Sitting with the professors, Joshua and Surendra behind the Motel Avocado in Hetauda on an August evening with a table of snacks and drinks after a long and busy day at the Tamsaling Federalism Dialogue...
This is our eleventh Federalism Dialogue. We started in Ilam in the east almost six months ago and have gone all the way to Dadeldhura for Khaptad as we have chased the fourteen proposed provinces of the new federal republic of Nepal, as proposed by the Constituent Assembly State Restructuring Committee.
Being responsible for the civil society outreach for our 'Participatory Constitution Building" project, I thought of conducting these three day seminar-dialogues across the country by inviting 40-50 local leaders of mixed ethnicity/caste, gender, professions, political parties and civil society. Then, I imagined two well-matched astute political observers and engaged academics who could facilitate these workshops while being considered relatively independent and neutral in their party affiliation.
From that thought arrived Professors Krishna Khanal and Krishna Hachhethu, smart, savvy and sophisticated political scientists who know the reality of the political party system in Nepal, as well as the recent and current crop of political leaders as well as anyone who is not an active politician themselves.
I'd known and respected Krishna Khanal from a study he did for SC/US on Dalits in Siraha in the early 90s before becoming the HMG SWC Member-Secretary in the mid-90s, under a Girija Koirala Congress party government. I didn't really know how close he was to Koirala at that time and lost touch w/ him until he gained his national reputation during the 1990 movement and then leaving the Congress Party ten years later in disappointment.
Krishna Hachhethu's name I'd read when I was doing my Fielding Masters, "A Path Forward" on the Nepal peace process in 2006. Then, when I first saw him speak I knew that he had an impressive command of his knowledge and the self-confidence to wisely and sensitively lead a discussion.
A respected Brahmin and an intellectual Newar to lead national discussions fraught with ethnic, cultural, linguistic and geographic dimensions and anxieties. Who better? Two experienced individuals who loved to travel within Nepal to hear the people's voices and communicate their inner workings of their own political system to local leaders who have spent their lives depending on the power of Kathmandu.
So, with the good and dedicated support of Surendra, Mom, Sita, Basanti, Aruna and Neha, our seven month Federalism Dialogue tour d'Nepal begins to draw to a close.
After eleven Dialogues among the Limbus, the Kirats, the Madhesis, the Gurungs, the Magars, Hill Brahmins and Chhetris, Dalits, remote Karnali communities and Tamangs... only Newa Pradesh, Jadan and Sherpa Pradesh left in the next six weeks.
Twice a month since March we have organized two Dialogues a month, carefully trying to balance the invitation list to ensure a rich and stimulating diversity of leaders from these newly proposed provinces while growing from 40+ people to 70+ at each Dialogue.
Many nights, after the formal sessions, Surendra, Mom and I have joined the professors for our nightly political science seminar hearing their stories of the hidden background of the peace process, qualities of the political 'leaders' who have led the major political parties the past few decades (present individuals included...), historical national personalities, missing documents between the government and the palace, external military pressure and the continuing international involvement in the higher affairs of the State...
Like chela with our gurus, students with their professors, we've had the pleasure and opportunity to learn more about modern Nepali politics than if we had simply read Khanal's published articles and Hachhethu's highly praised book.
We've also become good friends.
Evening mates who have created a process and, possibly, an accomplishment for which we all have felt deeply engaged, committed and proud these past months. Out of Kathmandu, in the various proposed state capitals for these new provinces. Personally, carrying the work of this historic Constituent Assembly constitutional process out to people who deserve to know and desire be involved in the unique restructuring of their nation state.
There is so much I've learned...
So much done, and to do...
Relationships deepened...
Understanding gained...
Even after all these years...
A New Nepal revealed...
This is our eleventh Federalism Dialogue. We started in Ilam in the east almost six months ago and have gone all the way to Dadeldhura for Khaptad as we have chased the fourteen proposed provinces of the new federal republic of Nepal, as proposed by the Constituent Assembly State Restructuring Committee.
Being responsible for the civil society outreach for our 'Participatory Constitution Building" project, I thought of conducting these three day seminar-dialogues across the country by inviting 40-50 local leaders of mixed ethnicity/caste, gender, professions, political parties and civil society. Then, I imagined two well-matched astute political observers and engaged academics who could facilitate these workshops while being considered relatively independent and neutral in their party affiliation.
From that thought arrived Professors Krishna Khanal and Krishna Hachhethu, smart, savvy and sophisticated political scientists who know the reality of the political party system in Nepal, as well as the recent and current crop of political leaders as well as anyone who is not an active politician themselves.
I'd known and respected Krishna Khanal from a study he did for SC/US on Dalits in Siraha in the early 90s before becoming the HMG SWC Member-Secretary in the mid-90s, under a Girija Koirala Congress party government. I didn't really know how close he was to Koirala at that time and lost touch w/ him until he gained his national reputation during the 1990 movement and then leaving the Congress Party ten years later in disappointment.
Krishna Hachhethu's name I'd read when I was doing my Fielding Masters, "A Path Forward" on the Nepal peace process in 2006. Then, when I first saw him speak I knew that he had an impressive command of his knowledge and the self-confidence to wisely and sensitively lead a discussion.
A respected Brahmin and an intellectual Newar to lead national discussions fraught with ethnic, cultural, linguistic and geographic dimensions and anxieties. Who better? Two experienced individuals who loved to travel within Nepal to hear the people's voices and communicate their inner workings of their own political system to local leaders who have spent their lives depending on the power of Kathmandu.
So, with the good and dedicated support of Surendra, Mom, Sita, Basanti, Aruna and Neha, our seven month Federalism Dialogue tour d'Nepal begins to draw to a close.
After eleven Dialogues among the Limbus, the Kirats, the Madhesis, the Gurungs, the Magars, Hill Brahmins and Chhetris, Dalits, remote Karnali communities and Tamangs... only Newa Pradesh, Jadan and Sherpa Pradesh left in the next six weeks.
Twice a month since March we have organized two Dialogues a month, carefully trying to balance the invitation list to ensure a rich and stimulating diversity of leaders from these newly proposed provinces while growing from 40+ people to 70+ at each Dialogue.
Many nights, after the formal sessions, Surendra, Mom and I have joined the professors for our nightly political science seminar hearing their stories of the hidden background of the peace process, qualities of the political 'leaders' who have led the major political parties the past few decades (present individuals included...), historical national personalities, missing documents between the government and the palace, external military pressure and the continuing international involvement in the higher affairs of the State...
Like chela with our gurus, students with their professors, we've had the pleasure and opportunity to learn more about modern Nepali politics than if we had simply read Khanal's published articles and Hachhethu's highly praised book.
We've also become good friends.
Evening mates who have created a process and, possibly, an accomplishment for which we all have felt deeply engaged, committed and proud these past months. Out of Kathmandu, in the various proposed state capitals for these new provinces. Personally, carrying the work of this historic Constituent Assembly constitutional process out to people who deserve to know and desire be involved in the unique restructuring of their nation state.
There is so much I've learned...
So much done, and to do...
Relationships deepened...
Understanding gained...
Even after all these years...
A New Nepal revealed...
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