Showing posts with label Washington DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington DC. Show all posts

Saturday, October 03, 2015

Madhesi Self Hate, Indian Self Hate: One And The Same

Madhesi Self Hate
SD Muni, Rakesh Sood
यता प्रतिगामी संविधान बन्नु, उता चीनले झापामा ३ खर्ब को फैक्ट्री बसाल्ने निर्णय गर्नु
बंद हुँदा पनि प्रतिक्रिया मा बिभेद
आपूर्ति मा चीन ले भारत को स्थान लिन सक्दैन
Nepal-China-India
नेपाल भारत रोटी बेटी सम्बन्ध तोड्ने संविधान
समस्याको समाधान: नेपाल भारत राजनीतिक आर्थिक एकीकरण
भने पछि सरकार र संविधान ढाल्नु पर्ने भो: Humpty Dumpty संविधान
#HumanChainTerai
राहुल जी, आप किस दुनिया में रहते हैं?
यो यति हरामी संविधान बनेको छ
उपेन्द्र महतो
Types Of Groups
Mass Grave Enearthed In Janakpur



Mass Grave Enearthed In Janakpur
Hrithik Roshan Riots Redux?
The Earthquake, Facebook, And $17 Million
Former Indian Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee
Pahadi Men, Take Note
Indophobia In Kathmandu
70,000 In Janakpur
Why Nepal's New Constitution Is A Sham
The Indian Century Begins In Nepal
Indian Blockade: Gamechanger
Madhesi Kranti 3: In Solidarity
Former Indian Ambassador Jayant Prasad
Nepal Is Burning, Madhesh Is Burning
Extreme Police Brutality
SSS = KKKK
Nepal Needs A Constitution
The Tamils Of Sri Lanka And Me


The Indian ambassador in Nepal is powerful the same way a Marwari is rich, like the president of Nepal is powerful: he ended Prachanda's, the fierce one's, political career. But the president gets humiliated repeatedly and has to act like he did not notice. The Marwadi was the primary target of the 2000 Hrithik Roshan riots. An Indian ambassador who regularly doles out goodies to the India hating politicians of the Kathmandu establishment is really not that different from the Madhesi president, or the Marwari multi-millionaire. They are all Indians not being able to, refusing to come to terms with their Indianness. There is disbelief, there is denial. When I first experienced the anti Madhesi anti Indian racism in Nepal (and I have been stopped dozens of times in America in the post 9/11 world including while the two buildings were burning on TV and the locals in that small Kentucky town called the cops on me, and the racism does not come even close), so what I experienced was not racism, but something much more virulent, only I was attending the top school in the country, where I had been the top student in class for all seven years to that point, held all major leadership positions, (I did not exactly lack friends or popularity). But when the racism hit, years before I finished high school, I felt it extremely deeply and fiercely, and totally, and the helplessness came from the fact that I had no words to describe what was going on. It is like you see water but don't know the word, what would you call it? But the impact was total. My grades nosedived and I barely inched past graduation a few years later. It was a doubly whammy, a Bahun-British double whammy. It was lack of vocabulary to describe what was going on that threw me so off balance. The experience was an emotional equivalent of someone jabbing a knife into my thigh while I was running full speed. I fell on the tracks, reeled in pain. It was as if I had entered a different dimension that people around me simply did not have access to.

I won an election in the US South before Bobby Jindal did, in the Deep Bible Belt. Within six months of landing I got myself elected student body president. I won on charm. But if I don't "go back" it is because I want to play a global role to help take India to becoming a 240 trillion dollar economy. I wish to colonize. I wish to help colonize. If equality is not an option, we might as well counter colonize. Nepal is as good a place as any. We might as well start in Nepal. I have created a space in the digital realm. I personally know people like Rajendra Mahato, Upendra Yadav, Hridayesh Tripathy, CK Raut. My digital activism helps me do what I could not do in person. And that is great because I have no plans to show up in person. I am never going to run for public office. I moved past the joy of retail politics a long time ago. My path is digital activism and tech entrepreneurship. What burns in my mind is the bruteness of the possibility of the Indian Century, or two. The funny thing is, I was not even rooting for Modi in 2014. I admired his work in Gujrat plenty, and I did not hold 2002 against him because the Supreme Court of India didn't, but my Bihari roots had me rooting for Nitish. But Modi won me over when he kissed the steps of the Indian parliament, and burst into tears in his first speech to the BJP parliamentary party and said, "Jis tarah Bharat meri maan hai, usi tarah BhaJaPa bhi meri maan hai." And I was like, this guy is different, he is not a career politician. This is a man on a mission. I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City. Modi is the Obama I was looking for. My dignity in America is tied to how well India does.

