Friday, February 23, 2007

Two Things To Do To Prevent April Kranti III


अगर सडक पर िफर से उतडनी पडी तो
  1. Get Krishna Sitaula to resign immediately.
  2. Declare there will be proportional elections. Say there could be 300 slots. Each party would go in with a list. The list would have reservations. Every third name must be female, two of every three of those must be Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati women. Two of every five names must be Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati.
If these two things could be done, the Madhesi Janajati Movement would find a way to pour all its energies into the elections to the constituent assembly. Right now they do not have that option. And we are on the verge of April Kranti III, Madhesi Movement II, Janajati Movement I.

We have only a day or two. If the government does not go for these two steps, the final revolution will come out into the streets, and then Krishna Sitaula's resignation is going to become irrelevant. Then Girija himself will have to go. The revolution will only conclude with the declaration of a federal republic, and a reorganization of the interim government and the interim parliament.

अगर सडक पर िफर से उतडनी पडी तो

In The News

30,852 PLA combatants, 3,428 weapons registered: UNMIN Kantipur
Interim govt within a week; don't leave camp, Prachanda tells PLA fighters
Govt calls MPRF for talks again; only if Sitaula resigns, says MPRF
Moriarty all praises for Prachanda, says will shake hand before leaving Nepal
Tensions soar high in Bhairahawa as Maoists, MPRF members engage in brawl
Constitutional provisions contradict Peris Principles: Human rights activists
Bhutanese refugee killed in Morang clash
India pledges over Rs 1.12bn assistance for peace process
Double ballot boxes, double ballots agreed
Docs ready for Maoist camps

Day-II bandh hits Tarai life Himalayan Times Academic institutions, business houses and shops remained closed, while vehicles stayed off roads in Siraha. Lahan, Mirchaiya, Golbazaar and Siraha bazaars wore a deserted look. In Bara, most shops and academic institutions in Kalaiya were shut. Cadres of the JTMM-Goit seized an official of Diprox Development Bank, Lekh Nath Poudel, from Pattarhatti VDC in Bara. They have accused Poudel of defying the bandh. While vehicles remained off the roads in Saptari, educational institutions remained shut. In Rautahat, shops in Gaur, Garuda, Katahariya, Samanpur and Gangapipara remained closed. The effect of the bandh was partial in Janakpur.

Nepal's Maoists give up nearly 3500 weapons - UN
Reuters
US in Nepal: Moriarty Would Welcome Maoists to Democratic Mainstream
United We Blog, Nepal Nepal govt to discipline king Daily Times, Pakistan
Nepal: Clashes between refugees and locals leave one refugee dead ...
ReliefWeb (press release), Switzerland

Barack Obama Draws Large Crowds In Urban Areas CBS 5
'I trust him' -- standoffish Iowans flocking to Obama Chicago Sun-Times
Statehouse Yields Clues to Obama Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Detour From High Road in Clinton-Obama Clash
New York Times Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has drawn Mr. Obama onto a muddy political field, engaging him in a back-and-forth that recalls the kind of Washington bickering Mr. Obama has decried ....... when it came to tallying the final score on the most intense engagement so far in the 2008 presidential race, even Mr. Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, seemed to acknowledge that he may have been outmaneuvered ......... Mr. Obama said he had been on a red-eye flight, getting a haircut and taking his daughters to school as the fight broke out, and strongly suggested he had told his aides he wanted to stay above the fray. ....... I want to make sure that we’re spending time talking about issues ..... we have to be careful not to slip into playing the game as it customarily is played ..... some voters would view her as driven more by tactical war-room politics than by the domestic and foreign policy issues they are most concerned about. ....... persistent questions about Mrs. Clinton’s electability. .... Clinton, backed by a cadre of aggressive advisers who have weathered a decade of some of the toughest political fights imaginable ....... big contributors would be honored with limo rides with the new president while those who wrote checks to, say, Mr. Obama could give up their dreams of access. ........ “You are either with us or you’re against us ..... Mrs. Clinton would meet one-on-one with prominent donors, for instance, and make clear that she wanted their support exclusively. Some elected officials in New Hampshire, meanwhile, said they were told that their early support would matter more to the Clintons than an endorsement down the road. ......... Their aggressiveness is not going over well with everyone ...... we the electorate earn the right to a vigorous debate
Clinton, Obama camps mix it up verbally CNN
Media Fixated On Obama-Clinton Fight
U.S. News & World Report
Clinton Draws a Line in the Sand over Iraq ZNet Clinton has drawn the line in the sand over Iraq. She will not admit that her vote to authorize Bush to use military force in a unilateral, unprovoked war based on lies was a mistake. She is open to a military strike on Iran. Her latest message to voters: "There are others to choose from."
Will voters accept Hillary Clinton's nonapology? Yahoo! News

