Democracy For Nepal

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Girija Koirala: Not In Tune With The April Revolution

UML to go for democratic republic NepalNews Girija Prasad Koirala, however, said that there was a need to give continuity to what he called the ‘ceremonial monarchy.” ...... Koirala said that in the transitional phase monarchy needed to be continued in the country to avoid dissidence and rebellion....... UML ..... stressed on moving towards interim constitution and interim government by holding “summit talks” between top leadership of the SPA and CPN (Maoist).
King should have ceremonial role: PM Koirala At a time when most political forces are moving towards a democratic republican set up in the country through election of the constituent assembly, Prime Minister and President of the Nepali Congress, Girija Prasad Koirala has said that the king should be given a ceremonial role..... Saying that all (forces) needed to be given some space in the transition phase, Koirala said if all sides are not given some room in democracy, it leads to disappointment and unpleasant incidents. ....... Koirala said that his party would put forth its stand on the agenda of constituent assembly and federal governance system on the negotiating table

The Koirala Congress and the other Congress both dragged their feet on the constituent assembly forever. Why could Girija not have gone for a constituent assembly in the year 2000? There is no political answer to that question. The blame can be heaped on Girija's intellectual lethargy, on his status quo mentality, on his lack of political innovation, on his regressive thinking within a democratic setup. Why could he not have listened to political reason? Instead why did he wait until more than 10,000 lives were lost?

The Sadbhavana asked for a constituent assembly back in 1990, but the Congress would not listen. The Maoists asked for one during the first peace talks. Girija would not listen. He waited until people died. Even then he was reluctant. The king organized his coup, and Girija was still opposed to the only viable option: a constituent assembly. How could he not have seen, especially after 2/1, that a constituent assembly was the only meeting ground for the three forces in the country?

Time For The Nepali Congress To Take A Stand On The Constituent Assembly Question (March 19, 2005)

Then there was the issue of an interim government. That is where all three forces could have met and then together gone for a constituent assembly. But he vetoed the idea. Fine. Now we got a House.

Newton, Apples, And Girija's House Revival Idea (November 17, 2005)

But if there was one obvious voice during the April Revolution, it was that for a republic. Noone was shouting House revival out in the streets. Noone died to revive the House. Listen to the slogans out in the streets. They have been recorded. The April Revolution was a republican revolution.

But Girija's ears are not to the ground. He is still uttering ceremonial monarchy.

Koirala Disappoints: He Is The Same Worn Out Record (April 2, 2005)

Girija Koirala is one person. He does not have the democratic option to decide for an entire party. As to what to do with the monarchy is the number one political question facing the country. He should start with a debate in his party's central committee, and he should be ready to call a special convention of his party on this question. Through a democratic process if the Koirala Congress decides to adopt a ceremonial monarchy, that will be just fine. But then it will be for the Nepali people to decide if they want to go with it or not. I predict a major shrinking of the Koirala Congress if it goes into the constituent assembly elections with a plank for a ceremonial monarchy. Having a little bit of monarchy is like having a little bit of evil, a little bit of darkness, a little bit of backwardness. Monarchy in any form is a social regression.

But Girija has no intent whatsoever to consult his party on this all important question. His party needs to revolt against him. Is Girija a democrat? If he is, why does he insist on acting like a dictator?

The king used to say, don't ask for democracy, don't talk of human rights, or the Maoists will come. Now it is Girija's turn. Save the monarchy, or the Maoists will come. What's the difference between the two?

The money to be spent on the monarchy instead should be paid to every elected official in the country in the form of decent salaries, instead should be paid to political parties in direction proportion to the number of votes they might earn, so as to establish a cutting edge democracy.

A monarchy is an unnecessary expense on a poor people. It is a cruel joke upon the destitute.

Girija is against the idea of a republic. That is offensive enough. That is an insult to the April Revolution. He is also against federalism. That makes him an out an out opponent, as far as I am concerned. That is fundamentally offensive for a party that has its primary base in the eastern Terai. Both Girija Koirala and BP Koirala have only cheated the Madhesis of Nepal. They have been for democracy, alright, but they have been against equal rights for Madhesis within that democracy.

Girija is basically suggesting if we don't give the king some space, he might misbehave. So we should give him space because he might snatch away the democracy again? How ridiculous of Girija to suggest this? Where was he in April? Girija is going to have to come up with a better reasoning than that.

The Koirala Congress as a party going for a ceremonial monarchy is valid as long as that decision is reached through a democratic process. But Girija may not impose himself on his party, let alone the country.