I love New York City. I love diversity. My favorite thing about America are inter-racial, cross-cultural kids. And that is not in contradiction to my talk of the Indian Century. For as long as I can remember, I have been for equality, not segregation. I like mixed crowds. The thing is only political equality can make mixed crowds possible.

It is for India to prove democracy really is the superior system by growing faster than China did: I think 15% possible. It is Indian Muslims who are best positioned to bring about a total spread of democracy across the Muslim World, the only way to conclude the War On Terror. I want a casteless Hinduism that seeks converts across the world. An International Yoga Day is not a bad start. I want an India that helps Africa. Because only Africa can help African Americans in ways the first black president has not been able to.

So when I say I want India to colonize, I don't mean let's go kill like Hitler killed Jews, or Churchill Indians, or America killed in Japan and more recently Iraq. Israel, India, and Japan stand together because they are three Asian democracies who can feel each other's pain. When I say India should become a 240 trillion dollar economy, I think of Israel as the Guru that will take us there. Churchill killed more Indians than Hitler killed Jews and around the same time.

When I talk of the Indian Century, I mean in terms of creating a world where Indians nowhere get mistreated, nowhere get treated second class, not in any country in Africa, not in any town in America, least of all in a country like Nepal that is 200% dependent on India. British colonialism ends for India in Nepal. It has not ended yet. The Nepal India border was drawn by the British and is highly arbitrary and unscientific.

A global superpower India is one that has created trillions in wealth to wipe out poverty in India. A global superpower India represents not just Indians in India, but Indians everywhere, Indians in every town in America.

A global superpower India spreads democracy like America has not been able to, because it is not a Third World country, because it does not have a large enough Muslim population, because America is still too enthralled with its original sin: race.

But all that starts in Nepal. In Nepal I will get to see if Modi is for real. In Nepal now, today, I will get to see if Modi really embodies the beginnings of an Indian Century. All he has to do is stay the course. India can grow at double digit rates and achieve parity with China and America in decades, but it can not go past that unless it takes free speech and diversity to unprecedented heights. But all that is later. For now you can not be seen struggling with basics like dignity and equality for your own in a country that is so dependent on you. All Madhesis are asking for is citizenship papers, and one person one vote, and a federalism that is a simple extrapolation of that one person one vote. Madhesis are asking for equal status for Hindi in Nepal. Madhesis are asking for 20th century rights in the 21st century. If Modi blinks now, I will feel like I placed my bet on the wrong man. I will have to wait for someone else to help shape the beginnings of the Indian Century. You can't jump onto the development bandwagon unless you have those basic rights. Democracy is not India doing America's bidding. Democracy is native to India. The world's first republics were in the early days of Buddhism. India is reclaiming those roots. It does not seek to invade, kill and convert. Democracy is best spread peacefully. The Indian Century is about Indians everywhere getting organized to achieve and protect equality, it is about Indian getting educated and prosperous: all achievable.

Rohingya: India's Responsibility
ब्रिटेन का Cyber Colonization संभव है
A Fan Of Israel
Shashi Tharoor: Impressive Speech At Oxford
स्वच्छ भारत संभव है
नरेन्द्र मोदी और "काला धन"
लालु यादव: मौसम वैज्ञानिक
Making Peace With Pakistan

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

A Sagoon Sunday In DC



After over a decade I was back in Washington DC on Sunday. And it is not even far: I live in New York City. It was a trip made for Sagoon. (सगुनको महत्त्व)

Unlike NYC, Washington DC obviously is a city that sleeps. I arrived in the wee hours of morning and it felt like I had the entire city just for me. I walked around. I spent a few hours at The National Mall (my favorite "mall" in America since I have never been big on shopping) taking in The White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Capitol. For the first time I took the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument. It was a mini version of a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. DC is small and compact and nice.

