Democracy For Nepal

Monday, August 14, 2006

Who Will Tie The Bell Round The Cat's Neck

The monarchy is on its way to getting abolished. The army is being brought under the paliament, and will get restructured, and might even get abolished. Nepal is on its way to becoming a federal republic. All these are big, positive changes.

But there is no talk of reforming the political parties. There is no talk of reducing the powers of the political party leaders. This is alarming.

The goal of the April Revolution is to empower the individual citizen, not the political party leaders. And that has to get reflected in Nepal's next constitution.

Proposed Constitution

Direct Elections

All MPs in both houses at the federal and state levels have to be directly elected by the people, without exception. That also applies to all seats in the constituent assembly. This is a must. I see an unhealthy tendency among the political parties to suggest they should have the power to nominate a few members, and they are exploiting the social justice agenda to put forth that position.

I am all for social justice, but moving away from direct elections is to move away from social justice. Instead we should be looking at the idea of reserved seats. So if a seat is reserved for Dalits, all candidates in that constituency will have to be Dalits. You end up with a Dalit MP, but that MP is still directly elected by the people.

I feel strongly about the idea of direct elections, just like I feel strongly about the idea of democracy. Power to the people, not to the political party leaders.

State Funds For Political Parties

It is the misfortune for Nepal that its entire political class is beholden to either Karl Marx or to the British Magna Carta. If some westerner did not think of it before, it can not be done.

This is also a way to balance the first past the post, direct elections system. The one with the most votes wins. But all national political parties earn state funds in direct proportion to the number of votes earned. And that is the only source of money for the political parties. This has never been tried before. And this arrangement is the only idea that will do to true justice to the greatness of the April Revolution. Minus this idea the April Revolution will have been just another Third World hartal.

And of course all the book keeping of the parties will have to be transparent.

Reserved Seats

The Pratinidhi Sabha will have reserved seats for the four groups, Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati and Mahila, 5%, 10%, 9%, and 12% with some overlaps. Half of the seats for women will cut across that of these four groups as well. For example, of the 5% seats for Dalits, 50% of them will have to be women. And the 5% for Dalits will be half in the Terai, but that is not to cut into the Madhesi reserved seats. 5, 10, 9 and 12 are a quarter of the supposed shares of the populations of these groups, to be revised each census. When identifying the seats for the Dalit, Madhesi and the Janajati, the Election Commission will seek constituencies where the groups have their largest share of populations. No three contiguous seats may be reserved seats. The total number of reserved seats may not exceed 40% of the total. In addition to this formula, seats will be reserved so as to ensure women as a group get 33% of the total seats.

(Source: Proposed Constitution)

Language Policy

All bills must be posted online in three languages - Nepali, Hindi and English - for at least one week before they may be voted upon....... All formal political deliberations at all levels of government in the long run and at the state and federal levels in the short run are to be posted online in as real time as possible in the language that was used at the venue. Efforts are to be made to make the same available in Nepali, Hindi and English.

The education system shall follow a tri-lingual policy up to Class 10, beyond which it is for each individual institution to decide on their own as to the language of instruction. The first language is to be the student's first language, the second language is to be Nepali. For those for whom Nepali might be their first language, the student may choose any language spoken in Nepal. The third language is to be English, the contemporary global language of science and commerce. This policy applies to schools in both the private and the public sectors. The language of instruction for all other subjects to Class 10 will be a decision to be made by the individual school board for the public schools and by the owners of the private schools: it is to one of the three - Nepali, Hindi, and English - or a combination.

It is for the state parliaments to decide on the use of a second, local language as the language of government at the local levels.

(Source: Proposed Constitution)

Handling linguistic diversity is the key social diversity challenge at the policy level.

Federalism: Competing Maps

There are some basic questions that have to be answered.

How many languages are there in Nepal, dead and alive? How many dead languages can be rescued? How many alive languages are nearing extinction and need special attention?

How many of the alive languages exist only in spoken form? They have no script, no literature.

How many exist in oral as well as written forms? How many of those that exist in written forms also have their own unique scripts? Are those scripts well preserved or not?

How many have their own scripts but also use Devanagari, the script used by both Nepali and English? How many have their own scripts and do not use Devanagari right now but might want to and need help?

How many of the languages have a sizeable body of literature?

How many of the languages have ever handled at least secondary school material? Namely science, maths, social studies stuff.

It is clear not all languages are at the same developmental stage. Linguistic diversity, especially when we talk of the small population groups, are like ecology in the Amazon forest. You are looking at delicate stuff. Small group languages have to be preserved like they were rare species of plants and animals.

