Friday, July 07, 2006

New Triangle: Maoists, Seven Parties, Civil Society


New Triangle: Maoists, Seven Parties, Civil Society

These three working in tandem could do much of the work of the peace process with little external help. That is not an argument against external involvement. That is to say it is very important these three work together.

Girija Should Retire, Madhav Nepal Should Take Over

Prime ंMinister: Madhav Nepal
Deputy Prime Minister: Ram Chandra Poudel
Deputy Prime Minister: Prachanda
Deputy Prime Minister: Chitra Lekha Yadav

Girija Koirala's health is failing. Getting out of the chair will be good for his health. I would like him to see the day Nepal gets itself a new constitution. But for that he has to be resting near full time. He should just sit back and relax, and let the doctors take good care of his health.

He should trust his party and his coalition partners. He should bless them and step aside.

The Moriarty Question

Moriarty thinks in terms of the worst case scenario when it comes to the Maoists. He thinks they might do what Lenin and Mao did, what Pol Pot did.

But if it is not true that the Maoists want a communist republic, then those fears are allayed. Moriarty does not trust the Maoists have had a genuine change of heart. What the Maoists call taxation, Moriarty calls extortions.

I think Moriarty does not realize how big an impact he ends up having on the domestic scene when he makes his comments. America is the sole superpower today. Or perhaps he does realize. There is perhaps a method to the madness.

All I have to say is this: if it is not true the Maoists are trying to imitate Lenin, Mao and Pol Pot, then Moriarty and the Maoists have nothing to fear of each other. In other words, it is okay to ignore Moriarty. His alarmist rhetoric only comes into the mainstream if the Maoists end up proving him right, either partly or fully. And I don't believe he makes his remarks because he wants to be proven right. The stark truth is he wishes deep in his bones to be proven wrong.

Sometimes I feel I might be the only person who is suspicious neither of Moriarty nor the Maoists.

The thing you have to know about Moriarty is he is perhaps the top person in the US foreign policy establishment in his chosen field. The guy happens to know what he is talking about. Like heart surgeons are heart surgeons, Moriarty is trained to recognize the methods of ultra left violent groups. Don't begrudge the man his training. Just prove his alarmist rhetoric wrong.

He is not a nuisance. He is a watchdog.

Ultimately it is for Nepal's eight political parties, the civil society, and the Nepali people to decide what shape Nepal will take. Moriarty does not harbor the illusion he is the one who will decide. He is just an ambassador. As long as the worst case scenario does not happen, I think he is pretty much harmless to all political actors in Nepal.

I think he will be much happier talking trade issues. For that the dust has to settle down, Nepal has to get itself a new constitution.

Kul Chandra Gautam

I got to meet Kul Chandraji at the ANA Convention. I told him I was following him in the news during his trip to Nepal.

He is such a pleasant person to be around. He has been of enormous behind the scenes help for the cause of peace and democracy in Nepal. Through him Nepal is in high places.

