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Poetry & Prose

An open letter to the organising committee

by Pradip | January 2006

Dear Sirs,

As you sit to discuss yet another development or lack there of in Nepali socio-political setting, I would like to request that you take this opportunity to not only focus on the political turmoil in Nepal but also the social alienation of Nepalis in the United States. Although I understand that the seminar is organized to bring diverse viewpoints respective to Nepali political crisis, it is increasingly becoming a challenge to bring together the existent Nepalis and form a general consensus which could be used to reflect the general predisposition of immigrant Nepalis, whether it be regarding the political and social upheaval back home or the constant battle for immigrant identity and rights here in the US.

What we have now is the fragmentation of Nepali groups with in the larger umbrella of immigrant Nepalis. These sub-groups create themselves out of defensive mode in a foreign land based on their self interests, whether they arise out of political ideology, ethnic identity, academic and corporate superiority or a simple worker mentality. Additionally, such creation is not necessarily flawed in itself, but starts becoming problematic when such sub-groups start competing with each other for a limited visibility of immigrants rights and identities in the US and representation of non-resident Nepalis back home in Nepal. This will result not only in the marginalization of less powerful, under-educated and worker class Nepalis as they feel they have less leverage to be invited to seminars and events but will also defeat the purpose of promoting democracy in Nepal when we ourselves fail to include the larger Nepali diasporas here in the US.

Ever since the early nineties there has been a massive exodus of Nepalis into foreign lands as workers. We have seen some parts of that materialize here in the United States, whether it is in the factories of the mid-west, cafes and restaurants of Parisian north-east or gas stations and MacWorlds of the south and west. With minimum wage they try to buy into and materialize the maximum dream possible that America allows. It would be fine if such was the case in actuality. The additional burden a Nepali worker faces is sending money back home. Lately, I read in one of the blogs that Nepali remittance had reached 15 million per week, which is almost 40% of our GDP. In essence, the country is supported by immigrant workers from almost all the continents. If the administrative officers in Nepal feel they have a greater responsibility because of their organizational position, the immigrant workers should feel equally responsible, for he also participates in the larger Nepali experiment when he wires money to his family in Nepal every month.

Dear Sirs, politics is in our blood for some reason, and given the fact that modern Nepal has seen some twists and turns in its political setting, it has become more urgent to address such issues. However, as Nepalis, at most times we tend to do politics just for politics' sake rather than a constructive conclusion we seek to derive from it. As the country need academicians, specialists and experts in their respective fields to drive the economic engine, it is equally important to keep in mind that as the older generations retire, there will be greater need of working-age people to maintain the past stability and provide future growth. To prepare for such, Nepali organizations need to provide space and platform to young and coming generations, whether they seek to voice their opinion concerning political events in Nepal or promote non-violence activism in regards to various social, political and economic issues facing the country as well as younger generation Nepalis. And if you are interested, they can be found actively engaged in various blogs or social events. In my opinion, events such as these are ideal setting to promote such.

In conclusion, I believe this is a great way to not only bring Nepalis together but generate awareness amongst various American social organizations and media about the political crisis back home and social struggle here in the United States. I only request that the organizations be little more open and inclusive, bit more generous in sharing the diaspora-space for various viewpoints, and finally, a lot more creative. There are a lot of potentially smart young people who can bring inspiring awareness amongst Nepalis in the US and provide beneficially ingenious solution to the current climate of political decay in Nepal. You need only 'talk' to them to conclude how the thinking has changed through generation, for better. I am convinced you won't be disappointed.

I wish you the best in your seminar and similarly hope that participants will be able to achieve their goals they have set.

Sincerely,

Pradip
St. Paul, MN
USA

Comments

January 12th, 2006

1 | BoxCutter's Friend:

Good job bro !! You have boldly come out of your shell in more ways than one. Loved your new pic !! ;)

Let this gathering not be another King bashing extravaganza while munching away on Big Macs !! :)

January 12th, 2006

2 | kaya:

has this been actually sent to the organisers also?anyone going?

January 12th, 2006

3 | kaya:

has this been actually sent to the organisers also?anyone going? how come we only came to know only 2 days before the event?

January 12th, 2006

4 | Pradip:

yes, it was done last nite (two of them whose emails i got from insn) and were told to check out samudaya where they could see it published and respond if deemed necessary. i personally found out couple of days ago from insn.

January 12th, 2006

5 | sarahana:

Yeah, the news of this event has been around (word of mouth, random emails, insn and so on). Here’s the latest:

Dear friends,

Happy New Year!