In The News

UML stresses on interim govt, constitution Kantipur Publications
We are ready to move ahead with parties, civil society: Mahara
King should be given ceremonial role: PM Koirala
Govt-Maoist talks any day now, says Minister Gyawali
Maoists threaten Kantipur journalist
Army goes ahead with recruitment
32 years, two SC verdicts, still no justice
‘18 protestors still missing’
Thapa, Karki among defaulters
Govt-Maoist high-level talks soon: Deputy PM Sherchan
विस्तृत युद्धविराम सम्झौता गर ः राष्ट्रसंघ
चिनियाँ हतियारले द्वन्द्व बढायो ः एमनेस्टी
६ महिनाभित्र संविधानसभाको चुनाव हुनुपर्छ'
देउवालाई आदेश
सरकारको मौनता
परिवर्तनको खोजीमा प्रहरी
मञ्चमा कमरेड प्रचण्डका पिता
जनताका प्रश्न

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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

MaMaMaMa

MaDaMaJa
Pradip Giri: DaMaJaMa

I first came across the term DaMaJaMa reading up on Pradip Giri. I was excited. But by now I am moving towards quite another term: MaMaMaMa.

Look at this clip from a recent Dalit federation meeting.

दलितद्वारा समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्व माग संविधानसभामा समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्व हुनुपर्नेलगायतका तेह्रबुँदे प्रस्तावसहित दलित गैरसरकारी संस्था महासंघको तेस्रो महाधिवेशन सकिएको छ । ...... उपाध्यक्षमा टेकबहादुर रैका, महासचिवमा बोमबहादुर विश्वकर्मा, सचिवमा तेज र कोषाध्यक्षमा रेणु सुनारसिंजापति ..... विभाजित महासंघको सस्थापन पक्षको अध्यक्षमा डीबी सागर छन् भने असन्तुष्ट पक्षको अध्यक्षमा मोतीलाल नेपाली । ..... उपाध्यक्षमा रेशम परियार, महासचिव रेम विश्वकर्मा, सचिवमा वीरेन्द्रकुमार विश्वकर्मा र कोषाध्यक्षमा लक्ष्मी परियार छन् । ...... सबै जातका दलितलाई समावेशी गर्नुपर्न ..... बन्दसत्रमा चर्को विवाद देखिएपछि नेपाल बार एसोसिएसनका उपाध्यक्ष एवं निर्वाचन अधिकृत विष्णुप्रसाद भुत्र्यालले असामान्य परिस्थिति देखाउँदै राति एक बजे निर्वाचन हुन नसक्ने घोषणा गरेका थिए ।

They end up electing all Pahadis. The Pahadi Dalits are prejudiced against the Madhesi Dalits. When the Pahadi Dalits meet, it is no different than when the Congress or the UML or the Maobadi Bahuns meet. They gravitate towards the other Pahadis.

MaMaMaMa. Madhesi, Madhesi, Madhesi, Madhesi.

The Madhesi marginalization issue is very much alive within the Dalit rights movement. The Madhesi issue is very much alive among the Madhesis. There are all these internalized prejudice Madhesis you end up having to deal with. The Janajati marginalization issue is very much alive within the Dalit rights movement. Pahadi Bahuns dominate the women's rights movement.

MaMaMaMa.

Madhesi, Madhesi, Madhesi, Madhesi.

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Jay Prakash Gupta
June 7 Madhesi Rally In Janakpur
Dr. Binay Shah
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Adivasi Janajati Talk At Harvard: Photos
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What's Wrong With The ANA Convention
Democracy Diwali At The Nepali Mandir
Janajati Sammelan At The New School
Dr. Ram Krishna Shah
One Central Committee Member For Every Million Nepali
मधेशीसँग संख्या छ, शिक्त छैन
Prakash Bom For Strong Districts
Internalized Racism Among Nepalis In NYC
No Short Cuts: Madhesis Will Have To March
To: The Kathmandu Media
Chitralekha Yadav: Speaker
Madhesi Rights: Total Equality
ितमीले देखाइ िदयौ
18 Days Of April Revolution: Victory

In The News

China reduces bounty to new Nepal government DailyIndia.com, NY During Gyanendra’s 15-month absolute rule, when Nepal’s major arms suppliers - India, the US and Britain - suspended lethal military assistance to show concern, China sold 25,000 rifles and 18,000 grenades to the royal regime...... The Chinese prices were marked up to pay hefty commissions to brokers close to the palace.