In The News


Interim Constitution Drafting Committee begins formal work NepalNews the interim constitution would be ready in the next 15 days...... the drafting committee would find an alternative to the House of Representatives before its dissolution .......
Rayamajhi commission gets two more months Journalist Harihar Birahi, lawyers Ram Prasad Shrestha and Ram Kumar Shrestha and general secretary of Nepal Medical Association Dr. Kiran Shrestha are members of the high-level commission.
Cabinet discusses current political situation; Prime Minister’s health Deputy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli would present the policies and programmes of the government in the parliament on Sunday even if Koirala will not be able to present it due to his ill health. ..... expressed dissatisfaction over the Maoists’ act of extortion and abduction and their commitment to stop people’s court.
18 injured in clash between Maoist 'factions' At least 18 people were injured in a scuffle between two armed groups of Maoists in Dhanusha district Wednesday night. A group of armed Maoists surrounded Sattokhar and the neighboring village and attacked their local cadres.... local Maoists were divided into two factions for some time..... The CPN (Maoist) is yet to comment on the incident. This was the first factional fight within the Maoist party after it joined the peace process in April this year.
NC and CPN (UML) lock horns over the spoils of power They fought together for nearly one and half years against the direct rule of the king. In power for just two months, Nepali Congress and CPN (UML)-- two major constituents in the Seven Party Alliance have started locking horns over the issue of sharing power..... Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that there is lack of regular contact and discussion among the alliance partners. ..... “Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister KP Oli is trying to meet Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala for the past five days, but to no avail” ......... UML ministers have not been given free hand to run their ministries ...... employees of the ministries headed by the UML leaders have been asked to organize strike....... there is not any misunderstanding between the NC and UML and the UML and Maoists despite some reservations..... mid and far-western region ..... people in the two regions complained that they had to seek permission from the Maoists while leaving and entering their own villages. He added that some people had been sent to Maoist labour camps following orders of the ‘People’s Court.’...... there might be some minor disputes in the working procedure, which is natural in the democratic culture but there was not major misunderstanding..... it is natural in the coalition government to attempt to minimize the influence of other political parties.....
NHRC exhumes body of a suspected Maoist buried by Army
King to lose power of appointing Judges Though the House declaration curtailed the King’s legislative and executive powers, it was silent on the King’s authority over the judiciary. The Constitution of 1990 allows the King to appoint judges and pardon a criminal. ..... the Judicial Council is mulling to appoint Judges in various district courts.
Civil society leaders warns of strike charging the political leaders of lingering on the issue of constituent assembly and trying to continue the reinstated House of Representatives indefinitely...... Citizens' Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP), who played important role during the popular movement of the country, said that the ruling parties have given the people enough reason to question their integrity by indulging in minor issues in parliament....... it is time to remind them that we are still on the streets ...... establishing a democratic republic through an election to a constituent assembly that is the mandate of Jana Andolan II..... the government's failure to take action against the army chief, its failure to sack the chief election commissioner and the head and members of the NHRC, and its indulgence in futile discussions over the future of the House....... "Further continuity of the parliament will establish it as a useless and obdurate forum," said Pahadi. ...... this is the time to discuss internally and come up with clear vision on new constituencies, election process, and management of arms......... CMDP members have already met some of the major ruling parties and the prime minister separately
Maoists approve working procedure of Code of Conduct monitoring committee the Maoists and the government formed a 32-member national committee headed by Birendra P Mishra to monitor the ceasefire code of conduct.