My point being language policy can not be left entirely to the one person one vote mechanism. Say if there is one village of 2,000 people somewhere in Nepal that speaks one language. You can not expect their local tax base to sustain that language all the way. They should qualify for some sort of federal help.

The concept of federalism is very related. The map that competes with mine is that of the Maoists. And that map is my second choice so far. I can settle for their version. But my disagreement is that you do not look at cultural and religious diversity in geographical terms but rather in terms of social institutions.

There is the individual. Then there is the family. There is the school. There is the workplace. There is the state at various levels, local to federal. Those are the primary social institutions you are talking about.

The individual and the family are not state territory. Each person and family decide on their own on the language(s) they will use within their private space and private communication. And there will be a small but growing group of two language families down the line. People will mix. That is natural, that is healthy.

The workplace will be largely in the private sector. There it is the market that decides what language(s) get used. But then there is the public sector, the territory of government jobs. And that is state policy territory.

Two institutions that need urgent attention are the schools and the state organs. Again, primary, secondary and higher educations have their own unique challenges.

My proposal is to have a standard education paradigm across the country. In the private schools in the country that are all as a rule English medium, all subjects get taught in English from the very first grade, and Nepali is taught as a second language. That is the ground reality right now. In the public schools all subjects get taught in Nepali from the very first grade, and English is taught as a second language.

My proposal bridges the gap between the two, and brings in a third element, the concept of a third language, the child's first language. This is where the Maoist map can come handy. For 90% of the students, this will be neat and tidy. But especially in the urban areas like Kathmandu, you are looking at schools that are diverse. You might have students speaking six different languages in one class, maybe more. What to do?

I insist on the three language policy for the private and public schools because that will be a sure way to get private and public resources given to the development of the languages in Nepal. Developing languages should not be the small responsibility of some ivory tower academy. It should happen in all schools in a very alive way.

Say there are 20 schools in a part of Kathmandu with diverse students populations. Perhaps they could pool resources. And so one school could focus on teaching Maithili to students from the 20 schools, another could teach the Rai language. Creative options have to be looked into.

At the primary level you are looking at reading, writing and arithmetic. Maybe we should make two scripts standard for education and government work. Devanagari for all languages in Nepal. And the English language's Roman script. And use the Roman script for numbers in the maths.

You still preserve the non-Devanagari scripts, but you don't use them in education or in government. This uniformity might encourage people to learn each other's languages. Otherwise you are looking at a nightmare situation in education and the government machinery.

So a child goes to school and starts out learning two scripts, three languages and arithmetic. That happens in grades 1-3. Then 4-5, you introduce some more science and maths and social science. The private schools will probably use English. The public schools will have a choice: Nepali, Hindi, English. Then 6-12, a few more subjects. All along three languages are learned. I can imagine a lot of Nepali speakers taking Hindi as their second language.

There has to be an emphasis on science and maths all along. Maybe science and maths, those two subjects should be in English for everybody. Otherwise you are creating two Nepals.

The idea behind language policy in the schools is to best prepare the students for the economy, for their careers, for their place in the world economy. Ethnic pride is an important but a smaller factor.

Upto grade 12 is school. Beyond that there is no state policy as to the language of instruction. Each college and university decides on its own. English is dominant today. A few decades down the line you could be looking at Hindi and Chinese. You never know. And those decisions get taken by the market. Public policy has and should have only so much impact on the market.

As for the state machinery, I think the federal and state parliaments should allow three languages. There should be immediate translation into all three languages of all the deliberations.

Then at the district level, local languages come into play. You should be able to use Newari in Kathmandu. And Maithili in Janakpur. Those are no brainers. In a village near Janakpur where every single person speaks Maithili, it would make no sense to do government work in any other language.

Pahadis need to stop getting defensive about Hindi. Before Mahendra came along, Hindi had its place in Nepal. Your hostiltiy to Hindi is to do with the Panchayati propaganda you have been subjected to. I am not saying Hindi should be the link language in the Terai. I am reporting that it is. The only question is if that ground reality will be given political recognition or not.

English gets recognition as the language of global commerce and science. Nepali is the link language in the hills, Hindi in the link language in the Terai. When a Maithili speaker from Janakpur talks to a Bhojpuri speaker in Nawalparasi, they do so in Hindi.

Hindi is also about Nepali empowerment at the global level. It is very much a Nepali agenda to have Hindi as the sixth UN language. Both Pahadis and Madhesis have to get behind that idea.