There was not time to go for long walks in the city like I had wanted, or the trips inside the biggest museums in the world. I had really wanted to go to the Martin Luther King Memorial. But I only got to see it from the top of the Washington Monument.

After noon I got picked up by the Washington Monument by a nephew of Kabindra Sitaula. It was a family lunch at Kabinji's place, half an hour drive away. It was a large gathering of his extended family. I needled him by asking if he had any relatives left back in Nepal!

The 3 PM event is what I was in town for. One by one the crowd gathered. And the presentations began. During Govinda Giri's presentation I saw so much love from among the seed investors in Sagoon, that was a major energy boost to me when it was my turn to speak. I felt like I blew it out of the water.

My job was to reassure these early investors that round 2 fundraising will very likely happen since I was the man in charge. All I needed was a rapidly growing active user base. And they should perhaps go ahead and put some more money in and be done with the first round already. The server budget going up is precisely what we want, precisely what we have been working for. Open up the flood gates already.

Govinda, Kabin and I had dinner together later at a Chinese place. And then Kabinji dropped me off at Union Station for my overnight trip back to New York City. I realized I must have become a local in NYC after all these years because I kept looking for those food carts on the roadside (in DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia) for a quick soda, but they did not exist!

The money is not in until the checks have been issued and cashed, and so the public announcement will be made when it will be made, but I think yesterday was a wonderful day for the final push to get done with round one already!

Monday, February 09, 2015

Trip To Washington DC For Sagoon

The city that obviously does sleep. I arrived in the wee hours of morning.




























Photo Album

The meeting was of the early investors of Sagoon. They were in to know what had happened over the last three months, and if they would like to add just a little more to finish this first round and be done with it -- enough trips to NYC already!

It was a joyous occasion.

Friday, November 14, 2014

सगुनको पहिलो र दोस्रो राउंड बीच फरक

सगुन सँग सम्बन्ध

केही घण्टा अगाडि कोलोराडो बाट एक जना साथीले कॉल गर्नु भो। "तपाईंले सगुनको fundraising मा रोल खेल्ने कुरा रै छ, मलाई पनि ५ हजार हाल्न मन लाग्यो" भनेर भन्नु भो।

सगुनका दुई जना फाउंडर हरुसँग म सम्पर्कमा छु। वहाँ हरुले आंट गरेकै हो। मान्नु पर्छ। मेरो आफ्नै एउटा pre launch tech startup छ। त्यसैले हामीलाई एकले अर्काको कुरा बुझ्न सजिलो हुन्छ। सगुन अहिले राउंड १ मै छ। 350K fundraising गरिसकेको, 150K गर्ने प्रयासमा रहेको अवस्था छ।

मैले सगुनको राउंड २ fundraising मा lead role लिने कुरामा हाम्रो छलफल भइ राखेको छ। निर्णय शायद त्यसै किसिमको हुन्छ होला।

तर मैले साथीलाई भनें ---- तपाइँ राउंड २ मा आउन पाउनु हुन्न। क़ानूनले नै दिँदैन। राउंड २ मा venture capitalist हरु, लाइसेंस प्राप्त एंजेल इन्वेस्टर हरु मात्र हो आउन पाउने।

आउने भए राउंड १ मा आउनुस् भनेर मैले भनें र गोविन्द गिरी र कवीन्द्र सिटौला सँग मैले संपर्क गराई दिएँ टेक्स्ट मेसेज मार्फ़त।

सगुन का १००,००० user छन --- त्यो early stage मा धेरै हो।


Thursday, September 10, 2009

Sukhdev Shah And Anti-Madhesi Prejudice

Sukhdev Shah was way ahead of his time in terms of how far he went with his education. But his observation has been that his homevillage looks still the same after half a century.

He was vocal about democracy during the Panchayat era, and he has been vocal about Madhesi rights since democracy in 1990.

He gave so much to the Nepali Congress, but that party did not think him qualified to be the Nepali ambassador to the US back in 1991 or ever after. It took a MJF to make him the offer. He has been qualified this entire time.