Govt criticises Maoist for continuing extortions Kantipur Publications
Two Maoists shot dead, 16 injured in separate incidents
CMDP warns of street protests
Victims demand Rs 142m as compensation
प्रधानमन्त्रीको श्वासप्रश्वास समस्या यथावत्
राजदम्पतीको सवारीमा सडक खाली
प्रधानमन्त्री अस्वस्थले सरकार 'गतिहीन' माधवकुमार नेपालले प्रधानमन्त्री गिरिजाप्रसाद कोइलाराको स्वास्थ्यका कारण सरकारको गतिशीलतामा गम्भीर असर परिरहेको बताएका छन् । प्रधानमन्त्रीको स्वास्थ्यका कारण तपाईंले सरकारको नेतृत्व गर्दै हुनुहुन्छ कि भन्ने जिज्ञासामा उनले भने- 'यसमा अन्यथा नसोचियोस्, यस्तो प्रश्न र जिज्ञासा मलाई अरूतिरबाट पनि आइरहेको छ, यसमा अहिले मेरो भन्नु छैन ।' 'ढिलोमा वैशाखसम्म संविधानसभाको चुनाव गरिसक्ने योजना छ' केही दिनभित्रै आठ दलको बैठक बसी अन्तरिम संविधान मस्यौदा समितिलाई पूर्णता दिने बताए । 'आफ्ना मान्छे बढी राख्न खोज्ने प्रवृत्तिले समिति गतिहीन भएको हो'
अपहरण रोक्न माओवादीलाई चेतावनी
स्वास्थ्यलाभको कामना
कर्मचारी प्रशासनमा सुधार
कृषि अनुसन्धानमा राजनीति
मोरिआर्टी, सूबथा र पुच्छरहरू उनै मोरिआर्टी जसले कुनै बेला 'सकारात्मक सङ्केत'को हरियो घाँस देखाएर हाम्रा कतिपय लोभी नेतालाई आन्दोलनको डबलीबाट थुतेर दरबार छिराएका थिए । उनै मोरिआर्टी जसले हाम्रो आशाको दीप बाह्रबुँदे समझदारीलाई खरानीमा परिणत गर्न त्यसमा आगो झोँसेका थिए । उनै मोरिआर्टी जसले नेपाली नागरिकलाई निरङ्कुश राजतन्त्रको सडेगलेको शव बोकाइराख्न घरिघरि गर्नु नगर्नु अनर्थ गरेका थिए । उनै मोरिआर्टी जो अहिले आठबुँदे समझदारीलाई नष्ट गर्न र नेपाललाई अफगानिस्तान र इराकको रक्तरञ्जित बाटोतिर डोर्‍याउन रूद्रघण्टी हल्लाउँदै मैदानमा उत्रेका छन् । नेपाली लोकतन्त्रको मिर्मिरे उज्यालो देखिनसहने मोरिआर्टीले ध्वाँसको भाकामा भने, माओवादी हतियार नत्यागी अन्तरिम सरकारमा घुस्यो भने अमेरिकाले नेपाललाई चुनदाम पैसो दिनेछैन । मालिकको दिव्य वचन सुनेर निजहजुरका अनन्य अनुयायी महापञ्च सूर्यबहादुर थापा हौसिए । तिनको रातो अनुहार झनै रातो भयो । तिनको सदाबहार हुङ्कारमा पाइन चढ्यो । बेलायती बैठकमा उत्तेजक हाउभाउसाथ ती जुरुक्क उठे । अनि आनन्दमय मुद्रामा आफूले रचेको छिन्ताङ हत्याकाण्डको सम्झना गर्दै ती कुर्लिए, सात दलका नेताहरू निरङ्कुश हुन् । प्रतिनिधिसभा यिनका बाउको बिर्ता होइन । बरु म मर्छु, प्रतिनिधिसभा भङ्ग गर्न दिन्नँ । ...... थपडी बजाउनेहरूका टाउका छैनन् । न त तिनका देह नै छन् । ती त केवल पुच्छरमात्र छन् । ....... ताली बजाउने पुच्छरहरूको भीडमा बल्खु मुख्यालयका 'लाल सलाम'हरू पनि छन्, सानेपा मुख्यालयका 'जय नेपाल'हरू पनि छन् । वास्तवमा यी 'लाल सलाम' र 'जय नेपाल'का विकृत सन्तान हुन् । ... पुच्छरले उत्ताउलो मुद्रामा एक पात्रलाई 'माओवादीको सवारी मन्त्री' भनेर फत्तुर लगायो ।......
बजेटको सन्दर्भमा नेपालको अर्थ-राजनीति
नागरिक चाहना
जलविद्युत्मा माओवादीले चन्दा नलिने
माओवादीद्वारा सवारी कर असुली बन्द

Nepal Begins Drafting Interim Constitution After Peace Accord Bloomberg
Vajpayee, Deuba discuss Nepal situation Hindu, India
'Disarm Maoists, then hold polls' Times of India
It's still party time for Nepal King! Hindustan Times, India the king has started attending social functions once again - what's more, his minions bring traffic to a standstill every time the royal couple attends a party. .... On Wednesday evening, as the king and Queen Komal ventured out of the fortified palace to attend a wedding in Thapathali where two leading hospitals are located, the army closed the road for nearly two hours, to the consternation of people returning home from work, students and residents ..... we were compelled to close the road due to orders from the army," the daily quoted an unnamed traffic police official as saying....... Traffic will once again be obstructed on Thursday when the royal couple, the queen mother, Crown Prince Paras and his wife Crown Princess Himani head towards the Hotel de l'Annapurna for a party to observe a relative's son's first rice-feeding ceremony.......
King still has his way in Nepal DailyIndia.com
Nepal government, Maoist rebels begin joint work on interim ... JURIST
Nepal sends letter to UN to monitor army and Maoists Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran

