Nepaldalitinfo Report

Washington, January 20- Barack Hussein Obama II took the oath of office to become the 44th President of United States of America today in the Presidential Inauguration ceremony. He became the first black American to have ascended to the most powerful position in the world, overcoming all kinds of racial barriers.

Indeed, this Tuesday proved to be the Day when race and disability both crossed the barriers of long held stereotypes that black and disable cannot reach the top of the ladder of power. The historic event happened on the day very next to Dr Martin Luther King’s day. Despite Barack Obama sidelining himself from much of African-American rhetoric during his presidential campaign, his victory does carry a symbol of hope for black Americans. The crowd of approximately 1.8 million people that flocked around Capitol building across the National Mall today to attend the mammoth ceremony had many jubilant Blacks in attendance, who otherwise wouldn’t show up in such massive numbers in the past presidential inaugurations.

About 30 million slaves (roughly the size of current population of Nepal) were brought by so called white slave drivers few hundreds years ago into the land of freedom. Some died on their way, others stopped breathing while working days and nights to build newly discovered land, and the rest were left to face lynching, segregation and grudges for centuries to come. Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated while fighting for freedom.

Poet Elizabeth Alexander in her speech following the Obama’s Presidential inaugural speech said,

“Sing the names of the dead who brought us here
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,
picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.”

Former President Bill Clinton was quick to praise her tribute as solid and well thought.

Another victory was for Joe Biden the vice president who stuttered and couldn’t say a sentence until his college life. In his Democratic Convention speech, he humbly admitted his stuttering and said his grandmother often told him his speech difficulty was due to his immense knowledge. Speech impediment didn’t prevent him from getting where Joe is today.

A dentist from North Carolina Dr Ramesh Sunar maintains that Dalits of Nepal are no different from slaves of America. The situation of Dalits in Nepal is similar to both slaves and stutters who cannot fully express themselves. Let’s hope the new record set by two oppressed people (Obama and Biden) will encourage Dalits of Nepal to fight for their rights. If Obama can overcome race barrier and Biden can conquer his stuttering, there is no reason why we the Dalits can’t conquer untouchability and live with dignity. Yes, we can!

Some of the selected throught provoking excerpts from the President Obama’s inauguration speech follow:

“The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

“Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. “

“Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.”

“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace. “

Report by-
Rajendra Senchuri
Moderator, Nepaldalitinfo
Washington DC.