My ideas are fluid. I have concrete proposals, sure, but I am open to alternate proposals. The important thing is that there be an open, participatory, wide discussion. People have to feel they are being listened to.

The first phase is wide discussion. During the second phase we can get around to specific policy alternatives. There will be competing proposals. We will pick one.

On The Web

[PDF] Language Policy in Multilingual Switzerland
Multiculturalism in Switzerland
Language policy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Languages in Switzerland
Ethnologue: Switzerland
Switzerland: Language distribution (map)
Wikipedia - Switzerland a strong economy in finance and banking ..... four national languages .... Switzerland is a federation of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics.... In 1798, the armies of the French Revolution conquered Switzerland and imposed a new unified constitution. This centralised the government of the country and effectively abolished the cantons. The new regime was known as the Helvetic Republic and was highly unpopular. ....... preserving the cantons' right to self-rule and the need for a central government ....... unusually strong elements of direct democracy ...... Switzerland proclaimed neutrality in World War I and was not involved militarily in the conflict. Neutrality was again proclaimed in World War II, and although a German intervention was both planned and anticipated, it ultimately did not occur. ....... Women were granted the right to vote in the first cantons in 1959, at the federal level in 1971, in the last canton, Appenzell Innerrhoden, only in 1990...... On April 18, 1999 the Swiss population and the cantons voted in favour of a completely revised federal constitution. ...... In 2002 Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations, leaving the Vatican as the last widely recognised state without full UN membership...... Switzerland, a country that is traditionally perceived as isolationist. ..... Both houses, the Council of States and the National Council, have equal powers in all respects, including the right to introduce legislation....... Through referenda, citizens may challenge any law voted by federal parliament and through initiatives introduce amendments to the federal constitution, making Switzerland a direct democracy........ The judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for six-year terms...... Switzerland features a system of government not seen at the national level any other place on Earth: direct democracy ...... The energy generated in Switzerland comprises around 40 percent nuclear power and 60 percent from hydroelectricity...... For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin...... Switzerland has three official languages: German (64%) in the north and centre; French (19%) to the west; and Italian (8%) in the south. ..... The federal government is obliged to communicate in the three official languages. In the federal parliament, German, French and Italian are the official languages and simultaneous translation is provided......... Learning one of the other national languages at school is obligatory for all Swiss, so most Swiss are at least bilingual.....
swisspolitics.org | Swiss news, Switzerland, Politics
swisspolitics.org | Information and News about Politics in Switzerland
Politics of Switzerland
Switzerland > Politics in the Yahoo! Directory
Open Directory - Regional: Europe: Switzerland: Society and ...
Switzerland, Politics Timeline, 21st Century
Political Resources on the Net - Switzerland I
Switzerland - Further Reading - MSN Encarta
Politics in Switzerland - the Swiss political system : Political ... Switzerland’s existence as a modern federal state dates back to 1848. ..... The Swiss people can influence political affairs through the highly developed system of direct democracy. ....

Education in Switzerland The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system to the cantons ..... The Swiss constitution sets the foundations, namely that primary school is obligatory for every child and is free in public schools and that the confederation can run or support universities. The Swiss maintain a high standard for education that is world renowned. Because of its diversity, there are many private international schools in Switzerland that encourage respect for all cultures. Diversification of the education system in 26 sub-systems is viewed by many as being inefficient. Consequently, the Swiss people will have to vote on May 21, 2006 to reform the education system in one common program for all the States. .......
Military of Switzerland The Swiss Armed Forces are a unique institution somewhere between a militia and a regular army.... There is an organised movement in Switzerland aiming at the abolition of the military......

Ethnic Demography of Nepal
Ethnologue report for Nepal
Ethnologue report for Nepal
Nepal Languages - Demographics
Nepal Languages
Nepali language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Category:Languages of Nepal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nepali language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nepali - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hindi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
English language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maithili language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhojpuri language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Awadhi language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tharu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Urdu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nepal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Demographics of Nepal 92 different living languages ..... Nepali (49%), Maithili (12%), Bhojpuri (8%), Tharu (6%), Tamang (5%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (4%), Magar (3%), Awadhi (2%), Bantawa (2%), Limbu (1%), and Bajjika (1%). The remaining 81 languages are each spoken as mother tongue by less than one percent of the population. ....... Nepali is the official, national language and serves as lingua franca among Nepalis of different ethnolinguistic groups. Hindi is also widely spoken, especially in the southern Terai Region.

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Monday, August 14, 2006

Who Will Tie The Bell Round The Cat's Neck

Language Policy