Visitors

1 July 2006, Saturday71

2 July 2006, Sunday103

3 July 2006, Monday124

4 July 2006, Tuesday271

5 July 2006, Wednesday343

6 July 2006, Thursday439


6 July21:11National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
6 July22:19Southwestern Bell, Richardson, United States
6 July22:23United States Army, United States
6 July22:25United States Army, United States
6 July23:00Hong Kong S.A.R. (infolink.hk)
6 July23:23Comcast Communications, Alexandria, United States
6 July23:50Road Runner, New York, United States
7 July00:07Nepal (wlink.com.np)

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

ANA Convention: Reflections


ANA Convention: My Hamro Nepal Speech
ANA Convention: Audio
ANA Convention 2006: Photos

Upendra Mahato was in the air. The idea of meeting him hovered in my mind during the weeks prior to the convention. I had not heard of Jiba Lamichhane until a few days before, and I did not know Aditya Jha will also come: he drove all the way from Toronto. Looks like he and I have something in common: I also have a thing for driving. Aditya Jha is like Sabeer Bhatia, the guy who sold Hotmail to Microsoft for $400 million. Adityaji sold his thing to Sun for $100 million.

My only "image" of Mahato was from this photograph: ANTA Makes Sense On Many Levels. For some reason I had imagined him to be a little on the shy side, a little effacive. Aditya Jha is not in your face, but Mahato is different. He is blunt. He likes to cut to the chase. He is known to lose his temper. He can sound abrupt. He likes to knock a few chairs along the way. He is fond of jokes. Jiba Lamichhane is more like Aditya Jha in temperament.

I pitched my business plan to all three, and a fourth person, Mukesh Singh of Ohio. Mukeshji was the most sympathetic, and we are to talk further: maybe he will be part of round one. Mahato and Jha suggested I was cut for politics not business. Jha suggested to go into services rather than technology. Lamichhane during a private dinner with his family suggested the idea of challenging companies that are well established can be unwise, and related one of his own experiences along those lines.

To their credit, I have not written a full business plan yet. With the IC idea, I am thinking Global South. When about 60% of the human population is finally online, we reach a tipping point. At around 80%, we make geography irrelevant. The "American dream" will be found all across the planet. So, yes, it is about politics. Only you are talking of the Global South as one political unit, and you are talking not traditional politics, but politics at the speed of thought. You are talking of a politics where all those offline are disenfranchised.

Sabeer Bhatia should never have sold off Hotmail. Google did not get bought. And the $100 million fund is a great idea, but I feel the Nepalis in America are not about to pour into the pot. They have a hard time accepting Madhesi leadership. It does not matter that Mahato is the Nepali Mittal on his way. Mahato has not made his biggest money yet. Instead you go on Nasdaq. You can raise more than $100 million there. My message to Mahato would be Think Nasdaq, not Nepali.

Both Mahato and Jha get treated very well by the prominent Pahadis, one on one. And that sure changes the political dynamic. But only to an extent. Ultimately it is about the 13 million Madhesis on the ground. They ask for something politically more blunt than two super rich global citizen Madhesis.

They are among the richest people on earth. Forget Nepal and Nepalis. They are so well off, and so very successful, it is hard to believe I got to spend countless hours with both of them. It is not the rich, it is the self made part that is interesting. They have gone through this mental journey. It is like someone went on a space flight, and they are back, and you want to know.

Bloomberg ran for Mayor of New York City. Being mayor means so much to him. There is this thing that the rich have for those who hold political offices. Both Mahato and Jha harbor some of that fascination.

