Optimism on the Day of Reckoning

Finally, May the 28th is here. Of course, due to our national habit of procrastination, our leaders are trying to forge a consensus on the last minute. While they had two full years to work on all of the major issues, the sticking points on this day are minor. They are not arguing about the nature and features of the new constitution. They are not disagreeing about the system of new government. They are not fighting over the constitutional words that would govern a new era of federalism. The disagreements on this day actually have nothing to do with constitution at all. The fight is about who gets to be on the driver's seat when we finally, hopefully, get around to actually drafting a new constitution. 

Needless to say the Nepali people are pessimistic about the prospects. And our pessimism is not just due to the inability of the political parties and their representatives to draft a new constitution in time. Our pessimism runs deeper. We have been cheated and waylaid countless times in the last twenty years of our experiments with democracy. Of course, the situation was no different during the prior 30 years of Panchayat autocracy, or the preceding 100 years of Rana dictatorship. Naturally, we see the glass as more than half empty. Understandably, as the daily needs - electricity, water, work - of the populace are not met, and while the state seems to be in a constant state of flux, we see no light beyond the horizon, no silver lining behind the dreary, historical dark clouds.

Manjushree Thapa says that for many decades the Nepali people have been waiting and waiting for things to change, for the basic needs to be met and for some form of stability and progress. Of course, there is going to be no stability today as the deadline passes. Even when the parties finally come to a compromise, there is going to be no stability in the near term future. The entire task of starting and completing the constitution remains, which is the bigger battle. No one can blame us for being pessimistic on this symbolic day of our morbid futility.

Cable Car Statism

One of the most successful private enterprises in the last twenty years, aside from the mushrooming banking industry, has been the Manakamana Cable Car service run by the Chitwan Co-E. It is exactly the kind of innovative, technological and social model of development that Nepal needs. While the political instability has taken a periodic toll on the cable car's business model, over the years the company and its operations has been wildly successful. Millions of Nepali and foreign travelers have enjoyed riding on Nepal's only cable car to pay a visit to the Manakamana temple. Although, I haven't been able to find any study of the project's impact, surely, the local economy of both Kurintar, Manakamana and the surrounding areas have seen the positive effects of the cable car. Not only does the service promote tourism but also enhances the economic benefits to the region.

So it is especially maddening to read (sorry, can't find the news link now) about the bureaucratic red tape faced by a new request made by Chitwan Co-E to build a new cable car operation in Pokhara. The request has to first go through the Ministry of Development, which formed a committee to decide if it was a good idea. After their prolonged preliminary report is completed, the request is passed on to the National Planning Commission which again forms its own committee to give its blessing before the project is finally approved by the government.

In a country where nothing moves without government meddling, this is a clear example of such practice. The fact is that neither the ministry engineers nor the planning commissioners have any experience building, running and maintaining a cable car operation. So why do they have to take such a long time and make the company, which has the experience, know-how and the will, to jump through hoops just to get their project approved? 

Another fact that is so bothersome is why does the company have to go the central ministry and the planning commission for approval? If the project is to be built in Pokhara, shouldn't the local municipality or the district government be given enough jurisdiction to decide on the request to build in their town? If there is one thing that a smartly designed federalism can do, it is to provide just such a jurisdiction to decide on the local level without having to go back to the center for any little agenda. The costs of the top-down governmental, social and economic structure of the Nepal is apparent with examples of state-overreach like these.

This case of Chitwan Co-E is just a minor example of the state hindering the widely beneficial economic activity by the private sector. One hopes that when the whole rigmarole of the current crisis is over and the constituent assembly finally gets down to drafting a new constitution, a federalism based on economic viability forms the core of new Nepal. 

Good News on the Unity Front!

Muse~Nepal's (now Aaraniko) only claim to fame--a minor blip, really--came with the two articles (here & here) I wrote explaining and divulging the scam that was Unity Life Assurance Company. That was almost a month ago. So it is finally some good news time today to read that the erstwhile irresponsible government has suddenly sprung to action and caught up with some of the fraudsters and their company assets. I only hope that they have some money to pay back the victims. Of course, like any other fraud a large portion of the ill-gotten gains may have already left the country. Yet, I hope that the victims might be able to recover at least some of what they paid.

A Victory for the Civil Society?

It was heartening to watch the peace rally organized by the civil-society to pressure the Maoists after a brutal week of May Day banda. It is the testament to the budding democratic norm of people's power after the last twenty years of continuous political turmoil that the rally itself was so successful. The fact that the show of force had the intended effect of the Maoists taking back their street protests is important. In the aftermath, however, it must be emphasized that the victory of the civil society is not as thorough as claimed and remains quite hollow and incomplete.

