Here are some pics taken by those who were at the rally:

I hope peace prevails!

Tourists are being evacuated:

Nepal started evacuating scores of tourists stranded Tuesday by a general strike called by Maoist former rebels in a political standoff with the government.

The Maoists have not threatened tourists, but their supporters have blocked roads and stopped vehicles, stranding many visitors in the western resort town of Pokhara. A local government official, Shankar Koirala, said that 218 tourists, mostly Indians, had been moved in 10 buses escorted by armed police officers.

The peace process is about to collapse:

Talks between the Maoist party, which has the largest number of seats in parliament, and the ruling coalition have failed to secure a breakthrough after opposition supporters massed in the capital Kathmandu at the weekend.

Much of the country has been shut down as the Maoists, who are demanding the government stands down, stage mass rallies and threaten anyone defying the general strike.

“We are heading towards victory. We will not quit until we reach our goal,” Agni Sapkota, a senior Maoist, told the crowds. “We want this to be over soon, but the incumbent government does not care what the wishes of the people are.”

Maoist guerrillas fought a bloody civil war against the Nepalese state for 10 years before a peace agreement was signed in 2006, and the left-wing rebels then won elections in 2008 and held power for eight months.

Facebook groups are expressing frustration:

But despite it all, some bloggers are trying to see the good side of it all (even though its painful to think):

What to expect? Expect dances, songs, traditional (and non-traditional) musical instruments, chants, hymns, march past and runs at every nook and corner of the main streets. Meet people of every walks, race and dresses – brought in especially for you.

And, the Great Red Roadshow is happening just a few months shy of 2011 – the year of tourism for Nepal and the hopes are high the event will ‘really’ help to bring the country in news headlines thus affecting the tourist flow during the year.

Nepali people are so ‘enthusiastic’ about the event that they will close down all their business outlets, shops, schools and offices to ‘support’ the event.

So, what are you waiting for? Welcome to the Great Red Roadshow!

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• Nepal Maoists’ strike continues (news.bbc.co.uk)
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• Maoist-led general strike shuts down much of Nepal (guardian.co.uk)

Recently, I had the opportunity to express my views on the immigration bill with the Arizona Republic. Now a certain segment have expressed that they disagree with me. I’m fine with that.

However, there are two issues I’d like to clarify regarding my views on the Arizona immigration bill that were not expressed in the article just published.

1. Legal papers – Federal law already mandates that legal aliens carry their green card or immigration papers with them at all times. This has been in effect for a long time. So, the Arizona law is not unique on this. So, stop comparing Arizona to a totalitarian regime people and enough with the boycotts.

2. “Reasonable suspicion” – This is the clause that has the great potential for abuse. However, if you think about it, 30% of the Arizona population is Hispanic. I can not ever imagine a situation where cops will be pulling one in three cars to check on immigration papers. That’s not possible.

From my understanding where this will be applied is when a person is pulled over or picked up for a different incident. In this case the police officer can ask for immigration papers. Now think this through. When you are pulled over the police officer will ask for your drivers license and registration. If you don’t have one then it is reasonable for the officer to ask why and try to arrive at the root cause. If you do but it’s suspicious then the officer can do the same. But if you do and its good then you’re most likely not going to be asked additional questions.

I do admit there is a possibility for abuse. But name one law that does not have a possibility of abuse. I do believe that due to possibility of abuse everyone will be careful on this one. At this point I am willing to give the police the benefit of the doubt.

Having said this. I do believe the law does not address or solve the core problem. The core problem is illegal border crossings. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. The main reason the vast majority of people come here is because of jobs. So, I’m in favor of a zero tolerance law asking employers to check immigration status and eligibility. Just focusing on the illegal immigrants is very unfair and will not solve the problem. However, if the state government took a zero tolerance approach towards employers then we can start addressing the root problem.

I’ve discussed this portion in great detail on a previous post.

Again, take a deep breath. Really think through everything I’ve said and if you think you have a well thought out position please share. Keep in mind I’m not interested in ideological regurgitation from the left or the right.