Maoists have 30852 combatants and 3428 weapons: UNMIN NepalNews
Maoists, MJF activists clash in Bhairahawa At least six activists of the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF) were injured in a clash with the activists of Maoist-affiliated Madhesi Mukti Morcha (MMM) in the Bhairahawa Friday. ..... around 150 activists of MMM intervened into a mass meeting of the MJF and beat up MJF activists. .... MMM activists disrupted the mass meet, which was scheduled to be addressed by the MJF chairman Yadav and others. ...... After the incident, irate MJF activists also vandalised two vehicles used by Maoist cadres for the publicity of their mass meeting to be held in Butwal on Saturday. Maoist chairman Prachanda is scheduled to address the mass meeting.
Moriarty concerned over Maoist combatants leaving camps
PM Koirala meets chief of UNMIN
One killed in refugees, locals clash
Prachanda wants to pre-empt regression by declaring republic the issue of constituent assembly has now been overshadowed and that the interim parliament should declare republic right away ...... the country no longer needs to wait for CA to decide on issues like the fate of monarchy. ...... his party will soon table a proposal to this effect in the parliament. ..... Referring to recent unrest in Madhes and upsurge of demands on ethnic rights, Prachanda said the country was witnessing the last-ditch effort by the counter-revolutionaries who he said had stolen the slogans belonging to the revolutionaries. ..... "There is a calculated conspiracy to tarnish the image of Maoists in Madhes," he said. ...... addressed public in Biratnagar and Janakpur where he made attempts to pacify the Madhesi crowd by reiterating that the Maoists had not abandoned their cause for autonomy with the right to self-determination. ....... The expansion of organisations like Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) and the sudden arrival of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) have served to aggravate Maoist anxiety that "more revolutionary-sounding" movements were displacing them from the region. The fact that the MJF and JTMM are being spearheaded by the very persons who were once under the Maoist umbrella has furthered their 'fear and hatred.' ........ the MJF has been continuously demanding the resignation of Home Minister Krishna Sitaula – who is not only the Man Friday of Prime Minister Koirala but also a darling to the Maoist leadership - as a pre-condition for talks. It was, therefore, not unnatural when Maoist MPs came to his defense when lawmakers of Nepali Congress (NC) party themselves asked for Sitaula's resignation at the parliament.
India ready to help Nepal peace process: Mukherjee
Demands for Autonomy: What Is the Viable Solution? all the 85% of the Nepalese who live in rural areas are marginalised and deprived of exercising the fundamental rights in one way or another. Then why is this hue and cry for special preferences for Terai or Limbuwan or Magarat or Khas people? Knowingly or unknowingly, the people in Nepal are now divided into two major categories – those preferring to support the status quo with some changes in the political structure, and those strongly advocating for federal system of governance. Experiences have shown that as federal involvement has grown, problems have developed, because there are no generally accepted criteria to define and limit the federal role. .......... Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. ...... autonomy may increase group cohesion, capacity, and willingness to act, assisting groups in mobilising resources and maximising the political opportunity structures of a minority group. ........ when members of a formerly dominant or majority group suddenly find themselves in a situation of becoming a minority in the new unit, as in the case of Serbs in Bosnia. ....... There is high risk of creation of new minority in most parts of Nepal if territorial autonomy is granted. ..... in Malaysia where Singapore was expelled from the federation because of rising racial tension ..... internal conflict may lead a federation to collapse entirely, as occurred in Nigeria, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the United Provinces of Central America and the West Indies Federation. ........ The possibility of attaining autonomy may provide a focal point for groups that would not otherwise display strong levels of mobilization. ........ If the rooms are closed for more pragmatic approach, a strategy more likely to result in non-violent compromise, there is risk of worsening of the situation. ....... as in the cases of Kavery and Krishna Rivers in India in which Tamilnadu has been confronting from many years with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively. ...... In the case of Terai, the people are exploited, suppressed and marginalised not because of the so called invaders from the Hills, but from the traitorous landlords and deceitful politicians from the same Terai community, as expressed by Shailendra Sukla, “the brutal exploitation of lower class Madhesis were totally from the upper class Madhesis rather than from any Parbate. Compared to the Madhesi land owners, jamindars, and marwari businessman, most of the Parbates in are pitiful folks, trying just to survive”. ........ the failure of the Confederation States of America, USSR, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Montenegro, New Yugoslavia), Federation of Malaya, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Federal Republic of Cameroon, Czechoslovakia, Uganda and many others ....... Ethnic minorities may obtain guaranteed representation in governing structures through consociational institutions or through minimum representation quotas for the group in parliament and other governing bodies. Conociational government requires that ethnic groups be allocated a degree of autonomy, although this allocation usually takes a symmetrical form – meaning that groups are granted power to the same degree. Minority groups can obtain significant level of representation without formal autonomy structures under electoral systems of proportional representation. In Romania and Slovakia, the Hungarian parties have been able to incorporate themselves into the governing coalitions by serving as crucial “swing parties.” They have thus been able to amplify the expression of their interests beyond their demographic percentages (11 percent and 7 percent of the respective populations). ......... Cooperative Federalism can be another prominent alternative ...... The difference between federalism and unitary state is that in the latter, the autonomous status of self-governing regions exists by the sufferance of the central government, and may be unilaterally revoked. ...... The political system of the People's Republic of China is worth mentioning here, which may be instrumental in finding some ways out of the present crises in Nepal. China is regarded by some as a de facto although not de jure federation, the central government sets up general economic policy and goals, and leaves the implementation to provincial governments.
WB discusses interim strategy to support Nepal peace process
ADB extends grant to improve livelihood of poor farmers
ANNISU-R padlocks OEC demanding increase of SLC centres
No law to punish King: legal experts
Interim parliament will declare Nepal a republic: Prachanda
Sitaula urges Maoist combatants to return to camps
Thakur committee again invites MJF, NFIN for talks
CA polls will have two ballot papers, boxes
Bandhs paralyse life in various districts
House approves 14 parliamentarian committees


