Friday, September 01, 2006
100,000 Maoist Militia Must Disarm
Will the Maoists of Nepal ever disarm? Financial Express, India After 10 years of a bloody war and with 10,000 cadres killed, why would Maoists settle for a number three slot in Parliament, as opinion polls suggest? Aside from the regular 30,000 odd fighting force of the Maoist army, there are about the 100,000-strong militia which the Maoists have built up in the countryside, an “invisible” force that consists mainly of 14-18 year olds who help enforce the writ of the Maoists.Most of them carry some sort of weapons, ranging from crude knives country pistols, but they do not wear uniforms and do not necessarily take part in military activities. They assist the guerilla only when required and are mostly responsible for guarding villages under Maoist control. They are in effect the future recruits. The presence of this militia has created a pervasive fear in rural areas, and many experts see a parallel between current-day Nepal and Cambodia during the post-1979 period.It is not possible to imagine free and fair elections to a constituent assembly if there are any armed Maoists anywhere outside their seven cantonments. I don't care if you call them soldiers or militia. To me they are both the same. Both are armed.
The Maoists say they have 36,000 soldiers. And they have 100,000 militia. If they have issues with disarming their so-called militia, they are going to have to agree to putting also those 100,000 into cantonments, away from the villages. And why would they want to do that? They will not have any cadres left to do the political work in the villages.
On this point there can be no compromise. If you will have 100,000 Maoist militia roaming the villages, there is no way you can have free and fair elections. Out of question.
The cloud of fear has to evaporate off completely.
The Maoists destroyed the state police infrastructure in the countryside. The state police has had the same problems as the state army and the rest of the state apparatus. The DaMaJaMa have been sidelined.
It would be perfectly legitimate for the Maoists to demand that the state police be restructured. And why only the Maoists? The seven party alliance should itself take the initiative.
It is for that state police to maintain law and order all over the country. It is for that state police to ensure free and fair elections, not for the armed Maoist militia.
The seven party alliance has to be absolutely uncompromising on this issue. You can not possibly hold elections between a state and seven political parties. The state will dwarf the parties hands down. It is better to have no elections than to have sham elections.
We are close to having an interim government in the country. The idea of an interim government is that there is no more a parallel Maoist state anywhere in the country.
There can not be a separate Maoist police/militia for law and order. There can not be separate Maoist courts.
As a Madhesi I am hypercritical of the state structure as it has existed. That means I am dissatisfied with the structure of the police, the army, the courts. That means you come together and agree to restructure all three. That does not mean you allow one political party to run parallel police, army and courts. That is a state, that is not a political party that does that.
The Maoists can not be a parallel state and still hope to join the interim government. If they try, you have to get suspicious.
The UN formula on the 36,000 Maoist soldiers is satisfactory. You confine 36,000 Maoist soldiers to seven cantonments across the country. Half of them give up their weapons to be locked away, keys to be shared by the Maoist commanders and the UN.
That is giving thought to the idea that the Maoists have an army. Similarly thought also has to be given to the fact that the Maoists also have a police and courts. They are going to have to let go. The state will have to step in. And that state will be an eight party interim state, a transitional state.
The idea of eight party governments at the center, and at local levels should take care of a lot of confusion.
Power flows through the ballot box, not the barrel of a gun.
Hamas, Hezbollah, Maoist
How To Avoid An October Revolution
Janadesh: Rumblings Of An October Revolution?
Arms Management, Money Management
Prachanda: Not In Tune With The April Revolution
Critiquing The Interim Constitution
Prachanda: Frank Or Scary?