For those not familiar with the work of Mrs. Koirala, she help found Maiti Nepal, a non-profit organization that helps Nepali women who have been victims of sex trafficking return home. Many Nepali girls from poor families across Nepal have been lured to brothels in India through false promises of jobs and in some instances fame. Maiti Nepal helps to rescue these girls and bring them back home to Nepal.   Here is more information about this organization from their website:

MAITI Nepal was born out of a crusade to protect Nepali girls and women from crimes like domestic violence, trafficking for flesh trade, child prostitution, child labor and various forms of exploitation and torture. A group of socially committed professionals like teachers, journalists and social workers together formed Maiti Nepal in 1993 to fight against all the social evils inflicted upon our female populace. Most of all, its special focus has always been on preventing trafficking for forced prostitution, rescuing flesh trade victims and rehabilitating them. This social organisation also actively works to find justice for the victimized lot of girls and women by engaging in criminal investigation and waging legal battles against the criminals. It has highlighted the trafficking issue with its strong advocacy from the local to national and international levels.

While Nepal may be a secular state according to the current interim constitution, it still bans religious conversions. Basically one person can not convert another person to a different religion. While this is not as actively enforced as many would like it still causes tension and problems among religious groups. The track record on this is very mixed in other places and I don’t see why Nepal needs to repeat these mistakes.

We’ll see how this plays out over the coming weeks, but in the mean time I found this very thoughtful and insightful article outlining why Nepal needs to not only remain a secular state but needs to get rid of the “anti-conversion” provision entirely:

Firstly, a ban on conversions would be against the international treaties with which Nepal’s new constitution should comply. Asma Jahangir, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, has stated unequivocally that religious freedom “includes carrying out actions to persuade others to believe in a certain religion”.

Secondly, it is not clear what it would mean “to convert another person”, and this clause could be misused easily to harass religious minorities. The implication of the clause is that a religious conversion comes about by the new convert being acted upon by external forces, while new convert has little or no agency in this process. It is very difficult to define for legal purposes what then constitutes a genuine religious conversion, and legitimate, peaceful activities carried out by any religious group which might conceivably attract new converts would be put at risk of legal reprisals.

As with anti-conversion laws in force in five Indian states and proposed in Sri Lanka, the rationale for this proposal is a fear of coercion to bring about nominal changes of religion. Any genuinely coercive attempts to effect a change of religion would – or should – be utterly condemned by sensible members of any religious community. However, illegitimate acts of coercion could simply be prosecuted under existing general provisions of the law.

This leads to a third problem, that legislating specifically against religious conversions only serves to fuel prejudice and intolerance against religious minority groups. Jahangir recently spoke out strongly against the similar anti-conversion laws in India, stating that they “are being used to vilify Christians and Muslims“. Vilification all-too-often leads to violence, as many Christians or Muslims in India could testify.

You can read the entire article here.

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Have a great weekend.

बहिनी र छोरी मिली,सेवा तिमी गर

-अनन्तगोपाल रिसाल  [12th April 2010]

Note: This poem was published with permission from the poet.

So, according to the new bill:

The new bill, passed by the Arizona house of representatives last night, greatly expands the powers of the police in dealing with illegal immigration, including for the first time giving them the right to stop anyone on “reasonable suspicion” they may be an illegal immigrant and arrest them if they are not carrying identity papers.
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This will be accompanied by a crackdown on employers who take on day labourers, who often stand at specific street corners in the hope of being offered work. The new legislation makes it a crime to pick up someone if the driver “knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the alien is here illegally”.

The main problem will all this is its not reasonable and not fair to put the onus on illegal immigrants. The onus needs to be on businesses that hire them. Every business loves cheap labor and they’ll hire them because there is no adequate enforcement of existing laws. No wonder workers keep coming. If there is no work here I am sure the flow will stop. It’s that simple. They left because there is no job. So,if you can’t get a job here then what makes it worthwhile for them? Nothing.

I’m a legal immigrant. If I could have received a world class education in Nepal, believe me I would not have come to the USA. If an employer had not offered to sponsor me for a H1B visa and provided me with a job, I would not have stayed after college.

The fact of the matter is employers in the United States are much too happy to receive this kind of labor. I’ve never been to a car wash in the Phoenix area where all the employees are not illegals. Same goes when I peak into the back of a restaurant, the cleaning crew in the office etc.