JTMM called bandh affects normal life NepalNews Life in most of the Terai districts was crippled on Wednesday in the first day of the three day Terai bandh called by the Jay Krishna Goit faction of the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morha (JTMM). ..... The faction demanded the bandh demanding to announce the region as Terai autonomous state. ..... Academic institutions, factories, market areas remained closed in the region, while all the vehicles remained off the road in Saptari and Dhanusa districts. .... The faction torched two vehicles on the eve of the bandh. ..... a report from Baglunj said 13 agitating indigenous bodies in Baglunj have announced Gandaki and Dhaulagiri bandh for Thursday to pressurise the government to fulfill their 20-point demands.

Govt appeals to Maoist combatants not to leave camps Kantipur
Devyani to tie the knot
Re-establishing law and order a priority: Sundh
Bandas in various parts of the country cripple life the banda called by the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) in the Gandaki and Dhaulagiri zones. ..... Baglung market is completely closed with all educational institutions, transport services and government offices remaining shut. ..... Pokhara, daily life has been affected badly. Both long- and short-distance transportation services have been halted and schools and colleges are shut down. ...... another strike called by the Nuwakot Chamber of Commerce ..... Bidur ..... life in various districts of eastern Terai remained crippled on the second day of the three-day banda called by the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha-Goit (JTMM-Goit). ..... headquarters of the districts Bara, Saptari, Siraha and Sarlahi. ..... There are hardly any signs of vehicles in most of the highways, with all educational institutions shut down and only a few shops open.
Maoist combatants continue to leave camps; some return
Maoists breached arms pact: UN
Strike closes Bhrikuti paper factory
Over 80,000 new voters in Sunsari Sunsari district will see a total of 484,274 people casting their vote in the upcoming constitution assembly election. The figure includes 80,500 new people added to the voters' list in the three municipalities and 49 VDCs of the district.
Parliament directs govt to take action against king
UN begins arms, armies registration in Kathmandu
Nine student unions demand action against king