I have utmost respect for Sukhdevji. And it is so very unfortunate that a government got toppled and the almost achieved dream of seeing a Madhesi as the Nepali ambassador to the US got dashed.

andolan5Image by paramendra via Flickr



Maybe this government will also get toppled in a few months, and an all party government will get formed, and the MJF will come back into power, and perhaps we will see the job done. But right now I am not counting on it.

What most gets me is the strong anti-Madhesi prejudice that the Nepali community in Washington DC expressed upon his nomination.

The prejudice is well and alive. No amount of education or global exposure seems to cure it. If anything, it seems to become stronger.

There is no escaping the struggle. If this generation will not do the work, the next generation will have to. Why pass it on to the next generation?

andolan4Image by paramendra via Flickr



For Sukhdev Shah at this stage in life to have to feel the hurt of the prejudice in a locale that has been his home for decades, it is like Ambedkar finally giving up on Hinduism to become a Buddhist. Maybe he should consider becoming an American citizen after all, after having resisted the idea for close to half a century.

The creation of a Madhes state in a federal Nepal is a must for Madhesi liberation.

Most diaspora Madhesis don't admit it, but Sukhdev Shah's experience is also their experience. A lot of them have mastered the art of getting along with Pahadis by either skipping the topic of Madhesi rights, or downright parroting the Pahadi talking points on Madhesi rights issues. I have a name for it. I call it the Mr 1% personality. It is the mindset of those who should be 40% of the room but are only 1% due to ethnic prejudice, and so they figure out a way to survive while being that 1%. That mental slavery exacts a heavy emotional price that many choose to pay. Salvation lies in those Madhesis reaching out to the Madhesi masses in Nepal, because they have the numbers to make a difference.

One word of criticism I would heap Shah's way is that it was Upendra Yadav and the MJF that nominated him, but he immediately started acting like it was the big wig Pahadis like Prachanda, Baburam, maybe even Girija who had authored the idea. We the downtrodden have a hard time accepting Madhesi leadership, and thus contribute to our continued downtrodden status.

Ethnic prejudice is an ideology that has to be defeated. The Madhesis of the world will have to get organized.
My quest for ambassadorship Republica Based on the news that filtered through the internet and newspapers, it appeared that the entire Nepali community in Washington was opposed to my nomination. Maybe the silent majority here was positive but none—except one person I can remember, Homraj Acharya, coordinator of Washington-Nepal Group—came out in my support. ....... my wife and I declined to attend the White House State Banquet given by President Reagan in honor of late King Birendra in December of 1982. Afterwards, Dr Bhekh B Thapa—then Ambassador to Washington—started treating me as if I had insulted his father and banned me from embassy functions. ....... the last Panchayat ambassador lobbied hard with the International Monetary Fund that I be fired from my job because of my “political activities”. ....... and have maintained personal contacts with all prominent politicians and leaders .......... I then find it amazing and puzzling why a person of my background would be opposed by this community where I spent most of my adult life and maintained good relations with everyone and all groups. No one had even hinted to me that I was not qualified for the job, that I have not served Nepal’s interests living outside the country and that I was unfit for the job for any specific reason. ....... From the beginning of my nomination, it looked as if the entire Nepali community here had become opposed to my nomination—tooth and nail—citing reasons that were made up, acrimonious and unverified. Otherwise, my nomination and appointment would have been a cause for celebration—that at least one of them had made it to the top and that it would open the way for many others residing outside the country. ....... just one: I am not one of them. ....... This kind of exclusionary politics in Nepal has lasted for many decades and over many generations but Madhesis are now determined to get their fair share of national recognition and claim equal opportunities as citizens.

Perspectives on Maoist debacle

Democracy For Nepal (DFN): Sukhdev Shah: Terai's Fate—Looking Within!
Telegraph Nepal : Nepal's US ambassador designate a US citizen ...
ANTA: Dr. Sukhdev Shah: Downsizing The Monarchy
Making Sense of Nepal's Transition to Republic - Dr. Sukhdev Shah ...

Democracy For Nepal (DFN): Kiran Sitoula Is A Short, Fat Idiot
ग्रीन कार्ड भनेको भिसा जस्तो हो
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