Interim Parliament: 101 Members Total
Interim Bureaucracy
My Work In The Ideas Department Is Complete
Gurung Not Katawal For Army Chief
The Next Revolution Will Be At The Ballot Box
Political Synthesis Nepali Style
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Militia's other weapon: videos | csmonitor.com Abu Mujtaba is not your typical filmmaker. He doesn't have an agent, he doesn't aspire to move to Hollywood, and his interest in film is chillingly practical. He considers Black Hawk Down a "great film," for instance, because it shows him how to kill Americans. ....... Abu Mujtaba is a member of the media department of Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia. He uses a tiny digital Sony Handycam instead of a Kalashnikov and is one of a half-dozen guerrilla filmmakers who record their acts of war to encourage their followers, spread their beliefs, and portray what they see as the heroism of Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army......... Mahdi's moviemakers have been shooting digital videos during battles in Sadr City and in Karbala, as well as all throughout the standoff in Najaf ...... The Mahdi Army, of course, are only the latest militant movement to have taken up video as a political weapon. From the kidnapping videos of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to the suicide bomber videos on the West Bank and video- fatwas of Osama bin Laden, video has become a phenomenon for militant Islamic movements around the world.......guerrilla videos have become a way of bypassing mainstream media and going directly to the masses....... "This tells me that they are dynamic ... as opposed to fading old terrorist groups ...... The Mahdi Army's films are sold on cheap CDs (for about 16 cents each) and have a shaky-handed roughness similar to many a late-night police-car-chase videos in the US. But the images and the messages they contain are violent - and for Mahdi Army supporters, addictive....... the videos are sold primarily in Sadr City, a Shiite slum of 2.5 million in Baghdad, where Iraqi police don't tread and are unable to shut down the stores selling the Mahdi Army propaganda designed to recruit new members....... "I went to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya with this video, but nobody accepted the film," complains Mujtaba. "So then we invited them to come to Sadr City and film the fighting themselves, but they also refused that offer. It is not just me who thinks the TV channels are liars, it is the whole world."....... Last month, the Iraqi government closed the Baghdad bureau of Qatar-based Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi accused the station of inciting racial and religious hatred by airing footage of kidnappings and fighting...... Mr. Rana, who says he used to film weddings and special occasions before the Shiite uprising began last April...... To shoot video, Rana says he often has to take more risks than he does as a fighter, in order to get close to what he is filming. The work is dangerous for his family, as well. He has sent them out of Sadr City to live with relatives until the fighting stops or until he's dead. "People are telling me that my children are crying, they want to see me," he says. "When I visit them once a week, it takes me two hours to pry them off my legs." ........ Hamid Kareem, a young laborer, says that these videos are the only news he can trust. "There is no truth on TV, the media are liars," he says. "During Saddam's time, the government used to hide all the news about the Shiites and how many he had killed. Now it's all the same thing."........Imad, a 14-year-old wearing an NBA cap, says he has 20 of the videos and watches them all the time. "It makes me happy to watch the American tanks burn," he says. "My uncles are with the Mahdi Army, and I wish I could be one of them too.".... Moussa, his 10-year-old friend, agrees. "I like to watch them kill the Americans."
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50-30-10-10: Four Layers Of Government
The current "zones" and "development regions" are to be abolished, but the "districts" are to be retained. The country is to be divided into three states, roughly of equal population, Eastern, Central, and Western, to be called Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali, that are to include all three geographical regions, Terai, Pahad and Himal, and based on the three river basins. Each state is to have a Pratinidhi Sabha, 120 members, and a Rajya Sabha, 40 members. Each seat for the federal Pratinidhi Sabha is to be divided into two for the state Pratinidhi Sabha ............ The federal government will directly transfer 10% of its annual budget to the 25 poorest districts measured by per capita income. This does not prevent further federal expenditures on those districts. .......... The income tax structure is to be as follows: 50% federal, 30% state, 10% district, and 10% village/town/city. The income tax is to be collected by the federal government, and funds transferred by the same to the other levels of government as per this formula, and is to be gradually phased in where none might be getting collected now. ......... The federal revenue from all sources other than income tax is also to be similarly allocated. 50% stays at the federal level, the rest goes to the three states equally. Each state is also to send out 40% of its non income tax budget directly to the districts in direct proportion to the population of each district.
(Source: Proposed Constitution)
I have been proposing a three state federalism: Kosi, Gandaki, Karnali.