If these employers were to be held up to the same standard that this bill is holding illegal immigrants to then the problem would be solved. You simply can not blame the immigrants. After all, America makes an explicit promise when it says:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

And you can’t revise history and say that only applies to Irish and German immigrants.

Also, you need to consider that when you set yourself up on a pedestal by declaring yourself  “the last best hope of man on earth” as President Ronald Reagan did then of course people are going to want to come. You simply can not stop someone from wanting to come to the United States. America is too well advertised. What I’m tying to say is you can’t punish people for wanting to come here.

However, if you don’t want them here then don’t make it easy for them to work here. Close the employment opportunities and I promise you people will not come. And in many ways the economic downturn has already demonstrated this to us. Consider this:

The analysis of census data from the U.S. and Mexican governments, being released today by the Pew Hispanic Center, highlights the impact of the economic downturn on Mexican immigrants, many of whom enter the United States illegally.

The study found that immigrants arriving from Mexico fell by 249,000 from March 2008 to March 2009, down nearly 60 percent from the previous year. As a result, the annual inflow of immigrants is now 175,000, having steadily decreased from a peak of 653,000 in 2005, before the bursting of the housing bubble dried up construction and other low-wage jobs.

I’ve wondered why such a simple issue gets blown out of proportion so much. I get the sense that it is because the same party that is so anti-illegal immigration is also the party of small business owners. So, while they want to kick these people out, they sure as heck enjoy the lower labor costs and increased profits!

In other words you can do the dirty messy work for dirt cheap but just don’t use my hospitals, my roads, my schools, my social services and while you’re at it learn some English will ya’.

You can’t have it both ways!

photo credit: Phil Guest

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Namaste:

On the auspicious day of our New Year, 2067, the Nepali American Center (NAC) wishes A Happy New Year to all our Nepali community members and friends of Nepal.

It is with great satisfaction that we inform you that NAC has achieved a new and important milestone today. This journey began nearly a year ago when ANMA president, Mr. Mukesh Singh, announced plans to establish a cultural center in Chicago.  With that mission in mind, the NAC website www.nepaliamericancenter.org is now going live today, the first day of the Nepali New Year, 2067.

Within this website we present a framework of our proposed cultural center. Overtime, it will be enhanced and refined based on your continuing input. Now, we must continue to march ahead on our journey until our vision is realized, which is to establish a Nepali identity in a suitable place in the Chicago area.

We know that the day is nearer than yesterday, but the journey is still long and the path perhaps arduous. However, our determination and our perseverance is unwavering, and we are confident of achieving our goal. So, together let’s express our unity as ONE Nepali community to get this work done. Once complete, the cultural center will provide opportunities and activities for everyone to participate in.

To truly own it, every one of us needs to:

1.       Donate some of our precious time and affordable contribution for NAC.
2.       Make www.nepaliamericancenter.org as our home page from today onwards.
3.      Communicate to fellow Nepali community members and other friends to support it.

NAC belongs to all of the Chicago area Nepali social organizations. Therefore, NAC requests these organizations to distribute this announcement to everyone in their mailing list and place a NAC website link in their websites. NAC would also like to request all other Nepali organizations throughout the country to communicate this to people in their mailing list as well. We request all for their moral support and generous charitable contribution.

We will inform you of future NAC activities, updates and announcement through this website on a regular basis. We also wish to hear from you regularly. Dhanyabad and thank you.

Nepali American Center, Chicago
“Energy and persistence conquer all things” – Benjamin Franklin

NAC recognizes the following individuals for their selfless and inspiring work in bringing this website and many other activities to reality within a matter of just few months. Angela Khanal, Ankur Sharma, Binod Dhungel, Birendra Suwal Singh, Bishnu Phuyal, Deepak Khanal, Jyoti Adhikari, Lomash Shrestha, Mukesh Singh, Piush Dahal, Rajeev Dahal, Rajendra Khatiwada, Ramakant Kharel, Roshita Mukhia, Sagar Regmi, Sharda Thapa, Shiva Hari Achet, Smarika Sitaula, Suman Wosti.