MPRF to wait until Feb 25 before launching peaceful strikes the MPRF will continue with peaceful demonstrations with greater intensity. ..... MPRF Vice Chairman Kishore Kumar Biswash said, "The demands raised by the Madhesi Peoples should be fulfilled by amending the interim constitution as soon as possible," adding that the problems in the country couldn't be resolved through the mixed electoral system. ....... He further said that the parliament should declare Nepal a republic state as soon as possible. ...... warned that if the eight political parties continue with its tyrannical ways, another civil war could breakout in the country.
दल दर्ता प्रावधान फर्ेन माग छलफलमा सहभागी जनमोचर्ँ, नेमकिपा, राप्रपा, सद्भावना, जनशक्ति लगायतका पार्टर्ीी प्रतिनिधिले दस हजार मतदाताको हस्ताक्ष्ँर चाहिने प्रावधान नया“ दल खोल्न पाउने प्रजातान्त्रिक अधिकारविपरीत रहेको बताए । मस्यौदामा एक स्थान वा समानुपातिक निर्वाचनमा एक प्रतिशत मत प्राप्त नगरे, आयोगलाई बुझाउनुपर्ने कागजात तोकिएको समयमा नबुझाए दलको दर्ता खारेज हुने व्यवस्था छ । दलहरूले आफ्नो आयव्ययको लेखापरीक्षण अनिवार्य गराउनुपर्ने छ ।
राजालाई कारबाही गर्न संसद्को निर्देशन
दुइ समूहबीच गोली हानाहान
माओवादीको क्षँेत्रीय-जातीय महासंघ संघीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र स्थापनाका लागि सत्र वटा मोचार् लाई महासंघमा समेटिएको छ । .... देव गुरुङको संयोजकत्वमा गठित महासंघको नाम 'जातीय क्ष्ँेत्रीय, गणतान्त्रिक महासंघ' ..... गणतन्त्रको अविलम्ब घोषणा, जातीय, क्ष्ँेत्रीय, संघीय राज्य, आत्मनिर्ण्र्ााो अधिकारको आधारमा स्वायत्तता, समानुपातिक निर्वाचन ...... मधेसी, सेती-महाकाली, कर्ण्ााली, थारू, मगर, गुरुङ, नेवार, तामाङ, किरा“त, लामा, शर्ेपा, थामी, चेपाङ, दनुवार, माझी, कोचिला र कुमालको राष्ट्रिय मोर्चालाई महासंघमा समावेश
बालबालिकाको प्रयोग र भर्ती कायमै ः राष्ट्रसंघ
सरकारद्वारा सैनिक अदालतको फैसला बदर
मोर्चालाई ५ लाख चन्दा नदि“दा शिक्षक बिस्थापित
निर्वाचनबारे आयोगले विकल्प दिने
सम्झौता उल्लंघन
जन्डिसका कारणहरू
निर्वाचन प्रतिनिधित्व ः दर्ुइ प्रमुख विकल्प मधेसी आन्दोलनको प्रमुख माग पनि समुचित राजनीतिक प्रतिनिधित्व र सांस्कृतिक पहिचानको सम्मान नै हो । उपयुक्त निर्वाचन पद्धतिले यी दुवै मुद्दालाई सम्बोधन गर्न सक्छ, भलै यसबाहेक अन्य धेरै मुद्दा पनि थाती छन् । ..... समानुपातिक प्रतिस्पर्धाका लागि दलहरूको सूचीमा माथिल्ला दर्ुइ उम्मेदवारमा एउटा महिला, अथवा माथिल्ला चार उम्मेदवारमा दर्ुइ महिला यस्तै गरेर राख्नुपर्ने प्रावधान राख्न सकिन्छ, जसअनुसार दलहरूको सूचीबाट जित्ने करिब ५० प्रतिशत सिटमा महिला निश्चित रूपमा हुनेछन् । यसैगरी अन्य समूहका लागि, उदाहरणका लागि कुनै विशेष समूहका लागि, माथिल्ला पा“च उम्मेदवारमा एउटा प्रतिनिधि अथवा माथिल्ला दस उम्मेदवारमा एउटा प्रतिनिधि राख्नुपर्ने आदिको व्यवस्था गर्न सकिन्छ । ..... एउटा मतपत्र वा दर्ुइवटा मतपत्र राख्ने, मतपत्रमा राजनीतिक दलको नाममात्र राख्ने कि सबै उम्मेदवारको नाम राख्ने, कसरी समावेशी बनाउने आदि । यी मुद्दाबारे पनि क्रमिक छलफल हुनु जरुरी छ ।
राजाको दुस्साहसिक रहर
मधेसी आन्दोलन र प्रधानमन्त्रीको सम्बोधन