Interim Federalism
Federal Republic Guaranteed
Critiquing Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
Federalism: Competing Maps
RPP For Federalism Ahead of UML, NC And NC(D)
My Federalism Is Economic, Scientific, Not Ethnic
Why It Is Important To Me The Congress Takes Up A Federal Republic
UML Inching Towards Federalism
Monarchy, Army, Federalism
The Maoists have put forth their map for federalism. The seven party alliance or its component parties do not have one yet. I urge the seven parties to come around to my map. It could also end up being the compromise map for the Maoists and the seven party alliance.
I have been consistently vocal on Madhesi rights. I have been so vocal, it has earned me a place in the Madhesi Hall Of Fame. I have been put in the same league as people like Gajendra Narayan Singh, Ram Raja Prasad Singh, Udit Narayan Jha, Upendra Mahato, among others.And I am under tremendous pressure to propose a federalism where the Madhesh is its own state. A lot of Madhesis I know actually like the Maoist map. I don't dislike it myself.
But I am thinking rapid economic growth when I am proposing an alternate map. Just like in the hills, poverty is the number one political issue in the Terai. I am cognizant of that fact. Nepal's economy is my number one concern.
My proposed federalism, just like my language policy, and my education policy are all guided by that basic premise, that Nepal's number one task is rapid economic growth. I have also tried to design a constitution that could have a near universal appeal. It should also make sense for other countries with slight modifications, especially for countries that have not yet had their democracy movements.
But my map is no patchwork, and it is no apology for being a Madhesi. I take fierce pride in my Madhesi heritage.
I think it will be a minor adminstrative nightmare to reorganize the 75 districts. My proposal is to leave them alone. I believe the real question on federalism and power devolution is how much power you will give the districts. The Maoists envision nine states, I envision 75 powerful districts. I envision 75 directly elected district chairpersons.
There are Madhesis who would like to see Madhesi Chief Ministers. I would like to see 16 Madhesi district chairpersons who command more than half the budget of all districts, and a 50-50 chance of there being a Madhesi Governor in each of the three states, and always a 50-50 chance of there being a Madhesi president at the center.
The 75 districts have not been drawn along ethnic lines, but if they were to be given enough power in terms of how big their budgets end up being, they will do better justice to Nepal's diversity than states drawn along ethnic lines.
If you adopt the Maoist map, I am seeing a future of water disputes between states. That is a big concern for me.
You have to design a federalism that allows for plentiful economic mobility for the citizens. Regardless of ethnicity, people should be able to move to any part of the country and feel just fine.
I think the biggest diversity challenge might be in the capital city itself. The city is a mini New York. You have people from all over Nepal there. How do you manage that diversity? The number one thing seems to be to make the economic opportunity plentiful.
Language Policy
Federalism and language rights are related questions. The number one issue there is how do you best teach science and maths to all kids nationwide. Language issues are secondary to that.
In The News
Finland provides Rs 1.9 billion grant assistance to Nepal govt NepalNews
Moriarty meets PM Koirala
Sitaula for arms management prior to interim govt
Arms management along with political issues: Maoists the government is violating agreements by raising the issue of rebels’ arms management leaving behind the political agenda. ...... made the decision to find consensus in some political issues of the interim constitution by holding the high level meeting between the top leaders of the ruling seven party alliance and the Maoists. ...... “We made the decision to take the ongoing peace talks to its logical end ...... “We will work seriously to take the ongoing talks to the logical end and give peaceful outlet to the Maoist insurgency
Maoists capture five people involved in 'looting' Maoists captured five people from Sankhu of Kathmandu, Thursday, allegedly involved in looting in the name of the rebels. .... They were made public at Maoist party office in Lalitpur on Friday. ..... They had tried to loot a passenger bus, which was also carrying a Maoist cultural group ...... The accused were handed over to the police on Friday.
Maoists not abiding by pacts: Sitaula the Maoists are not abiding by the ceasefire code of conduct and various agreements reached between the ruling seven party alliance and the Maoists. .... the government is adhering by all pacts. ..... “Although, the Maoist leadership has been frequently expressing their commitments to abide by the agreements, there have been ample instances of violations at the local level” ...... the upcoming summit talks would resolve all the differences between the government and the Maoists
RPP reviewing its stance on monarchy: RPP chief Rana "The RPP has begun informal discussions with the objectives of reviewing the party's stance on the monarchy and changing the party statute to suit the changed political scenario" ....... Rana said nobody disarms if one feels disarming will make him insecure. Security should be ensured to the Maoists if they wish to disarm.
