय सञ्चालन
अन्तरिम संविधान, महिला र संविधानसभा
नेपालगन्ज काण्डका महत्त्वपूर्ण पाटा भास्कर गौतम ... नेपालमा वास्तवमै लोकतान्त्रिक सरकार हुन्थ्यो, नेपालगन्ज घटनापछि प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारी तिलकराम पौडेल, डीएसपी प्रमोद खरेल, एसपी रमेशकुमार भण्डारीले तत्काल राजिनामा दिन्थे । सके गृहमन्त्री कृष्ण सिटौलाले पनि राजिनामा दिन्थे । ...... न प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारीमाथि कारबाही हुनेछ र उच्च सुरक्षा अधिकृतहरू नै निलम्बित हुनेछन् । ........ नागरिकलाई तिरस्कार गरिरहने, नागरिकको हकअधिकार र सुरक्षालाई कुनै महत्त्व नदिने, पदीय व्यक्तिहरूले कुनै जिम्मेवारी बहन नगर्ने तथा कुनै उत्तरदायित्व बोध नै नभएको कस्तो लोकतान्त्रिक सरकार हो यो, जसको कार्यशैली कमल थापा र ज्ञानेन्द्रहरूको जस्तै छ । ........ जुन सरकार आए पनि अवस्था बेग्लै सोच उही, मान्यता बेग्लै चिन्तन उही, प्रक्रिया बेग्लै हठ उही । यो कस्तो नियति नेपाली नागरिकको जहाँ धर्मनिरपेक्ष एवं जातीय भेदभावरहित नयाँ नेपाल निर्माण गर्ने प्रतिबद्धता व्यक्त भइरहे पनि धार्मिक असहिष्णुता र जातीय भेदभाव गहिरिँदै छन् । अझ मुखरित र व्यापक भइरहेछन् । ......

नागरिकलाई कमजोर बनाउने, साम्प्रदायिक र धार्मिक पर्खाललाई गहिरो बनाउने ज्ञानेन्द्र सत्ताको कामकारबाही र नेपाल सरकारबीचको भिन्नता नेपालगन्जवासीले खोजिरहेछन् । तर उनीहरूले एकातिर शाही सरकार आफैंले प्रतिबद्धता जनाएको "बहुदलीय प्रतिस्पर्धा र प्रजातन्त्र" लाई गल्हत्याएको स्थिति पाए भने अर्कोतिर लोकतान्त्रिक भनिने सरकारले गुण्डा र मवालीहरूलाई पुलिस प्रशासनको सहारामा राज्यकै संरक्षण प्रदान गरेर देशकै ठूलो जातीय आतङ्क मच्चाएको स्थिति भोगे । ...... पुलिसद्वारा कमल गिरी -मधेसी) को हत्या गरियो । सडकमा ५०/१०० जनाको हुलले पसल र मानिसको जीविकाका आधारमात्र जलाएनन्, मधेसीहरूको इमान जलाए । स्वाभिमानलाई नङ्ग्याए । साथै पहाडीको संरक्षणमा मधेसीको इमानलाई लिलाम गरिरहँदा राज्यले गुण्डागर्दीको रक्षा गरिरहेको नाङ्गो तमासा हेर्न मधेसीहरू विवश भए । साम्प्रदायिक सुरक्षा प्रदान गर्न र सहरलाई खरानी हुन्जेलसम्म जलाउन नेपाल सरकारको पुलिस प्रशासनले खुलेआम सघाएको दृश्य प्रत्येक नेपालगन्जवासीको मानसपटलमा नाचिरहेको हुनुपर्छ । यस्तो स्थितिमा पनि मधेसीहरूले संयमता गुमाएनन् । तर उनीहरूको यो धैर्यतामाथि पहाडिया राष्ट्रवादले नेपाल विखण्डन हुनसक्ने, साम्प्रदायिक विवादमा फँस्नसक्ने साथै जातीय दङ्गा हुनसक्ने आशंका व्यक्त गरिरहेछ । यद्यपि यस्तो कार्यको स्रोत राज्यसंयन्त्रको पहुँच र पकड भएको समूह आफैं बनिरहेको दृृष्टान्त नेपालगन्ज काण्ड आफैं हो । ......... नेपाली मिडियाले जातीय दङ्गा भड्किन्छ भन्ने डर र