Before asking why the civil society has not been very effective, it is necessary to understand "who" the Nepali civil society is composed of. In a country where political affiliations to the parties is so strong and so deep across all the sectors of the society, it is hardly a surprise that there seems to be no visible, un-affiliated, groups of people that could form a truly independent base of civil society. After all, in every nook and cranny we find groups of competing party apparatus: from the student unions of all the parties in the colleges, to the workers affiliated to specific parties, to the farmers, the teachers, the government employees, each group have various political party organizations that claim their loyalty. So where is the true base of independent civil society loyal to the entire country and its people? 

Hearing the list of organizers of the "peace rally," it seems that the main block for the support for civil society were the educated, urban, businessmen and professionals. After all, those who represent and are members of FNCCI and PAPAD are the "sukila-mukila" of Nepal; indeed Prachanda's formulation was quite apt. But where Prachanda made the mistake in his characterization is that he seemed to be talking only about the organizers of the peace rally and not the actual attendees. Really, there is one major characteristic difference between the attendees at the peace rally and the Maoists supporters who descended on the valley: the simple urban/rural divide. 

Thus, so far the "civil-society" movement is largely a urban (which, by default forms the Nepali elites) phenomenon. The Kathmandu elites are the ones who were most inconvenienced by the Maoists' blockade: they could not ride their cars and motorcycles, they could not shop at the shops and malls, they could not use the ATMs and the banking services, they could not attend their private schools and colleges; simply they they could neither work nor play. Compounded in the short term discomfort was certainly the growing sense of drift that has plagued Nepal in the last twenty years. People, both urban and rural, are tired and cranky after seeing such continuous tumult. Hence, they found themselves lined up on the opposite side of the geographical, societal and economic divide against one another.

Of course, this characterization of the urban/rural divide as highlighted by the Maoist protests and the "civil-society" counter protests is common knowledge. It is uncontroversial. There have been many news reports from the days of the banda which clearly establishes this conflict as fact. The plight of the poor and downtrodden Maoists protesters have been documented as well. See here and here for some representative samples.

So now we see why the so-called "civil society" is so ineffective in the larger matters of the nation. Their block of support (urban, educated, professional) the least represented in the parties and the parliament. They have no real base outside of Kathmandu and other city-centers. Finally, they seem to be in no hurry to make them more relevant outside of their comfort zones. How does the intellectual, elite civil society establish its bonafides as the true independent voice of the people which can guide and force the parties to better policies and more cooperation for the greater good? 

Reading Ashutosh Tiwari's most recent column, I felt like he was wresting with the same questions as I was. And in a way, his suggestions would be a good place to start. 

The Links

Some of the interesting things that I read today: 

Prashant Jha in "Struck down" goes through a list of options that the Maoists have now that they have taken back their daily protests in the Nepali Times. Over at Nepalnews.com guest column, Jeevan Baniya responds to the familiar and foolhardy Nepali lament that Nepal needs a strong dictator and still argues for democracy imperfect as it may be.   Finally, in the Monday Interview in the Kathmandu Post, Biswas Baral talks about the dire state of the macroeconomic situation with Bishwambher Pyakuryal, professor of economics at TU.

When will our "Roadmap" come?

The current Maoist protests in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal are curiously similar to the onoing Redshirts protest in Thailand. While the specific political scenario might be unique, the aim, character, and effects of both these protests are errily the same. A class of citizens led by a political faction have turned on the capital - protesting, singing and dancing on the streets - in hopes of toppling the government. The Nepali Maoists even share the red color of the Thai Redshirts. They are mostly bussed in from the countryside. They have worked hard to put a positive face and limited explicit conflicts with the government.

So it is interesting to see that it took 54 days for the Thai Redshirts and the government to arrive at a compromise roadmap, which will lead to the political solution of the crisis.

How many more days will our Reds last?

The Plight of Bhutani Refugees

In the early 1990s more than 80,000 Bhutanese citizens were forced out of their country. These Nepali-speaking Hindus—whose forefathers settled Southern Bhutan in 1880s—had been systematically persecuted by the authoritarian government of King Jigme Singye Wangchuk and the Dzongkha-speaking Northern majority. Arbitrary rules, such as mandating universal adoption of the traditional Northern clothes and customs, and forbidding the official use of the Nepali language, were imposed. New citizenship laws classified most Southerners as non-citizens paving the way to eventual usurpation of their properties. Peaceful protestors of the unjust policies were imprisoned. Many were tortured. The Southerners, fearing their survival, fled, and were settled as refugees in Nepal by the local government and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Though the Bhutan government painstakingly tried to hide the fact, subsequent research by Amnesty International has established the fact that it was a case of meticulously planned religious, cultural and ethnic cleansing.