Jha is from Mahottari where I am from. Mahato and I are related. My phoophera bhai is his sadhoo bhai, Dilip Hathi from Yadukuha. But then everyone is related to everyone around there.

The ANTA dinner in downtown Newark was something special. It was a Homecoming that I can not imagine having at Budhanilkantha or Berea because of my Madhesi and blac status. Adityaji spoke my mind when he said it was "emotionally intense."

Ratanji told me Upendraji likes to "see" things he will invest in, like real estate. He never invested in stocks, for example. I can understand that. You don't want to diversify into areas you don't feel comfortable in, or you lose focus. Me? I am the other way. I like things that don't take space. Like music, internet access, money in the bank, stocks, websites, books at the library, virtual office, free calls over Google Talk. Air does not take up my private space, I like air, also water in the ocean. I am no monk, but my idea of rich is money in the bank, not wasteful furniture.

I think there is a European colonization hangover that many of us still put up with. We can imagine getting big, but not the biggest. If you dream, you can still fail. But if you will not dream at all, you will not get there, guaranteed.

Venture capitalists don't like to dabble in sums smaller than a million, perhaps more. Even for a sum like $100,000, it is the same amount of time and paperwork and meetings, so why bother!

Mahato can be a little intimidating. I finally gave my two and a half page business plan to him at JFK when he walked over to my side of the car. He flew off to Moscow shortly. From the Marriott where he was staying I crossed into Manhattan through the Holland Tunnel, then crossed Brooklyn Bridge. I took the shorter route which goes through Queens. I did not think of the rush hour traffic. It might have been quicker to go the longer route, the Belt Parkway route. But we got there.

It was like taking Gagan Thapa to the Newark airport. We got there barely on time.

I asked for five minutes with Upendra Mahato on the phone with Ratan Jha a few days before the convention. Instead I was with him countless hours. He ended up spending quite some time in my khatara car. On our way to Binod Shah's place for dinner, my car got hit from behind, and the police took almost an hour to show. That was Sunday. Saturday around midnight I got a call from Jay Mandal. Upendra Mahato and a few others were in Mandal's room. Would I like to come? I was on my way to my car. I had offered Chandra Prakash Sharma, Binay Shah, and his wife Tara rides back home to Queens and Brooklyn. And I also knew Upendra Mahato had not slept at all the night before. I did not feel like pulling an all nighter with him. On the other hand, I do have regrets. I should have taken the three to the train station five minutes away, and come back to the hotel room.

A sound business idea does not depend on an investor or another. It flies if it is worth its salt. And Mahato and Jha are people who would rather be brother than banker. I am skeptical of using family terms outside the family, but I meant to suggest the Madhesi bond is quite strong. Identity never goes away. You can not unbecome Madhesi.

I took close to 800 pictures. They are all at this blog by now. I have 60 audio clips from the convention. All this will help as we work towards the April Convention in Queens next year.

I wish I had had more time to spend at the SEBS reunion. There was an event clash, and I had to leave.

Pukar Malla did a great job with his Youth Forum. The format was excellent. It was egalitarian, and participatory. For a guy I did not know before 1999, for a guy I did not know in Nepal, we are on quite good terms. I was in Philadelphia for a dot com for summer 1999, and that is where I met him through Siddhu, another great guy.

You arrange chairs in a circle for each theme, you do about six of them. And you get everybody talking. And the moderator gives a summary presentation at the end.

It would have been better if more of the moderators had participated in the preparatory meeting. The summary presentations were a little too long and disorganized. And I wonder what happened to the conclusion event. I had to leave. I had a speech of my own to give at another forum. (ANA Convention: My Hamro Nepal Speech)

What Pukar did in one room over a period of two afternoons I think should happen online 24/7/365, and it should involve many more Nepalis, from America, elsewhere in the world, and also in Nepal.

Pukar was one of the first people I met when I showed up Saturday morning. We talked chips, as in Intel chips. He is damn smart, damn popular. He is really nice. And I saw two overlaps. His forum, and my online think tank idea. His current work for Intel, and my IC idea. We could talk business.