तनावको कारण सके सजहै नेपाल सद्भावना पार्टीलाई ठूलो दोषी ठहर गरेको बुझिन्छ । यो आरोपले कारणको गहिराइमा पुग्न हामीलाई सघाउँदैन र नेपालगन्जबारे लेख्नुपर्ने महत्त्वपूर्ण पाटाहरूमा केही लेखिने छैन । घटनाको स्थिति, आकार र स्तरको तुलनामा नेपाली मिडिया मौनप्रायः रहेको सजहै बुझ्न सकिन्छ । नत्र काण्डपछिको चौतर्फी प्रभावलाई राजनीतिक पूर्वाग्रही नभइकन मानवीय पक्षबाट पनि धेरै लेख्न सकिन्थ्यो । तर त्यस्तो केही देखिएको छैन । यो आर्थिक, राजनीतिक पकड भएको पहाडियाहरू बीचको एकप्रकारको अघोषित एकता हो, जसले कालान्तरदेखि मधेसीलाई शोषित गर्दै आएको छ । ......... नयाँ नेपाल बनाउने अठोट अभिव्यक्त गरिरहेको समयमा नेपाली मिडिया, मानवअधिकारकर्मी, पार्टी र सरकारको कार्यशैलीमा तात्विक भिन्नता वा प्रतिबद्धता केही देखिएको छैन । समानताको गफ सबैले गरिरहे पनि उनीहरूले दिएको एउटै सन्देश पञ्चायती कार्यशैली र नियतको निरन्तरता हो, जहाँ परिवर्तनकामी शक्तिका आवाज र मागलाई निरन्तर दबाइनेछ । यतिमात्र होइन, यथास्थितिलाई अझ बलियो र सशक्त बनाउन हदैसम्म निर्लज्ज संरक्षण प्रदान गर्दै जातीय, भाषिक, लैङ्गकि, धार्मिक, वर्गीय वा सम्पूर्ण नेपाली नागरिकको समान अस्तित्वका लागि लडिरहेका नागरिकविरुद्ध राज्य जाइलाग्न पनि सक्छ भन्ने सन्देश सरकारले दिएको छ । प्रस्टै छ, नेपालगन्ज काण्डलाई जातीय भेदभावको रंग राज्यद्वारा संरक्षित शक्ति र समूहले प्रदान गरेको हो । ........ गाउँ-गाउँमा पुलिस पोस्ट स्थापना गर्न नपाए शान्तिसुरक्षा कायम गर्न सकिँदैन साथै संविधानसभा पनि समयमै गराउन सकिँदैन, प्रधानमन्त्री भनिरहेका छन् । तर ठूलो संख्यामा पुलिस प्रशासन तैनाथ रहेको नेपालगन्जमा नागरिकलाई किन शान्तिसुरक्षा प्रदान गर्न नसकेको भनेर सार्वजनिक रूपमा प्रधानमन्त्री वा गृहमन्त्रीले जवाफ दिए संविधानसभा गर्न नसकिने सरकारको तर्कलाई नेपाली नागरिकले पत्याउने थिए कि ?

The Inclusiveness Imperative
by Dr Brian Cobb
Although Jana Andolan II succeeded in sidelining the king and resulted in a difficult but likely successful rapprochement with the Maoists, it has done little to make Nepal a truly democratic, just or inclusive state. Of course the usual platitudes have been trotted out, as has been the case many times in the past, but no substantive changes have been forthcoming and it is clear that the party bosses are intent on consolidating their hold on power and not on true social reform. Although many people have great hopes for the Constituent Assembly, if it consists of delegates chosen by party bosses, regardless of their ethnicity, it will be no more than a political puppet show.
