Novus Ordo Seclorum

Nepal declared itself a federal republic at 2 am on May 29^th. The question was not called until 11:20 pm on the 28^th, because the Maoists tried to back out of an agreement defining the scope of the presidency. There were protesters outside, and as the night wore on, there were clashes with the police that resulted in near riots, with tear gas and police charges.

I learned all of this because my boss (technically, she’s resigned from the organization, but is still very much involved) is a member of the Constituent Assembly. We had a party last night, marking both the 14^th anniversary of the group, the birth of the republic, and her election. The party was fascinating (unfortunately, I couldn’t understand any of the speeches,) but consisted of a small ceremony in our courtyard, followed by a Newari dinner in our garden. Guests included members of the Supreme Court of Nepal. For the ceremony, there was a small area of mats, surrounded by fruit, where our new representative was seated. Women came around and applied tika, small gobs of red paint, which carry more significance than I’m capable of explaining in Nepali Hinduism, to our foreheads. Men came around with food served in baskets made of leaves, and small glasses of whiskey. For the dinner, we were seated in long rows, cross-legged, with metal trays in front of us. Waiters came by and ladled a type of dried rice, several different kinds of vegetables, and chicken onto our trays. You eat with your hands. They also served raksi, a type of rice wine.

I’ve been assigned to work on religious rights. I’m expected to create a report on the conceptual framework for religious liberty, compare the major countries’ approaches (especially constitutional approaches) to religious freedom, and examine both the current (interim) Nepali constitution and the five previous Nepali constitutions. I’m also supposed to look at discriminatory laws in Nepal (such as the harsh prison sentences for killing a cow). Then I’m supposed to make recommendations on how the organization should approach the question, giving special attention to minority rights and the intersection of religious rights and women’s rights. It’s a little intimidating to be working in a field that far more advanced scholars then myself have written very bad books about, and to have to learn the entire Nepali Constitutional framework. Should be fun.

Walking around the streets here is like moving through an obstacle course. Jumping out of the way of motorcycles, literally ducking the “holy men” who try to paint a tika on your forehead in exchange for payment. I thought that if nothing else, a lifetime in NYC would have prepared me to deal with lunatic cab drivers and to cross streets with impunity. Here, I’m a complete amateur. In other news, I am strongly considering renting a motorbike.

Side note: Pictures have been extremely hard to load from work; I'll start adding them as I figure out an efficient way to do so...