Enter The Dragon

Delhi did not see it coming.

I have been on record suggesting King Gyanendra is perhaps the Michael Corleone of his family, not the eldest brother, but perhaps the smartest. This was one of those moments when I relived that comment.

I disagree with him fundamentally. I see him as an ideological opponent. But that does not make him dumb. Krishna admired Karna, though he still edged Arjun to fight him.

This was a big rabbit that came out of the hat.

Now that the rabbit is out, how do I feel?

I am also on record suggesting the 19th century was Britain's, the 20th was America's, the 21st is to be Asia's. I am very much for China. I have a very healthy perception of Chinese possibilities. And in US politics the Chinese and the Indians truly are comrades in arms, part of the same racial rainbow coalition. I make it a point to take offense on behalf of the Chinese Americans.

Do I want China to gain some kind of a status within SAARC? I want to go beyond that. I want China to become a full member. I want SAARC to fundamentally revise its charter. I want SAARC to grow to become something called an AU, Asian Union, with its headquarters in Nepal's capital.

China and India are not enemies. There has to be a healthy sibling rivalry between them for economic growth.

The Chinese have no evil designs upon India either. India has nothing to fear but its own poverty and illiteracy and weak infrastructure.

So I say, welcome China.

The Himalayas are the most beautiful mountains in the world. But so far they have been thought of as the Great Wall of economic bifurcation. That can change. That has to change. Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet: all of them could be bathed in wireless broadband, the modern day highway. There is the economy of the body, and then there is the economy of the mind.

High speed railroads could be crisscrossing all over the Himalayas.

The future is now. That future has to be imagined.

The race is not to increase your sphere of influence at the cost of your neighbor. The race is to expand the per capita income of the people in all countries in the region. The rules of geopolitics have changed: they are not military, they are economic. You don't fight for territory, you fight for market share, you fight to expand the market. If done right, everybody wins. The pie can grow, the pie can be made to grow.

China could learn democracy from India. India could learn economic stewardship from China. Both could learn plenty from history.

This SAARC stunt also proves another point that I have made at this very blog before: the Chinese are pragmatic to a fault. While Delhi was engaged in vague ideological debates on Nepal over months, the Chinese had quietly been working to pull this stunt.

If the Chinese were in power in Delhi, they would have provided concrete logistical support to the seven party coalition to wage a decisive democracy movement and be done with in a month or two. The Chinese would have openly facilitated dialogue between the top Maoists and the top Nepali Democrats. They would have organized an open summit. They would not have been interested in hide and seek.

Indians could learn. And it is not too late still. At this blog I have offered the details of the kind of logistical support that could be extended. Get into the act.

Fundraising Among Nepalis In The US: Pyramid Of 10

I first brought this up here: Gameplan. The idea there is that it is not enough to extend moral support, and it is not enough to lobby. Logistical support has to be extended. And we should be very involved in the movement, in the planning, in suggesting ideas, we should be participating in the details. We can't be out there in the streets in Kathmandu, but other than that we can do pretty much everything else. We can participate at all other levels, and we should.

Fundraising is key to what I am suggesting. But in that gameplan the fundraising starts only after the seven party coalition comes around to the three point program. And the fundraising is done primarily by the Nepali organizations in the US, by their officers.

Today I would like to take the idea to a whole different level.

The money is to be given to the seven party coalition if it comes around to the three point program (Maoist, Moriarty, Madhav, Manmohan: Get Behind The 3 Point Program) or part or all of it can be given to a whole new party if the youth associated with all the parties were to get around to that idea. (Janata Dal Constitution) A new cutting edge party would be launched that would skip the constituent assembly idea and go straight for this: Proposed Democratic Republican Constitution. I came up with this idea right after Gagan Thapa came under attack from Girija Koirala after the Pokhara incident.

But here I have to be careful. I am not there, I am here. It is for the people at the other end to decide what exactly it is that they want to do, they can do. They are the ones facing ground realities. Gagan's last stand was that he wished to work from inside the Nepali Congress. And if that be his stand, I will respect that. But I want him and others like him to know there also are other options. We do not have forever. We should be thinking months not years.

As for fundraising, my idea is this.

Forget the existing Nepali organizations. Instead construct a pyramid of 10.

If you can get 10 people including yourself to donate $100 each, you are a Leader. 10 of those are lead by a Senior Leader. There is a Commander at the top.

10 Donors * 10 Leaders * 10 Senior Leaders = 1000 Contributors = $100,000.

This might be the more efficient, faster route to raising money and keeping it all transparent. The 10 Senior Leaders and the Commander decide on the details of dealing with the money. The broad framework is as suggested above. And there has to be an agility to our ways. We have to be constantly studying the developments. We should make strategic investments. We should be fast on our feet.

And we give more than money. We are very involved with the planning of the details of the movement.

The great thing about this idea is those in Kathmandu could use the same idea to get 100,000 people out in the streets: Take Over Tundikhel. This way you know exactly how many people you have at any one point in time. You can decide to show up only after you have the numbers. You can stay organized. You can get creative with the movement.

It can feel like I am giving Gagan a lot of homework. But I am not pushing. I am only suggesting. I mean, is your patience not being tried by all three forces in the country?

I suggest those of us in the US start building our pyramid right away. Right now we are not collecting money. We are only preparing a pyramid of people who are pledging to contribute. We will push the button down the line when we decide the time is right.

3 Scenarios
Gameplan
House Revival Stance Preventing Progress