The Peace and Democracy brainstorming session is only a couple of days away. Some of you have already confirmed your participation; many of you may be still deciding. Because of the logistical and security reason, I am asking those who have not confirmed yet, please do let us know if you are able to participate or not by 5 PM on Friday (January 13, 2006).

Those who plan to participate in the brainstorming session, please keep the followings in mind:

1. Logistics:

a. Because of the weekend (long holiday weekend), the access to building will be limited. If fact, I will have to let you in and out of the building.

b. In case you arrive late and can’t access the building, please call me at 646-265-1439

2. We have chosen three broad themes to guide our discussion:

Theme 1: Constructive Role of Monarchy, Political Parties, Civil Society and the Maoists in restoring peace and establishing full democracy in Nepal

Theme 2: Constructive Role of International Community in helping restore peace and full democracy in Nepal

Theme 3: Constructive Role of Nepali Diaspora in bringing peace and establishing full democracy in Nepal
When you come to the event, we encourage you to come up with at least three to five of your own ideas for each of the themes. This will be tremendously helpful to guide our discussion. Please note that we are not planning lectures. Our emphasis is to foster objective and constructive discussions that can accommodate all view points.

The Date and Time of the Event: Saturday, January 14, 2006 starting at 8:30 AM

The Venue of the Event: Jerome Greene Hall, Room 102, Columbia University Law School, New York, NY 10027. It is located at the corner of 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The entrance to the Jerome Greene Hall is located on 116th Street side.

There will be light breakfast and lunch served.

Travel directions: If you are traveling by public transportation, you may take # 1 Subway line to 116th Street and Columbia University Station and walk one block to East (The main entrance to the main Campus is at 116th Street and Broadway and you may go through the College Walk). If you are driving, you may go to Columbia’s website and get the directions you need.

Here is how you can let any one of us know if you are participating or not: In order to participate, please RSVP either to: Dr. Shyam Karki at 410-592-9019/email at nepal1975@yahoo.com or to Dr. TN Niraula at 212-491-0378/email at drniraula at yahoo dot com or visit http://www.napac-usa.org and register.

Look forward to seeing you.

January 13th, 2006

6 | Pradip:

Response from DR. Niraula to the letter.

Dear Pradip jee,
Thank you for your note.

I do share your concerns and fully agree that we need to do something about the issues you have raised. Few years back, I worked as an Immigrants’ rights advocate and I used to run to city to state capitals to Washington DC. We need to be realistic on such issues and collectively show our leadership, and commitment to resolving the problems our people face all the time.

Let’s see what we can do.

With best regards,

TN Niraula
****************************************

Dr. Niraula: Thank you for your reply. Pradip.

January 15th, 2006

7 | pra-lad:

“I read in one of the blogs that Nepali remittance had reached 15 million per week, which is almost 40% of our GDP.”

i am wondering where you got your data.

January 17th, 2006

8 | Pradip:

If you google, I’m sure you’ll find various news sites that have the info. The letter was not intended as a research report, else I would have taken the liberty of quoting my sources. It was written as a general reminder to concerned party of the growing trend in Nepali immigrant population vis-a-vis Nepal.

January 18th, 2006

9 | Ananta Risal:

I attended the event and these are my comments:

Best:
30 + socially motivated and concered Nepalese and friends of Nepal attended. It was an open forum, brainstorming session to understand each others view and check where I belong. ‘Am I thinking way out of the way or where I belong were some of my curiosity. The impression I got was - this kind of brainstorming sesion bring everyone in one table for discussion. Shares a room for negotition and well-planning, opporunity to do home-work. Allows us to discuss our problem within ourselves.

All the conversation was in English, this way - any vistor from the academedics could pop-in an know the content. the intention of the program was not to give any report or press releases to the public or media. Which was awesome decision. It was not a biased forum to propogate any political agenda. Discusssions were mainly on constructive roles of every individuals - no matter who you are.

Could have been better:
In general, Nepali community members expect everything free. If it was a free ‘wine party with momo and kukhurako masu with a Nepali Movie’ - the participation would have been awesome and more turnouts. This was just a dicussion forum, how can you expect main stream Nepalese there? Nepalese don’t dicuss, think - they follow orders or pull each others down. The nature they have brought a long way from - where we came from. Our history, culture and and the presenta situation in Nepal speaks for all of us.

