GDF

I have been toying with the idea of getting more closely involved with the ongoing movement in Nepal. One idea that I have floated is to become a Project Manager within the ADHRN. Another would be to start an organization of my own. Global Democracy Fund. Or something of that sort. A third option is to keep doing what I have been doing. Be a one man show, freelancing around, blogging, meeting, calling people up.

I feel a little torn. I feel pulled in two different directions. One is entrepreneurship, another the Nepal thingie. I personally feel like I function better juggling several balls at once. So I guess I keep at it.

Regime Wants Dialogue With Maoists

That is good news. Shows it feels the pressure. Protests are gaining momentum. And they are working. The mausi bhi taiyar Basanti bhi taiyar moment might be fast approaching.

And if the regime is serious about this dialogue thing, the movement might be averted. And I personally might scale back my personal involvement plans.

You hold dialogue, and you go into a Constituent Assembly. The solution is that simple. If you do it fast, clean and positive, the monarchy is guaranteed to stay on.

In The News

• Nepal government ready for talks with Maoists, says senior ... Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates Kirti Nidhi Bista told a group of civil society leaders that the government also agreed that dialogue was the only way to settle the armed conflict..... told the civil society leaders to help the government by trying to bring the Maoists to the negotiating table..... another group of civil society leaders held a mass meeting ..... With the top leaders of political parties sitting among the audience, the civil society leaders severely criticised them for their mistakes that brought about the present situation in the country.... The political leaders listened silently to their criticisms.
• Citizens’ forum fires latest salvo at Nepal King Indian Express newly formed Citizens Movement for Peace and Democracy turned openly against King Gyanendra, saying his refusal to accept democracy will spell doom for the 237-year-old institution, which has for the most part ruled the country as an oligarchy...... impressive turn-out in the capital was a sign of just how fast the quiet resentment against the royal takeover is snowballing into a people’s movement ....... a public rally—the biggest in the past six months..... though leaders of pro-democracy political parties attended the rally, it was representatives of the media, poets, activists, doctors and teachers who were the ones to address the crowd...... Krishna Pahadi .... It is time the people decided once and for all, what kind of political system—with or without a monarchy—they wanted, through an elected constituent assembly’’..... once the dialogue began moving in the right direction, a ceasefire would be the natural outcome, consolidating democracy..... the driving undercurrent in the tone throughout the three-hour rally, was much harsher on King Gyanendra than even that of the Maoists.
  
• Poets, singers, teachers rally for Nepal democracy Reuters AlertNet Nepal has seen a string of small anti-king protests by political parties in the past six months, but they were quickly quashed by the heavy presence of troops..... establish peace with the Maoists and bring them to the mainstream
  
• ‘Don’t legitimise Nepal rule’ Indian Express, India Nepal Democracy and Solidarity Committee, India, comprising nine political parties, today asked the UPA government not to take any step that will accord legitimacy to King Gyanendra’s rule...... a convention on the issue in India on August 26 for which members of Nepal’s seven-party coalition will be invited.... will also establish Parliamentarians for Democracy in Nepal, during the current Monsoon Session
• Court okays a month’s custody to ex-CDO Gorkhapatra, Nepal
• Nepal FM appeals at NHRC, OHCHR Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• Civil society presses for people’s sovereignty Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• Nation can go for referendum: FM Rana Kathmandu Post, Nepal .... the nation could go for referendum to test popularity of the monarchists and republicans..... Bloomfield strongly charged that there is no room for "moderation and compromise" in the six months of the king's rule...... A mentality in which those who argue for a negotiated peace with the Maoists are publicly attacked for advocating giving in to terrorists, where democracy is presented as something that has to wait until the Maoists have been dealt with militarily, where there is no room for moderation and compromise
• Students burn effigies of autocracy Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• Nepal government ready for talks with Maoists PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• 2005 NASEA-ANMA JOINT CONVENTION, ATLANTA PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• Maoist Rebels Running Parallel Governments on India-Nepal Border South Asia Tribune, VA ..... We have almost liberated the Nepali Darchula, and we would do the same in this side of Dharchula also.... “Usually we get arms through Nepal and sometimes through Tibet, but our main procurer are ULFA and LTTE.” ..... When asked from where do the ULFA and LTTE get arms the rebel leader said: “There are so many arms dealer all over the world. They are sitting in China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and even in India. I am not in the position to say much on this subject.”
• NEPAL: Thousands take part in pro-democracy mass meeting in ... Asia Pacific Media Network, CA forthcoming pro-democracy protests must be a peaceful but decisive..... since the monarchy has had repeatedly betrayed democracy in Nepal, the upcoming movement must head towards a democratic republican set up.
• Will China really rise up? The New Nation, Bangladesh Few weeks ago, a Chinese General warned the USA of nuclear attack in the event of her siding with Taiwan over possible unilateral declaration of independence..... China can do that by blocking UN embargo on Iran over nuke, pressing USA to leave Iraq as soon as possible and pledging that she will stand by Bangladesh in crisis.
• Poets, singers, teachers rally for Nepal democracy San Diego Union Tribune, United States
• Poets, singers, teachers rally for Nepal democracy Reuters India, India
• Traffic resumes on rebels-blocked highway in west Nepal Xinhua, China
• FDI And Developing Countries PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal
• RNA denies US Senator’s accusations Kantipur Online, Nepal
• NSU Shuts Down TU Offices Himalayan Times, Nepal
• Sobhraj to take his case to UN NewKerala.com, India
• As the six month ban on news on radio expires Friday, FM stations ... Nepali Times, Nepal Army sources have accused FM stations of needlessly causing panic among the people with news of blockades and of helping the Maoists. However, private television stations were never banned from broadcasting news.
• We’re all Bise Nagarchis Nepali Times, Nepal
  
• In Nepal, homosexual couples hide their relationships, but with ... OhmyNews International, South Korea
• The Democracy Advantage Samudaya.org, AZ democracies have outperformed autocracies even amongst low-income countries..... the "authoritarian-advantage thesis" has always had weak evidence, it has been proven that not only can poor countries with a low literacy rate democratize, they can also develop much more effectively than their autocratic counterparts....... the ability of the government to fix itself, and periodic elections that allow for peaceful replacement of leaders....... the East Asian tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and China)...... Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, the authors argue that this success cannot be attributed to the authoritarian form of governance: "openness to competition, the use of international markets, a high level of literacy and education, successful land reforms and public provisions of incentives for investment, exporting, and industrialization... There is nothing whatsoever to indicate that any of these policies is inconsistent with greater democracy, that any one of them had to be sustained by the elements of authoritarianism. What is needed for generating faster economic growth is a friendlier climate rather than a harsher political system."....... statistics show that development produced by autocratic regimes is more likely to plunge drastically...... strengthening of an autocracy through well-intended aid, downfall of ill-prepared new democracies due to aggressive liberalization policies from donors, or a lack of cooperation from donors leading to crises and turmoil....... democracy cannot be spread militarily and that democratic struggles must come from within, the emphasis is on creating an external environment that is conducive to democratic struggles...... democracies rarely go to war with each other... democracies have thus far done a much better job of resolving interstate and civil conflict. .. civil conflicts start becoming rarer as democratic consolidation becomes stronger...... autocracies to a glorious ship that is quick to sink when met with an unexpected iceberg, and democracies to a hands-on raft that is more reliable even if it gets your feet wet...... Given democracies' averseness to armed conflict, a new era of universal peace might actually become reality