Govt-Maoist high-level talks soon: Deputy PM Sherchan Kantipur Publications Sherchan also said that Maoist supremo Prachanda will soon be public ...... "The constituent assembly elections will be held within the next six months," Sherchan added. .... Mahara on Monday said that his party has agreed to demonstrate flexibility on the House dissolution issue, one of the major points of contention between the rebels and the government.
Govt-Maoist truce code of conduct needs more specific provisions: UN the current ceasefire agreement (code of conduct) between the Nepal government and the Maoists is too general and needs to include many specific provisions........ doesn’t talk about the number of armies on both sides, who are commanding the armies, where are the soldiers kept, is their uniform identifiable or not, who are actually in the armies etc ....... the numbers of guns, tagging those guns with numbers, keeping them inside an alarm enabled armour with as much as three keys- “two of them will be with the two sides and one will be with us ........ a detailed process ...... disarmament is different than that of arms monitoring. “That is a subsequent process which could be done in second phase.” ....... two sides should agree on a joint commission where both are represented and that commission should jointly monitor the ceasefire agreement....... disarmament, arms monitoring, decommissioning, demobilizing ..... If both sides want UN involvement in the peace process, Kahane said, the world body would be very willing to provide assistance. “First we will provide advice on how do you write a ceasefire agreement,” he said. “Technical terms should be mentioned. ....... waiting for the Nepal government’s official and written request for UN involvement ....... Lauding the 12-point understanding reached between the seven-party alliance and the Maoists as much more detailed as compared to those agreed upon previously, Kahane said that the talks should be held in private environment for effective outcomes....... any solution to the problem should make the fighters feel that their role in the war was right........ the issues of human rights violations shouldn’t be left untouched. ....... updating the voters’ list would be the biggest technical problem for constituent assembly election. “Many people have grown up since the list was updated last time and many haven’t got citizenship certificate. Several million such people will have to be added in the list.” the UN had nothing to do with Indian role in Nepali peace process.
SC orders smoking ban in public places
PM Koirala arrives in his hometown
Maoists ‘tax’ trucks in Dolakha
Govt flexible toward Maoist demands: Oli Oli added that the government would use its foreign policy to promote democracy in the larger interest of the people. ...... ensuring that there is not a single case of human rights violation by state agencies in Nepal..... "The government is committed to taking legal action against those responsible for violating rights in the past."
Army’s recruitment tests to go ahead going ahead with pre-scheduled tests for 100 officer level vacancies that are taking place at Chhaunni barracks on Tuesday...... Clause 3 of the code says, "...both sides will stop taking new recruits..." ...... some 2,000 applicants competing for 100 posts of second lieutenant. ....... The army cancelled the tests for rank and file vacancies after the code of conduct was signed but continued with the recruitment process for officers...... the recruitment process continues despite a written notice from the Defense Ministry to the NA to stop all recruitment. ....... a highly-placed army source argued that if a few hundred new officers were not taken in soon, the army's chain-of-command would collapse as there were 1,800 officer level vacancies at the moment brought on by retirement and resignations.........
China arms trade fueled Nepal violene: AI China one of the world's most reckless arms exporters with one billion dollars in annual trade fuelling violence in countries like Sudan, Nepal and Myanmar .......... one of the world's biggest, most secretive and irresponsible arms exporters ....... "China is the only major arms exporting power that has not signed up to any multilateral agreements with criteria to prevent arms exports likely to be used for serious human rights violations" ........ "They must introduce effective laws and regulations banning all arms transfers that could be used for serious human rights violations or breaches in international humanitarian law." ....... the sale of more than 200 Chinese military trucks to Sudan in August 2005 which it says were normally fitted with US Cummins diesel engines...... similar vehicles are used for the killing and abduction of civilians in the troubled region of Darfur.... Civil war and a humanitarian crisis in Darfur have left 180,000 to 300,000 people dead and 2.4 million people displaced since February 2003. ....... "regular Chinese military shipments to Myanmar" ....... China's deals with Nepal in 2005 and 2006 included the sale of 25,000 Chinese-made rifles and 18,000 grenades at a time when the government was brutally repressing civilian demonstrators ........ a burgeoning market in Chinese-made pistols to Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and particularly South Africa. .....