Finalize interim constitution at the earliest: Nepal
Will the Maoists of Nepal ever disarm? Financial Express, India After 10 years of a bloody war and with 10,000 cadres killed, why would Maoists settle for a number three slot in Parliament, as opinion polls suggest? Aside from the regular 30,000 odd fighting force of the Maoist army, there are about the 100,000-strong militia which the Maoists have built up in the countryside, an “invisible” force that consists mainly of 14-18 year olds who help enforce the writ of the Maoists.Most of them carry some sort of weapons, ranging from crude knives country pistols, but they do not wear uniforms and do not necessarily take part in military activities. They assist the guerilla only when required and are mostly responsible for guarding villages under Maoist control. They are in effect the future recruits. The presence of this militia has created a pervasive fear in rural areas, and many experts see a parallel between current-day Nepal and Cambodia during the post-1979 period.
New formula to disarm Maoists
Now, Nepal Wants To Hear From King Gyanendra Shah
Nepal announces regular electricity power cuts due to low rainfall International Herald Tribune, France
India shoots down double bid by Nepal to get arms Telugu Portal, India
Russia Played Key Role in Secret Nepal Arms Deal — Report
NPC to publicise interim plan Kantipur Publications
Maoists form 10-member committee to speed up summit talks
HLPC mulling alternative ways to interrogate king
SEBS launches flood relief program
Two-and-half hours load-shedding from today
Eliminate fear of arms to hold CA elections: Sitaula
Maoists start party hospital
Maoists abduct hotelier, son
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मन्त्री हुँदाको पछुतो संस्मरणमा
चेपाङको राष्ट्रिय साधारणसभा
नक्कली बाबुको नाममा नागरिकता
कानुनका आँखाबाट अन्तरिम संविधान
जातीय र भाषिक युद्ध
Dalit Diaspora Calls For 20 Percent Reservation
AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin 75 September 1, 2006
DALIT DIASPORA CALLS FOR 20 PERCENT DALIT REPRESENTATION IN NEW NEPAL GOVERNMENT
September 1, 2006, Washington, DC: Dalit advocates from among the Nepali diaspora in the United States have criticized Nepal's draft interim constitution because it does not endorse affirmative action on behalf of Dalit.
The criticism has been leveled by the Nepali-American Society for Oppressed Community (NASO) against the Interim Constitutional Drafting Committee, which presented its proposals to the Nepali government and Maoists on August 25.
NASO had earlier sent an open letter to the Committee demanding that Dalit be guaranteed 20 percent of the positions in the government and in all state bodies, proportionate to the Dalit population in Nepal.
The proposal was ignored by the Committee, which declined even to respond to the NASO letter. The Committee's draft makes no specific provision to include Dalit in political life.
Contacted by the Advocacy Project (AP), Prakash Nepal from NASO said that in the absence of special provisions, Dalit will almost certainly not be elected to the Constitutional Assembly when elections are held next April, or in subsequent parliamentary elections, because Dalit do not hold a majority in any region of the country. Mr. Nepal told AP that NASO will now lobby hard with the US Congress to push for quotas before the Assembly elections.
NASO has also called on aid agencies to allocate 20 percent of their budgets for Nepal to Dalit. Mr. Prakash said that the goal is to "eliminate the gap between the lower and upper castes," adding that this should be seen as a temporary measure that would last until a "casteless society" is created in Nepal.
The reaction of some aid agencies has been positive. Dr. Prasen Jit Khati, the policy and advocacy advisor for Oxfam in Nepal, said that all of Oxfam's programs focus on gender and social inclusion and agreed that aid should go to the most "marginalized Dalit." Even a 20 percent quota was "not enough," he said.
An official from ActionAid said that the agency's program in Nepal centers around 10 minority groups. While Dalit receive roughly 14 percent, he said, the agency might agree to increase this to 20 percent.