A massive ethnic conflict is impending. The terai is on edge, and the anger among the Madhesis, Janajatis and Dalits is ready to explode into violence. But coolheaded analysis reveals that it is not really an ethnic issue and thus ethnicity should not define the lines of cleavage.
The country and nearly all of its major institutions are controlled by a small elite of perhaps 2-3% of the population. Although they are nearly all Bahun and Chhetri, the vast majority of Bahuns and Chhetris are also excluded from opportunity and thus should find common cause with the oppressed castes. Of course the oppressors will appeal to tribal loyalties to rope in a large segment of the exploited but high-caste population, and to portray itself as the victim of racism while denying its centuries of racism and opportunism.
The real line of cleavage is between the small upper caste elite (UCE) and the non-elite all-caste community (NEACC). I know many, many Bahuns and Chhetris who are honest, honorable, hard-working and well educated people but are nonetheless despairing for lack of opportunity. To allow the socioeconomic conflict to be redefined in ethnic terms is to play into the divide-and-rule strategy of the UCE.
The UCE's failure to comprehend the amount of anger, frustration and determination for change is suicidal. If the oppression continues a Rwanda-style bloodbath, or at least another, bloodier civil war, is inevitable. Yet their intransigence is rooted in a zero-sum mentality that has been disproven for centuries and based on ignorance of history and economics.
These people believe that anything that is good for anyone else is bad for them, so they actively try to create a win-lose situation, or zero-sum outcome, in every circumstance. But as the losing party becomes angry, the transactions degenerate into a negative-sum, or lose-lose, paradigm. This ultimately becomes what the Greeks called acrasia: acting contrary to one's self-interest. We saw a good example in the king's behavior recently, and we are seeing it again amongst the UCE.
History shows that economics is a positive-sum phenomenon. The rise of a wealthy, vast middle class in western countries has not diminished the rich; indeed it has enhanced their wealth. It is not a matter of squabbling over pieces of the pie, it is a matter of making more pie--economic growth. As the economists say, "A rising tide lifts all ships."
The same holds in sociopolical terms. Granting suffrage to women in the early 20th century and full civil rights to African-Americans in the mid-late century did not diminish the lives of white men in the least; in fact, by allowing blacks and women to more fully participate in the life of the nation, everyone has benefited.
The arrogant, corrupt, elitist, racist and often brutal attitude of the Nepali elite is not unique to Nepal. A glance at the George W. Bush administration amply demonstrates the point. Likewise the racist interpretation of Hinduism finds parallels in the Christian theology of the Middle Ages, now resurgent in fundamentalist Christianity. And yet, Dr Martin Luther King drew on Christian principles to convince the majority that racism was wrong, and Gandhi incorporated liberal Christian ideas from Tolstoy and Ruskin into a Hindu idiom favoring nonviolence and tolerance.
My point is this: those of us who favor an inclusive, just and truly democratic Nepal must not fall into the trap of igniting caste, racial or religious antagonism. Look at what this did in India in 1947, and the reverberations continue to this day. Instead we must see it as an issue of justice and appeal to all. The NEACC has to come together to demand its rights in a united, nonviolent way and the UCE needs to understand that its refusal to relinquish the zero-sum mentality it has evolved under centuries of regimes which have prevented economic growth and pitted one community against another to maintain its power is cognitively and ethically wrong, as well as self-defeating.
A ruthless minority dominating a suffering majority, as was the case in apartheid-era South Africa, is unsustainable. It is in everyone's best interest, save a few narcissists whose sadistic cravings for dominance blind them to logic and justice, to come together to create a new, truly democratic polity. Let us resist the easy but dangerous lure of identity politics and instead frame our arguments on sound, timeless principles of ethics, justice, peace and universal prosperity.
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