By Bhumika Ghimire

We all in Nepal are familiar with political meddling, be it from south of the border or from the big house in Washington or from the Nepali diaspora All through the history we have seen them, heard about them and in some cases have raised our voices against them. Since the Panchayat system went into “hibernation” in 1990, the meddling have been more “in your face.”

Our neighbors with growing international reputation and military power have actually started to use their influence against us. Many failed hydro electric project are the glaring examples. That is how diplomacy works nowadays, I guess. How Washington diplomacy works is something of a puzzle which I have yet to figure out. Ever since President George Bush has cut off budget for programs which could help poor and elderly citizens the puzzle has grown bigger. American boycott of elected Hamas government is also confusing, since the country has repeated again and again that it will support elections and government elected by the people.

I believe that I have proven my ignorance of diplomatic world, so let me get back to the political games we were talking about.

As a part of Nepali diaspora in USA I am by default part of a political game. We believe that we are proven leaders and visionaries, but we choose to exercise it only after we leave Nepal. That way we are able to prove our love to our motherland, without sacrificing our great American dreams. How do we show our strength?

By taking out rally in Washington DC or New York to support democracy or the King (whichever suits the season) with slogans which are copied from some juvenile comic book. The rallies are fun; don’t have to deal with the army firing at us or the forced showers. We gather at a clean park, shout slogans for a while, and then have some drinks and catch-up with friends. After the rally we all go back to our apartments and look in the mirror and see a future Nepali power house. So in the morning we decide to form another organization, which of course has no fixed principle. It is flexible, we pride in saying that we just want Nepal to get rich and happy for which we will support the parties and King.

The reason I call this political ambition of diaspora as “un-wanted meddling” because we are far from the ground realities in Nepal. We hear what media wants us to hear, we see what we are shown and like that we form our opinion and jump into a conclusion. We are not facing the day to day life in Nepal, we don’t have to take kids to school when we know there is a violent “julus” nearby, we don’t have wait for turns to get drinking water. Living outside Nepal in some cozy and protected environment has clouded our judgment. So I suggest everyone in America who has any political ambition to go back to Nepal and jump-start their career there, live with the reality and try to change it.

I understand that I am a hypocrite who is suggesting everyone to go back while I have no plans to budge. I accept the adjective, but I cannot leave America because I have to watch Desperate Housewives every Sunday.

(A graduate of Schiller University, Florida, Ghimire is currently based in the US and writes on contemporary issues. Please send your comments to [email protected] or [email protected])

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