But an official from the World Bank told AP that the Bank is opposed to such affirmative action because it does not want to "reward" certain groups over others. An official at UNICEF also expressed concern that a 20 percent quota would discriminate against other needy sectors of the population that do not have the Dalit contacts or ability to lobby.
While the Dalit population in North America is small "estimated in the hundreds" NASO's members are influential in the Nepali diaspora. NASO also has considerable lobbying power, given its proximity to the US Congress and multilateral organizations.
Meanwhile, in another sign of the internationalization of Dalit advocacy, Pratik Pande, from the Jagaran Media Center (JMC), recently told the UN Working Group on Minorities in Geneva that the government of Nepal must ensure proportional representation for Dalit and other minorities in the new democratic Nepal.
This was first time that JMC, a partner of AP, had addressed the UN directly. JMC is also pressing the UN Development Program to use its aid to ensure that Dalit do not face discrimination at water taps in western Nepal.
Two AP interns Nicole Cordeau and Stacey Spivey have been working with JMC this summer, and another AP intern Lori Tomoe Mizuno is working with the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) in Kathmandu. One of their tasks has been to collect information, which can be disseminated by AP and used by advocates like NASO outside the country.
- For more information on NASO, visit: http://www.nasocommunity.org
- For a copy of NASO's open letter to the constitutional drafting committee, visit: http://www.kantipuronline.com/columns.php
- For Lori's blogs, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/cpage_view/06cocap_LorisBlogs_72_435.html
- For Stacey's blogs, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/cpage_view/06jmc2_staceysblogs_76_439.html
- For Nicole's blogs, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/cpage_view/06jmc1_NicolesBlogs_75_438.html
- For more information on the Dalit, visit: http://www.advocacynet.org/cpage_view/APDiaryNepal_blog3_57_302.html
Dalits and the Interim Constitution
A letter from the Nepali-American Society for Oppressed Community
(NASO) to the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee (ICDC)
On behalf of the Nepalese and well-wishers of Nepal living in North America, we appreciate you and your team for undertaking one of the most important and challenging tasks of developing the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2006. As aspired to by the people’s revolution, every citizen is in great hope that the Interim Constitution would lead Nepal towards a total pluralistic, inclusive and democratic nation.
There is no need to elaborate that the country now is at a critical time in its history. We have many challenges and constraints ahead but also have tremendous opportunities to change our nation forever. Any lack or negligence in taking appropriate actions can cost the country high in the long run.
Inclusive governance with total protection of human rights to every citizen of the country is undoubtedly the pre-condition for peace and sustainable development. Unfortunately, for Dalits, this has never been the case, which caused them to be socially, economically and politically excluded for a long time in the history of Nepal. This must be addressed now and the necessary steps must be taken in the Interim Constitution. The Interim Constitution must explicitly state provisions to protect Dalit men, women and children, their right to live in dignity, with empowerment and without fear. We believe that your august committee will do every effort to ensure protection to Dalits in particular.
However, in order to ensure that no opportunity is missed to address the problems faced by Dalits this time, unlike the past, we urge you to include among many provisions particularly the following provisions into the interim constitution. We strongly believe, and hope that you would pay particular attention to the fact that until and unless the socio-economic and cultural discriminations against Dalits are eradicated, Nepal can never achieve peace and prosperity. The following provisions, if clearly stated in the Interim Constitution, will mount a foundation that will facilitate the rights, dignity, and advancement of Dalits; and thus ensure a peaceful and prosperous future Nepal.
Therefore, we specifically demand the Interim Constitution to:
- Confer a state apology in the preamble of the Interim Constitution against age old oppression/discrimination against Dalits.
- Confirm as illegal any activity, event, incident and/or any practice that discriminates against citizens based on their caste/ethnicity, gender, creed, race, age, class, physical appearance, religion, and/or ideological inclination. Avoid totally any term/sentence/phrase or any syntax that contrasts or opposes this provision. Explicitly state Nepal as a secular nation that respects all citizens and strictly protect their human rights and dignity.
- Ensure that any practice of discrimination based on caste/ethnicity, gender, creed, race, age, physical appearance, religion, and ideological inclination is severely punishable. In the case of such incidences, the perpetrator(s) must undergo at least six months to 10 years of imprisonment and fifty thousand to five million rupees of financial compensation to the victim, depending upon the degree of such discrimination.