After almost twenty years, the Bhutanese refugees are still languishing in those makeshift camps in Eastern Nepal—battling difficult living conditions, suffering from mental and physical ailments, and subsisting in handouts from aid agencies—with no hope of ever returning to their homes. Their children were born and raised never knowing life outside the confines of the camps. In the tragic saga of the Bhutanese refugees, the injustice of the repressive government of Bhutan is matched in equal parts by the hypocrisy of India, the ineptitude of Nepal, and the indifference of the international community.

India claimed that the refugee crisis was a bi-lateral issue between Nepal and Bhutan. Their stance was not just inaccurate but also irresponsible for India, a country which sees itself as a regional leader, and besides controlling Bhutan’s foreign policy, also serves as the chief economic benefactor of the Bhutanese government. When the refugees fleeing from Bhutan’s security forces landed on the Indian soil, they were mercilessly nabbed by the Indian police and escorted all the way to Nepal’s border to be released. Such action punctures India’s hypocritical claim of respectable distance from the issue and shows whose side India took. For twenty years, India never used its considerable influence both in Thimpu and Kathmandu, to mediate or help resolve the Bhutanese refugee crisis.

Unity को सनजाल

In my previous post, I tracked down the shady companies that form Unity's pyramid. Now here is a graphical representation of Unity's web of fraud. First, what you see below is a photo from Unity's Website purporting the way to produce diesel from Jatropha plant. As I wrote before, Crystal Bio Energy Nepal, a company owned by Unity, goes around the country asking unsuspecting farmers to buy their seeds and pay for "technical expertise" to harvest Jatropha plants in their fields. Think for yourself if what is seen in this picture seems scientifically possible...

Of course, not. It is easy to see. Now why did Unity set up this bogus company called Crystal Bio Energy Nepal? To understand that look at the following picture depicting Unity को सनजाल:

Now you can see the reason why Crystal Bio and its impossible business of Jatropha diesel exists is to lure unsuspecting new people to give money to Unity's fraudulent Scheme.

How does the Pyramid Scheme of Rs. 600 करोड Work?

(Thank you to all the readers from Sajha. Hope you will browse around and leave comments to share your ideas. -mG.)

(Update on 4/28: Thanks to Khusbu Sarkar for pointing out that Rs. 6 Billion is actually equal to 600 crores and not 60 crores. As you said that is ten times as troubling! I have corrected the record.Thanks. )

Republica has a stunning report on a Nepali company called Unity Life International (ULI) which is apparently making some very, very big noises within the country and abroad. The sheer number on the headline - Rs. 6 Billion (600 करोड !!!) - is enough to attract attention. The full details of Unity's activities that Milan Sharma, the reporter, describes are frightening to read. So it turns out Unity has found its mojo in Nepal selling bogus products like life and health "assurance" plans (these sort of function like the energy drinks in the Quixtar/Amway scheme). Also Unity claims to have opened hospitals to build a network of providers for its health insurance.
Clearly the company is a pyramid scheme and Sharma commendably doesn't hesitate to call it that. Anyone in America who has been involved in the Amway or the Quixtar knows what a pyramid scheme is -- the idea is to use the promise of an easy but wildly profitable business venture (Quixtar sells daily use consumer products) to suck in a network of people whose only way of gaining profit is to help bring in more people to build a bigger and bigger network. The whole thing collapses in the end because the underlying business is a scam.
Sharma mentions in passing that: "Awash in cash, the company is now venturing into any field you care to name, from real estate to airlines to department stores to Direct to Home Satellite TV." So I decided to do a little bit of snooping to fill in the gap. What I found scared me further. Turns out there are not one, but already a extending web of numerous scam/fraud companies under this pyramid of fraud!
First here is Unity's website. Why is the life "assurance" company's first image on its website showing a picture of a rafting boat for a travel and tours company? What has travel and tours got to do with "life and health assurance?" Of course, it is not a crime to have various companies under one roof but why are the they marketed at one place?

नेपाली को हो?

I have been thinking about what is "Nepali." More than ever, I think this question is a vital one for our country.  Not only officially for the legitimacy and effectiveness of a new constitution but also for the social, cultural and national unity, we need to discuss, reflect upon and discover what it means to be a Nepali.

So it was a nice surprise to read the special edition of Himal Khabarpatrika where a number of articles start that discussion in an effort to try and answer what "Nepalipan" is. Must read for all Nepalis everywhere. Of the many gems from the articles, this from C K Lal: "नश्लवाद (रेसिज्म) नेपालीपन अवधारणासँग जोडिएर आउँछ। सोच-प्रयोगका लागि एकछिनलाई कल्पना गरौं; केन्याली बाबु एवं नेपाली आमाको कुनै सन्तान जनकपुरमा जन्मिन्छ र परिबन्दले उसको पालनपोषण जकार्तामा हुन पुग्दछ। नेपालीपनको जति नै उदार व्याख्या गरे पनि त्यस्तो व्यक्ति कहिल्यै नेपालमा बाराक 'वामा बन्न सक्दैन। नेपालमा त्यस्तो व्यक्तिले कर्म गर्दै फलको आशा राख्ने होइन, पुनर्जन्मको प्रतीक्षा गर्नुपर्ने छ।"

The Rinpoche and the Kumari

While the buzz on the Nepali online community was all about the PBS documentary, "The Buddha" for allegedly reporting that Buddha was born in India, I was much more taken in by the Independent Lens feature shown immediately afterwards in our local station.

