My Role In The April Revolution: The Butterfly Effect

Butterfly effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or, for that matter, prevent a tornado from appearing). The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different.

As I gear to put some effort into the Madhesi Movement, I can't help but notice there has been a concerted effort to minus my role in the April Revolution. If it were merely personal, I would not much mind. But I have to take offense on behalf of the Madhesh.

Take quantity. No Nepali outside of Nepal did full time work towards it for a year before it happened. And for months after the royal coup when there was very little opportunity for anyone inside Nepal to do anything, maybe I was the only one anywhere who was doing such intense, full time work.

The Virus Of The April Revolution

Take quality. For a few years before I came to the US in 1996, I was Vice General Secretary of a party in Nepal of which Hridayesh Tripathy was General Secretary. Tripathy at the time was Chair of the Public Accounts Committee in the parliament, a seat then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee held right before he became Prime Minister. Tripathy today is a senior member of the cabinet in Nepal. Within months of landing in the US, I got myself elected student government president at what is the number one liberal arts college in the South.

Howard Dean knows me. Howard Dean's brother Jim Dean knows me - "I googled your name and ended up on the homepage of the actor James Dean." These are a Vermont duo. The American who did the most for the democracy movement in Nepal is Senator Patrick Leahy. He is a Vermonter. Before Howard Dean came along, the president of the Democratic Party just used to be a figurehead. He has authored a 50 state strategy that seems to be working so beautifully. Dean 2004 was not a presidential campaign, it was a movement. Barack Obama is a Deaniac from 2004, and he is the next President Of The United States.

Cobb To Leahy
Leahy Amendment Says No Arms To Nepal
Leahy, Lion
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat, Vermont
Senator Leahy To US Congress On Nepal

I am the father of the concept of Continuous Movement in the Nepali context. I pushed the concept publicly and privately for months before it happened. Otherwise all leaders just wanted to do isolated acts like a mass meeting here, a Nepal shutdown there. The most they would go for would be a Nepal shutdown for four days. I kept saying we have to come out into the streets and stay out until the regime is toppled.

Lilamani Pokharel For Continuous Movement (November 29, 2005)
Project Take Over Tundikhel: Draft 1
eDemocracy, 4S Campaign, 24/7 Vigil For Democracy: Take Over Tundikhel (March 19, 2005)

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

यो सडक ितम्र्ो हो

घरबाट िनस्केर आउ सडकमा
पर्खाल हाम्फालेर आउ
अंकमाल गरेर आउ
कौसीबाट हाम्फाल
ढोका खोलेर आउ
यो सडक ितम्रो हो

फािसस्टहरुले देश बेच्न लािगसके
राजा नभए देश रहन्छ
देश नरहे ितमी रहन्नौ
ितम्रो घरमा अँध्यारो छ
बत्ती बाल्ने बेला यही हो
आउ सडकमा
यो सडक ितम्रो हो

आँधीबेरी जस्तै आउ
मनसुनको बर्सात भएर आउ
तर मनसुन आउनु अगािड आउ
यो आन्दोलन समयको तकाजा हो
यो वर्तमान, यो भिवष्य ितम्रो हो
त्यसैले आउ सडकमा
यो सडक ितम्रो हो

गाउँ गाउमा आउ
शहर शहरमा आउ
िजल्लाको सदरमुकाममा आउ
राजधानीमा त ओइरेर आउ
लाखौंको संख्यामा आउ
िकनभने
यो सडक ितम्रो हो

आन्दोलन सफल हुन्छ
सडक रगताम्मे हुन्छ
िवजयको अबीरले
दशकौंपिछ नाित पनाितले सोध्लान
क्रान्ितका दौरान ितमी कहाँ िथयौ
ितमीले भन्नु नपरोस्
ितमी कोठामा टीभी हेरेर बसेका िथयौ
अथवा बार्दलीबाट रिमता हेरेर बसेका िथयौ
त्यसैले सडकमा आउ
यो सडक ितम्रो हो

कमल थापा हावाको गोली हान्दैछन्
ितमी बोलीको गोली हान
नारा लगाउ
कमल थापा, तुल्सी िगरीलाई जेल पुर्याउ
माधव नेपाललाई जेलबाट फुत्काउ
आउ, ितमी सडकमा आउ
यो सडक ितम्रो हो

राजा नागिरक र व्यापारी भएर बसुन्
नत्र भने जेल जाउन्
मतलब छैन
मतलब ितम्रो छ
भरे बाटो कुरेर बस्न नपरोस्
ितमी रातभिर जागाराम भएर पिन आउ
एका िबहानै आँखा िमच्दै आउ
लाखौंको संख्यामा आउ
माित्तएको गोरु जस्तै िनर्धक्क भएर आउ
िकनिक
यो सडक ितम्रो हो

आउ, आउ
सडकमा आउ

Madhav Nepal was put under house arrest in February 2006. A month later he managed to smuggle wireless internet access into his room. The first person he reached out to was me. He is the leader of the party that has a strong chance of emerging the largest in the Constituent Assembly.