- Establish an independent constitutional body, “Dalit, Women, and Indigenous Commission”, on par with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, to ensure that the rights and dignity of these minorities or disadvantaged groups are protected.
- Ensure that all Nepali citizens will have choice to adopt first and last names through their own choice. Any citizen can choose a surname on his/her own or families’ discretion or can select the first name of his/her father or mother as a surname.
- Ensure that the Constitution Assembly (CA) will have proportionate (at least 20%) representatives consisting of Dalit men and women. Also, ensure representation from the Dalit community at all levels of committees or units (in addition to CA) that will be formed in the development process of a new constitution.
- Establish and ensure effective implementation of Affirmative Action (AA) in hiring and promoting employees in all levels of any organization (both government and private/non-government), company, and institution to enhance Dalit men, women and children’s advancement and inclusion in the society.
- In addition to AA, include the following specific compensatory provisions for Dalits in the Interim Constitution:
- Ensure proportionate (at least 20% at this time) representation from Dalit men and women in all legislative, administrative, and judiciary institutions of the state.
- Ensure free education to poor Dalit children up to high school (X grade). Ensure proportionate (at least 20% at this time) number of reserved quotas in college and university scholarships to qualified Dalit students.
- Ensure that a proportionate number of (at least 20% this time) all public employment opportunities are provided to qualified Dalit men and women.
- Ensure that at least 20% of all development programs/projects of GOs/NGOs/INGOs/Bilateral/Multilateral Agency or any organization working in the development sector is devoted for Dalit empowerment/development.
NASO to the ICDC 
| 25 August 2006, Friday | 225 | |
| 26 August 2006, Saturday | 216 | |
| 27 August 2006, Sunday | 242 | |
| 28 August 2006, Monday | 177 | |
| 29 August 2006, Tuesday | 167 | |
| 30 August 2006, Wednesday | 210 | |
| 31 August 2006, Thursday | 161 |
| 14:47 | University of Southern Colorado, Pueblo, United States |
| 15:28 | Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, India |
| 16:13 | Comcast Communications, Royal Oak, United States |
| 16:58 | Ono.es Cableuropa S.A.U., Spain |
| 16:58 | Avaya Corp., United States |
| 18:11 | Wanadoo Nederland BV, Netherlands, The |
| 20:20 | University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, United States |
| 20:56 | Taiwan Academic Network, Taiwan |
Thursday, August 31, 2006
China
I envision a China that is a multi-party democracy, that is federal, with Tibet having its own state level parliament, with human rights, so Tibetans have religious freedom. I envision a China where the Chinese Communist Party is still the largest party in the country within a multi-party framework. I envision the multi-party framework not to be like the one in India or America, but one where parties are state funded.
You are not trying to reclaim the Tibet of the 1950s. Tibet is not going to be a separate country. And the religious leader is not also going to be the political leader. The political leader has to be popularly elected.
And I do envision a unification of Taiwan and China, like East and West Germany. But that will not happen as long as China remains a one party state.
How long before China is no longer a one party state? I don't know. What will bring about the transformation? I think the country's rapid economic growth - something the Global South as a whole can learn much from - is the best bet to that end.
I have talked to many Chinese in America. It is amazing how they do not talk democracy. The last Chinese I talked to referred to the Chinese Communist Party as "something like the Great Wall of China." These are not people fearing persecution. They are not in China. This setiment must be to do with how the West has treated China in the past, and continues to do so today. If democracy is such a great idea, the Chinese should not have to feel racism in America, but they do. A Chinese political activist in Manhattan I met told me he lost his bid for City Council because too many white folks thought shoud he win he might only take care of the Chinese in Chinatown. The Chinese seem to feel about the Chinese Communist Party the way African Americans feel about the NAACP perhaps, only much stronger. And that sentiment has to be respected.
It is just that the way the Chinese brand of communism has morphed to become more nationalism than anything else is of relevance to the peace process in Nepal. There is a genuine ideological struggle going on. The titanic clash of ideologies that played out across the globe the past century is playing out in Nepal now.