The feature titled "Unmistaken Child" follows the story of Tenzin Zopa, a young Tibetan Buddhist monk from Kopan Monastary in Kathmandu, as he journeys to small villages and hamlets of Tibet in search of a little boy. Zopa's guru Geshe Lama has passed away due to old age and now the devotee is tasked with finding the reincarnation of his guru.

It is a arduous process of walking from village to village and performing tests on each little boy between the ages of one to one and a half that Zopa finds. While the villagers are generally helpful, the young boys, shy or even afraid of the stranger (and of course the camera crew of foreigners), only succumb to the test when bribed with balloons or toffee.

The test to determine true reincarnation, hence the "unmistaken," basically involves asking a boy to choose among a couple of prayer beads. Most children are more enamored of candy to pay much attention to the beads. So the Zopa continues his search to the next village and the next in the elusive search. When he finally finds a boy who he believes to be the reincarnation of his Guru, the story changes from a search to the tale of accommodating the little kid to his new role of a famous guru at the ripe old age of a year and a half.

It looked to me that the one characteristic that determines who gets chosen is the fortitude of character. The new Rinpoche shows a hardiness and fearlessness when he first meets the Zopa. He is curious and less shy that the other boys. And he wants the shiny beads, along with the toy cars and other trinkets.

Overall it is a good enough story, especially because of the exhaustive privilege of access enjoyed by the filmmakers (they get to film the scene where the Dalai Lama blesses the little boy as the new Rinpoche). The parts where the parents are asked to give up their young son to the monastery is so truly heart touching that no amount of invasion by the camera is able to cloak the basic grief in the mother and father's eyes.

At the end of the documentary, we leave the little boy, now about four years old, to his daily life of service and prayer and play, with the Lamas at Kopan, far away from his home in the tiny Tibetan hamlet, away from his mother, father and beloved grandma. Although he is too young to know it now, his whole life is changed merely by a chance encounter. I couldn't help feeling lonely for him.

The institution of the Kumari is much more well-known compared to the story of baby Rinpoche. When watching how the little boy was installed as the reincarnation of a Lama, I immediately made the connection to  the tradition of Kumari. (The journalist Deepak Adhikari elegantly describes one slice of that story in "The Goddess' Exam.") Of course, seen as the social and religious practice of installing a child to be a surrogate for a deity, the Rinpoche is the natural kin of the Kumari. So it is not surprising that both the traditions are linked to the Buddhist heritage in Kathmandu and Tibet.

GPK's Death and the Politics of Personality and Informality

(Thanks to Surath for spurring me to write after some absence.)

The recent death of Girija Prashad Koirala and the subsequent sense of vacuum in Nepali politics brought to fore the innate problematic nature of our political culture: the system of patrimony. 

Rishikesh Shaha in one of his political histories of Nepal, recounts how the the patrimonial elites have ruled the country through a politics of personal influence, proximity to the center of power, and informality. Shaha was describing the scene after the takeover of the country by King Mahendra on 1950 and subsequently as the Panchayati politics of chakadi and bribery flourished. The national politicians competed mightily to become closer to the palace, near the ear of the king, who in turn rewarded or punished public officials based on little more than his personal whim. This corruption of public power through informality extended from the king all the down to the local Panchayat leaders. 

Of course, these features of informality and unchecked power of personality in the political realm are derived from the same cultural notions in the larger society. No wonder, the same modes of behavior has continued to this day, two decades after the fall of the Panchayat System. In every level of society we can find the similar disregard for laws and norms in favor of informality. Whoever occupies a formal position, commands the level of power and influence that his personality and circumstance accords. Thus, legitimacy of action is provided not by the position held, but the personality holding the position.

Hence, it is not a surprise to see the emerging disputes in the Nepali Congress Party in the wake of GPK's death. Despite Ashutosh Tiwari's posthumous prescriptions about how to ably manage succession in the future, one suspects the party leaders vying to fill Girija's position are hardly in a advice-taking mode. Rather, all three potential successors, Deuba, Paudel and Koirala, are acting as rational actors by trying to flout their personal influence and seek support of the party members through informal channels. If our society was run by rules and laws and not by men like GPK, there would no issues with succession, the members of the party would simply vote for the person they trusted to be their leader.