The Real Job Begins two-hour long meeting between Home Minister and chief government negotiator Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Maoist chairman Prachanda within hours of the SPA deciding to adjourn the House ...... The Maoists, on their part, have dropped their House dissolution demand, and- for the first time- the demand to hold a political conference before participating in an interim government. ....... A complete restructuring of the state, too, looks not that far away. ..... whether the peace process ultimately ends up treading the path of war or final conciliation........ There are concerns ..the "conservative" mainstream party leaders will try to fence off the monarchy inside the confines of a ceremonial role. ...... The people's right to choose the political set-up they want can no longer be held hostage to the "danger" that the Maoists will take over once monarchy is gone. ....
डा.दीक्षितमाथि गोली प्रहारमा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय गिरोह
राजनीतिक सम्मेलन हुनैपर्छ भन्ने छैन’ वाग्मती पुलनजिक पहिले माले र पछि राप्रपा कार्यालय रहेका घरमा माओवादीको तामाङ, नेवार, दलित, महिला, मधेसी, शिक्षक, बुद्धिजीवी, मजदुर संगठन र मोर्चाका कार्यालय स्थापना गरिएको छ ।
मेयरद्वारा लाखौं अनियमितता
दलितद्वारा समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्व माग संविधानसभामा समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्व हुनुपर्नेलगायतका तेह्रबुँदे प्रस्तावसहित दलित गैरसरकारी संस्था महासंघको तेस्रो महाधिवेशन सकिएको छ । ...... उपाध्यक्षमा टेकबहादुर रैका, महासचिवमा बोमबहादुर विश्वकर्मा, सचिवमा तेज र कोषाध्यक्षमा रेणु सुनारसिंजापति ..... विभाजित महासंघको सस्थापन पक्षको अध्यक्षमा डीबी सागर छन् भने असन्तुष्ट पक्षको अध्यक्षमा मोतीलाल नेपाली । ..... उपाध्यक्षमा रेशम परियार, महासचिव रेम विश्वकर्मा, सचिवमा वीरेन्द्रकुमार विश्वकर्मा र कोषाध्यक्षमा लक्ष्मी परियार छन् । ...... सबै जातका दलितलाई समावेशी गर्नुपर्न ..... बन्दसत्रमा चर्को विवाद देखिएपछि नेपाल बार एसोसिएसनका उपाध्यक्ष एवं निर्वाचन अधिकृत विष्णुप्रसाद भुत्र्यालले असामान्य परिस्थिति देखाउँदै राति एक बजे निर्वाचन हुन नसक्ने घोषणा गरेका थिए ।
अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय गिरोहको निर्देशनमा आक्रमण
भ्रमण अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय प्रभाव छाड्न सफल ः कोइराला
बीपीमा राजीनामा माग
संसद्लाई ढाँट्नु
शान्तिवार्ताका जटिल मुद्दा
जनतालाई उत्तर चाहियो
समावेशी लोकतन्त्रको अन्तर्वस्तु समावेसी लोकतन्त्र सबैले प्रयोग गर्ने मीठो शब्दावलीमात्र भएको छ । ...... एउटैमात्र जाति, जनजाति, भाषा र धर्म भएको आर्थिक र भौगोलिक विविधतायुक्त मुलुकमा यस्तो प्रणाली असफल सिद्ध भएको छ । ........ समावेसी लोकतन्त्र केवल समानुपातिक चुनाव प्रणालीको विषयमात्र होइन, बरु यो पुरानो एक जाति, एक भाषा, एक धर्म, एक वर्ग, एक लिंगको एकाधिकारलाई भत्काएर समानतामा आधारित सबै समूह र अल्पसंख्यकहरूको समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्व भएको राज्य व्यवस्था हो । ....... स्वायत्त विकेन्दि्रत राज्य व्यवस्थाको अभावमा समावेसी लोकतन्त्र अधुरो रहन्छ । ..... लोकतन्त्र गणतन्त्रात्मक हुनुपर्छ । ...... समावेसीकरणको सुरुवात दलहरूबाटै गर्नुपर्छ । ...... नेपालको अहिलेसम्मको निर्वाचनप्रणाली दोषयुक्त छ । ...... ०५६ को निर्वाचनमा ३७.७६ प्रतिशत मत ल्याएकाले ५३ प्रतिशत संसदीय सिट जितेको छ । उल्लेख गर्न लायक त के छ भने १.३ प्रतिशत मत ल्याउने दलले संसद्मा ५ सिट ल्याएको छ जबकि ६.३२ प्रतिशत मत पाएको दलको एउटा सिट पनि छैन । ...... करिब ३० प्रतिशत जनसंख्या ओगटेको पहाडे माथिल्लो जातले १२९ सिट ल्याएको छ तर दुर्भाग्य १२ प्रतिशतभन्दा बढी जनसंख्या भएको उत्पीडित जातिको कुनै प्रतिनिधित्व छैन । ........ ६० प्रतिशतभन्दा बढी आधारभूत वर्ग जो आफ्नो शारीरिक श्रममा मात्र बाँच्नुपर्छ, तिनीहरूको प्रतिनिधित्व नगन्य हुने गरेको छ । जबकि जनआन्दोलनलाई निणर्ायक बनाउनका लागि सडकमा त्यही वर्ग आन्दोलित भयो । ....... जाति, जनजाति, मधेसी, दलित महिलाको कुरा उठेको छ तर समावेसीकरणमा गरिब र निमुखाको प्रतिनिधित्विको सवाल कमजोर भएको छ । ...... नेदरल्यान्ड र स्केन्डेनेभियन मुलुकहरूमा दुई वा तीन दल मिलेर बनाइएका बहुमत प्राप्त स्थिर गठबन्धन ........ नेपाल १०३ जातजाति, जनजाति र धार्मिक समूहमा विभाजित भएकोले उपर्युक्त नक्कलमात्र समाधान नहुन सक्छ ।

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