The best way is to attempt a fusion. You take the best of both and come up with something new. You together create a new kind of democracy. Saying goodbye to power through the barrel of a gun is the first condition. Then making party finances transparent is the second condition. Then you move to state funded parties. That is what I have been proposing. If the seven parties will not, the Maoists should take the lead on this one. They should avoid the temptation of relapsing into dogmatism.
On The Web
CIA - The World Factbook
China Today
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China News - Breaking World China News
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China Travel Information | Lonely Planet Destination Guide
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Inside China Today - Media Monitoring Service by EIN News
University of Texas Libraries - China Maps
Internet Guide for China Studies
History of China
Support Democracy in China Home Page
Chinese Democracy
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China, Hong Kong, Chinese Democracy and the Future
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ChinaSite.com: Democracy and Dissidents -- The Complete Reference ...
Silicon Valley for Democracy in China
Homepage of the Party for Freedom and Democracy in China(PFFDC/PFDC)
Microsoft deletes 'freedom' and 'democracy' in China | The Register
Building of Political Democracy in China Information Office of the ...
Prospects on Human Rights and Democracy in China
[PDF] How Would Democracy Change China?
frontline: china in the red: roundtable - democracy, sooner or ...
White paper on political democracy (full text)
Democracy and China | Chinese Democratization | Tiananmen Square ...
Harvard University Press: Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China
FT.com / Companies / IT - Microsoft bans ‘democracy’ for China web ...
BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Bush preaches democracy to China
Hoover Institution - Uncommon Knowledge - THE NEXT GREAT LEAP ...
USATODAY.com - China's homeowners get small taste of democracy
China: Human Rights & the Democracy Movement
China's Democracy Crackdown Demands a Presidential Response
Amazon.com: Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China: Political ...
Xinhua - English
John Battelle's Searchblog: MSN Bans "Democracy" in China
People's Daily Online -- China's socialist political democracy ...
JS Online:India's messy democracy or China's model of economics?
Google Books: China
- China Joins the World: Progress and Prospects - Page 86
by Elizabeth Economy - Political Science - 1999 - 359 pages - Shaping U.S.-China Relations: A Long-Term Strategy - Page 18
by Michel C. Oksenberg, Elizabeth Economy - Political Science - 1997 - 81 pages - The China Business Handbook 2005
by Alain Charles Publishing - 2005 - 408 pages - China in the Twenty-First Century: Politics, Economy, and Society - Page 39
by Fumio Itoh - History - 1997 - 287 pages - The Ordos Plateau of China: An Endangered Environment - Page 117
by Hong Jiang - Science - 1999 - 210 pages - Growth, inequality, and poverty in rural China: The Role of Public Investments - Page 69
by Linxiu Zhang, and Xiaobo Zhang Shenggen Fan - Business & Economics - 2002 - 72 pages - The China Business Handbook - Page 9
by Alain Charles Publishing - 2005 - 448 pages - China: Environmental Technologies Export Market Plan
by Eric Fredell - 1996 - Beginning the Journey: China, the United States, and the Wto
by Robert D. Hormats, Elizabeth Economy, Kevin G Nealer - Political Science - 2001 - 37 pages - Weaving the Net: Conditional Engagement with China - Page 224
by James (EDT) Shinn - Political Science - 1996 - 284 pages - Forced Labor in China: Hearing Before the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of... - Page 50
by Christopher H. (EDT) Smith - 1998 - The Strategic Quadrangle: Russia, China, Japan, and the United States in East Asia - Page 137
by Michael (EDT) Mandelbaum - Political Science - 1995 - 232 pages - The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Past, Present, and Future - Page 24
by Michael J. (EDT) Green, Patrick M. (EDT) Cronin - Political Science - 1999 - 403 pages - More Than Humanitarianism: Independent Task Force Report - Page 41
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edited by Tsuneo Akaha, Anna Vassilieva - Political Science - 2006 - 254 pages - Furfuryl Alcohol from the People's Republic of China And South Africa: An International Trade... - Page vii
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by Charles Kupchan, Emanuel Adler, Jean-Marc Coicaud, Yuen Foong Khong - Political Science - 2001 - 182 pages
Media Can Distort Democracy
As we work to shape a new Nepal, restructure the state and usher in a new era, there has to be talk on making sure the media does not end up distorting democracy. There has been a lot of talk of restructuring the public sector, the state, not enough talk of the private sector media should it get concentrated in a few hands, or might fall prey to MNC inroads.