Moderators could have come well prepared, wish they do some home work before they appear in the public.
Wish there were-
1. More ladies participation
2. Some representatives from the RNA, Maoists - if possible
3. Some debate kind of session where we debate what kind of systems would best fit Nepal and Nepali people in general.
4. More visitors from US, UN, South Asian countres.
5. This is so easy in the US - that you can get any nationals-chief/Ambassadors from any country that you wish. Comparatively Non-Nepali moderated forums seem to be professional and precise. Not to say that Nepalis are not-capable but in some cases they get biased as they tend to know every society members and places them in difficult position to avoid some un-necessary conversation intentionally.

In summary - the event was a big, concerned Nepali’s wonderful step towards democratic sessions, round-table, brain storming, discussion forum to exchange political vocabulary and to know which part quadrant/framework your convictions belong. - AR

January 18th, 2006

10 | Pradip:

What was the outcome of the ‘brainstorming’ session? What was agreed upon? What are the benefits of gatherings like these? Can we expect constructive ideas or proposals to come out of those involved soon? How can we (common people outside of the political/social/academic loop) get involved and contribute? What is OUR agenda in general? I am not asking you personally but these are the questions that need to be answered. It’s good to know that you found the seminar helpful in shaping and strengthening your own ideas. That gives you confidence, strength and willingness to get involved more strategically in the future, I suppose. How can such meetings instill similar felling and sentiment in most of the participants? I also heard that some found it little more ‘homely’ in a sense, it was almost like a reunion, (which is not flawed) but that was his impression.

January 18th, 2006

11 | Ananta Risal:

Pradipji;

You hit on the head - the agenda was to discuss how to restore peace and establishing full democracy in Nepal.

Is it possible? We don’t know yet but at least we talked about it! That’s a good start.

What are the Constructive Role of Monarchy, Political Parties, Civil Society and the Maoists, International Community and Nepali Diaspora in bringing peace and establishing full democracy in Nepal.

Basically which means you and me- inclusive. What should we do next to achieve the goal. To identify the cause of revolt, to minimize casualties, to educate people, water/human rights, health concerns, best political framework.

More to that are: Is it possible to put a threat to RNA - not to fight for the intitution but for the nation. How to put pressure on the rebels to not to harm Policemen and how to advice/pressure politicians to do a lot of homework and help people gain back their strength, full democracy and justice. Tell American friends about he situation in Nepal, Tell UN ob Human Rights Violations. Tell Indian counter parts to help unite Nepalese, provide logistic to let Bhutanese Refugee to return their hometown - the way how they came - before they also get involved in gun and violence.

I guess the discussion helped us to compromise on common grounds that helps all Nepalese- not in any particular order. I think, mot of your concerns are very legitimate. We tend to avoid young generation and it was a concerned raised in the session.

- AR

January 22nd, 2006

12 | weird:

Ananta ji, if the bhutanese refugees are supposed to be our nepali brothers, why not grant them nepali citizenships and let them live in nepal as legitimate nepalis?

January 22nd, 2006

13 | Ananta Risal:

Weirdji;
Bhutanese refugees are not Nepalese. They belong to Bhutan. Our so called politicians/king/leaders failed to negotiate with the Indian counter parts. They were not barred from entering into Nepal but now they are not allowed to go back to their country where they belong. If India has good intentions they would let refugees go back to thier country where they lived for 50 years.

How do you think when many many Indians were sent back from Africa…a legendary Mahatma Ganghdi was born ! Where is our Mahatma in Nepal? Be prepared - you can’t trust Indian politicians anymore in this regard. It is not far away that India is looking forward to send all Nepalese back home. You know how many are in India? Are you ready to confront that? I am not a political analyst but by seeing all these activities happening in Nepal, the small arms - don’t deny that many are coming from the border sides. Nepalese are not yet technically
sound to creat guns and bullets..

Imagine what happens if politicians in the US wants to send all Afro-Americans back to Africa?

January 30th, 2006

14 | Sandhya Amatya:

Mahatma Gandhi was not born in South Africa.
He was born in India,went to study law in UK and practised it in Africa.

January 30th, 2006

15 | Mystichacker:

Symbolic birth! Like a ‘New Nepal’ will be born out of synthesis of democratic parties and Maoists soon! Apparently, monarchs are bad lovers.

April 11th, 2006

16 | hari sharma:

While I agree with Pradip on various issues, I think things are more different in the field than said out here.
What do you mean when you talk about mutual competition? This is something that does not change with discussions. This is inherent attitude. So, if we are to bring about a change in this, we should be inherently different. And how do you bring these changes?

It is always easy to give comments. However, it is difficult to work around. People have other obligations besides social service.

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An open letter to the organising committee

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