Karishma Basnyat was the most visible of all the organizers. She was running around all over the place. Like at the NRN Forum, she came next to my chair in the front row out of nowhere and whispered, "You have five minutes." I felt like suddenly I owned the Forum, and then I panicked and walked over and relayed the message verbatim to the forum moderator. I think she is corporate.

Meeting the ANTA crowd for the first time in Ratanji's room 1026 Saturday afternoon was intense. Voices I had heard, but faces I was seeing for the first time.

I wish more blue collar local Nepalis showed up. That was my number one gripe. It should be a Nepali convention, not a rich Nepali convention. Some of the events were pricey. I was expecting the crowd to be 10,000. That did not happen, although it was as large as any these past few years.

I would come home at the end of each day. To download pictures and audio clips, to recharge batteries, including of my own body. To eat some simple food.

People like Mahato and Jha and Lamichhane must get many business plans. Like many many. Only mine is a paradigm shift idea. None of them have taken their company public yet. It is a whole different ballgame at that level. Never say never. Perhaps I should raise 10K through an alternate source to write a detailed business plan and prototype of the machine. There is always the September convention in Chicago.

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In The News

The Tunnel of Fear Rolling Stone
Terror Plot to Bomb Holland Tunnel Was Disrupted, US Says Bloomberg
US foils 'New York tunnel plot' BBC News
NY tunnel plot uncovered CNN
Holland Tunnel Vision: Fighting the Terrorists Where?
Village Voice, NY
I FEEL SO SAFE! TPMCafe
Reporting and Responsibility: Holland Tunnel Story in a Security ...
ThreatsWatch.Org
FBI Foils Tunnel Terror Plot
WNYC, NY
Another Day, Another Terror Plot Gawker
Exclusive: Terrorist Plot to Bomb New York's Holland Tunnel ...
Magic City Morning Star, ME
Good plan, experts say, except it wouldn't work
New York Daily News, NY
News Roundup Monsters and Critics.com
Officials: NYC Tunnel Terror Plot Disrupted WKRC 12
Sources say no serious plot for NYC, just hate chatter
Raw Story, MA
NY Daily News reporter says tunnel plot 'not imminent threat'
Raw Story, MA
Terror Plot Foiled Despite NY Times
NewsBusters
'Men (not) at work'
The Jersey Journal, NJ

On The Web

Mittal Steel the world’s most global steel company
Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People 2005
Lakshmi Mittal's $19 Billion Year - Forbes.com
Lakshmi Mittal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a London-based Indian billionaire industrialist ...... He spent his first years in Sadulpur, living with his extended family on bare concrete floors and rope beds in a house built by his grandfather....... In 1994, due to differences with his father and brothers, he branched out on his own, taking over the international operations of the Mittal steel business, which was already owned by the family...... steel assets in Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa, Poland, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the United States, Ukraine and other countries. He was the Fortune European Businessman of the Year for 2004. ..... In 2002 he was embroiled in a political scandal dubbed Mittalgate with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Many suspected that a donation by Mittal to the British Labour Party had led to Blair's intervention (a letter to the Romanian Prime Minister) in a business deal favouring Mittal. On July 13, 2005 it was announced that he had donated £2 million to the Labour Party....... In March 2006, he was reported to be the third wealthiest person in the world by Forbes Magazine (Up from 63rd richest in 2004). ...... His residence ... the highest price ever paid for a house ..... Formerly, this house was the residence of Paul Reuter, the founder of the Reuters news service...... He paid over £30 million/$65 million to host his daughter Vanisha's wedding celebration in Vaux le Vicomte on June 22, 2004 and an engagement ceremony at the Palace of Versailles on June 20, 2004, the most expensive wedding in world history. His son Aditya is a director of Mittal Steel.
BBC News | BUSINESS | Lakshmi Mittal, steel mill millionaire
BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Mittal to build India steel plant
Mittal returns to India with plan for new steel plant - Business ...