Girija Koirala is the father of the concept of the military solution to the Maoist insurgency. The king climbed onto it only later. Months after the royal coup, Girija was still vehemently against the idea of a constituent assembly. No peace would have been possible without that. No alliance with the Maoists would have been formed. Without that alliance, the April Revolution would not have happened. Girija has been singing the monarchical tune for months after the April Revolution. The revolution mandated a republic.

Girija Koirala at best has been the constitutional monarch of the April Revolution, a figurehead who occupies the top seat of power for being the oldest among the equals. And even today he has not taken any lead on the issue of state restructuring. He and his party have dillydallied on the issue of putting forth a detailed concept of federalism for Nepal. They want to postpone is as much as possible.

I am the only politically active Nepali anywhere - inside Nepal or out - who has written full-fledged constitution for the country: Proposed Constitution. My document would make Nepal the number one democracy on the planet, better than India, America or England. Not even the Maoists have come around to the idea of state-funded political parties. At least not yet.

In the process I have also invented the world's first digital democracy organization, Hamro Nepal. From that has birthed The Matrix which will possibly play a central role in Obama's ascendancy to the White House.

The Matrix, Vision, Spread Democracy, Revolution

To those who say I am just a writer! In November I got myself elected Convenor, Coordination Committee, Nepali Organizations In New York City. And it has felt like I am the only Madhesi in the city. I did that with sheer political skill. And, by the way, never underestimate the power of blogs. Dean 2004 was organized entirely around one blog.

There are those who say I have not been to Nepal in years. I say, astronomers have not been to Mars or Jupiter either, but they know the planets pretty well. Welcome to globalization and the internet.

The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Butterfly effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Butterfly Effect 2 Official Site: Newline Home Entertainment
The Butterfly Effect
Redmond's Butterfly Effect
What is chaos theory? - a definition from Whatis.com - see also ...
Chaos & Fractals: The Butterfly Effect
EContentMag.com: The Social Butterfly Effect
The Butterfly Effect Hits Vending Machines
IEEE Spectrum: Butterfly Effect

In The News

Mahara to lead Maoists in interim parliament NepalNews
CPN-UML elects Nepal as party leader in interim legislature Bharat Mohan Adhikari as the deputy leader ..... MP Mahendra Bahadur Pandey and Parshuram Meghi Gurung have been elected as the chief whip and whip
Madhesi activists call indefinite vehicular strike in Janakpur
Government releases Rs. 70 million to Maoists
Second meeting of Interim Parliament begins; Nemwang elected Speaker
Mainali elected NBA president
OHCHR flays arrest of Madhesi activists, political party members "The Government of Nepal is required under its international human rights obligations to respect the freedom of opinion and expression, which can only be restricted under highly limited circumstances." ..... "The arrest and detention appears to be a violation of these freedoms - freedoms which are enshrined in the new Interim Constitution of Nepal adopted earlier this week. In addition, OHCHR-Nepal’s is concerned about the failure of the authorities to provide the legal basis for the arrests and continued detention" ......... “I am concerned that despite repeated requests the authorities were unable or unwilling to give an adequate explanation of the legal basis for the arrests and continued detention, including whether the burning of the constitution is a legal offence in itself. Freedom of expression must not be compromised by authorities other than in exceptional circumstances and in all such cases clear reasons should be given”
Amend interim constitution in favour of Madhesi people: Mahato "worsening" situation in Terai. .... Mahato demanded that a fresh national census be organised ahead of elections of Constituent Assembly and based on the results of that census, he said, the electoral constituencies should be delimited.
Moriarty urges PM not to form interim govt before arms mngt
Nemwang, Yadav to remain Speaker, Dy Speaker; Maoists to get senior DPM's post Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara is all set to become 'senior Deputy Prime Minister'
Over two dozen MPRF activists arrested in the capital

Citizenship distribution begins NepalNews
MPRF protest interim constitution; calls Madhesh bandh Stating that the interim constitution is full of flaws and failed to protect the rights of Madhesi people, the Madhesi People's Right Forum (MPRF), announced Madhesh bandh (Shut Down) on Tuesday. ...... Upendra Yadav, president of the forum ...... "If our demands are not met, we won't let the constituent assembly polls take place in Terai." ...... chanting slogans in favour of a federal democratic republic, a proportionate election system for the constituent assembly and against the “internal colonialism” imposed against the Madhes.