House asks govt to take action against King; Sitaula says PM will take necessary decision NepalNews
3000 PLA men leave cantonment; UN concerned
UN reports appalling situation of children during conflict
Unidentified gang shoots two persons in the capital
Worst and best experiences for Nepali media in 2006: Report
Prachanda sees calculated conspiracies against Maoists in Madhes Maoist chairman Prachanda has accused that royalists and foreign elements had hatched conspiracies against Maoists in Madhes. Addressing the public gathering in Barhabigha ground in Janakpur, Tuesday, Prachanda accused that the Americans had hatched conspiracy against Maoists in Janakpur, reports Kantipur daily. ..... "Royalists and imperialists are engaged in spreading rumors that Maoists stand against people of Madhes," Prachanda said, adding, "There is a conspiracy to displace Maoists – who had raised demands for right to self determination and self rule - from Madhes." ..... Prachanda along with his senior comrade Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is currently touring Madhes region.
War over; victims still waiting for justice
Dialogue for Integrated and Affluent Nepal The 20-day Madheshi movement beginning from 19 January 2007 has been unparallel in Nepal's history. Neither during the 1990 movement against the Panchayat system nor in the 2006 April revolution, was the life of the country as much crippled as during this time. The major political factions of Terai, including Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A), and Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (Goit), and Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (Jwala Singh) had been the key players in this movement. ...... the Terai movement appeared to be organised. .... for the first time in Terai history that the people joined the movement and exhibited rare solidarity for their right cause forgetting the feelings of castes, creed, gender, etc. ..... The main demands of the agitating groups have been: (a) establishment of federal system of governance and regional autonomy with rights to self-determination; (b) proportional representation according to population in the Constituent Assembly; and (c) representation of Madheshi people in state organs and programmes during the transition period. ....... high level probe team is not constituted to investigate the killings of Madheshis and the Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula has not resigned. ....... Dozens of Madheshis have been killed and hundreds of them have become wounded and crippled. ...... a white paper on the Terai unrest prepared by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) shows that 20 days of unrest in Terai cost the economy nearly Rs. 29 billion in losses. This included a loss of Rs. 2.50 billion on exports and Rs. 7.45 billion on imports. There was also a loss of Rs. 18.64 billion in industrial production due to the transportation closure, closure of industries and shortage of raw materials. In addition to the severe loss to agricultural sector, there was also a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs. 5 billion. ........ In Eretria, an African country, it took three long years to come out with constitution as the people at the grass roots were involved more in constitution making process than the so called experts.
Unseen Consequences and Utopia of Federal System to pacify the ongoing Madhesi andolan, the current government was compelled to promise a utopian federal system without any homework and realistic assessment of the country’s geo-political situation. ....... The announcement came just as a political reaction to the mass that had shaken the foundation of the current Loktantrik government. Decentralisation suddenly became an obsolete policy and federal system is taking shape. ...... Tomorrow if Nepal follows the federal system, how will it manage its resources, income and trade revenues and issues related to complex caste system and ethnic diversity? ...... Nepal is just crawling towards the implementation of VAT, introduction of any new system would rather destabilise the whole system of revenue generation. Also the ambiguity of bifurcation of the revenues for both national and state government from the tax payers will remain importunate and cumbersome. ........ apart from Terai region, the rest of the country is not that appropriate for industrial and agricultural development ...... Kaberi river which originates from Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu. These two states have been fighting legal battle for their water rights. Also, some western states of the United States like Washington , Colorado , Wyoming and California have been facing similar problems. ....... where its people speak more than 100 different languages, how will this system establish a regional harmony? This conflict will further escalate the local, regional and national tension ...... Even in the US history, African American communities have always been discriminated. After the World War II, the GI bill was passed by the US congress giving financial opportunity only to the white war veterans. African Americans remained deprived although they fought equally in the World War. Even though they are discriminated and deprived, none of the African Americans have asked for separate state or territory for their sake. ......... economic and other opportunities are in a way being taken away by the people who migrated from India- the Marwari in the business level and Halkhor (a lower caste migrating from India in search of better quality of life), in the labor level. ...... Nepal may remain a sovereign country in the map but, politically and socially it might lose its foothold to the friendly neighbor. ...... To add insult to these injuries, the current uncontrolled distribution of citizenship has created a situation where these immigrants from the south are more likely to get citizenship. ...... under the federal system Nepal as a country will not be able to take substantial benefits from its resources.
Faced with hunger, combatants threaten to walk out of camps unless they are provided with basic essentials like food. ...... Bibidh, the commander of Third Division of People's Liberation Army camped in Shaktihkor, Chitwan, threatened that the combatants will start venturing out of the camp from Wednesday in search of jobs. ....... he had been continuously requesting for the support to the government, and had informed of their plight to the Maoist party and the UN also. ...... on Wednesday around 2000 combatants will leave the camp and within a week 4500 combatants will have left it. The Shaktikhor camp has 6000 combatants. The remaining 1500, however, will be kept there for security. ....... till now the government has provided Rs 45 million to their camp. He added that they already have incurred debts crossing further Rs 45 million. ..... he had given up hopes that the Maoist party would be joining interim government. He said the interim parliament, which could not declare a republic, was also ending up as a venue to shout and debate without being able to resolve any problems. ..... The Finance Ministry is said to have already provided Rs 390 million for the upkeep of combatants and development of basic facilities at the seven cantonment sites.
Clarify government’s stance on King’s message: Sharma
Eight parties ‘agree’ to give voting right to temporary residents
Registration of combatants outside cantonments to start from Wednesday
Koirala meets with Mukherjee, Army Chief




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