Even in the most established democracies, corporations are not allowed to give unlimited contributions to those running for office. It only makes sense to not allow corporations to have all the say in the information the public ends up feeding upon.
Democracy is one person, one vote, not one rupee, one vote.
A balance has to be struck. The business innovations that the private sector brings have to be appreciated. But then efforts have to be made to make sure the media does not end up in a few corporate hands.
An entity like the BBC ends up looking good. The public pays for it.
In the case of Nepal, letting a thounsand flowers bloom in the local FM markets might be a good approach. Major ownership concentrations should be disallowed.
Politicians elected through the one person one vote mechanism as members of state funded parties should be able to make the right decisions on this count in terms of shaping media policy.
Monopolies and oligoplies are anti-market. Diffused power is good for market competition.
A great source of revenue could be to auction airwaves. You rent out, you don't sell off. Money thus generated could pay for public media.
In Nepal's case, being a small country sandwiched between two large ones, there is also a need to watch out for a massive Indian private sector infiltration that might hijack the public discourse. FDI has to be limited by law in the sensitive sector of the media.
Vigorous political parties that ensure public participation in debates on policy issues are a major plus. People going to political meetings, and organizing protest programs are healthy for democracy. Mass meetings on the Nepali scene are stuff to appreciate and hold on to.
I ran into this media theme when I was doing some reading on Costa Rica. That country abolished its army more than half a century ago. But it struggles with this issue of the media distorting democracy. Nepal has to watch out from early on. In that sense the media truly is like the fourth arm of the state. The media is of great public importance.
When the country is only recently emerging from the thumb of a regime where journalists had to worry about basic human rights abuses and not corporate concentrations of power, we might be tempted to not worry too much about the later, but we need to. Early work will go far. We can learn from the experiences of other countries to leapfrog. We have to think ahead.
On The Web
Amazon.com: Megamedia: How Giant Corporations Dominate Mass Media ... the press has increasingly been muzzled by the moguls who control newspapers, television, books, and magazines. ...... a frightening picture of how these megamedia mergers (involving Disney, Murdoch, Gates, and Time-Warner) have limited the kind of information the public receives ..... the corporate media takeovers by 12 multinational companies that now control most newspapers, television stations, and book companies and about the resulting impact on the distribution of information ...... small local papers taken over by the larger newspaper chains, and the major losers are the small towns whose local news gets diluted ...... Censorship can sometimes come in the form of corporate caution. ..... ways to hold big corporate media responsible for not only increasing diversity but also presenting society with fair and unbiased information.
Project Censored Media democracy in action
Megamedia: How Giant Corporations Dominate Mass Media, Distort ... he pleads against the worldwide conglomeration of media and attempts to mobilize public opinion to support media diversity.
Powell's Books - Megamedia : How Giant Corporations Dominate Mass ...
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy
Mainstream Media - Global Issues A free and impartial media is a key pillar to a functioning democracy
Do Polls Reflect Media Distortion? - Center for Media and Democracy
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You - Center for Media and Democracy corporations manipulate our democracy
[PDF] Mass media and democracy crisis
Editorial--Media and Democracy
Amazon.com: Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy (Open ... When corporations control the flow of information, he suggests, they will inevitably do so in a way that promotes their own interests over those of the citizenry. From an analysis of the corporate influence over the 1934 Communications Act to a discussion of how media convergence might kill off hope of the Internet bringing about a revolution, he debunks the myth of an objective, liberal media and emphasizes the belief that issues of media ownership should be treated as matters of public policy rather than strictly business.
Democracy Now! | Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy
Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy, Seven Stories Press
Corporate media versus democracythe nature of the U.S. media system undermines self-government .... The Founding Fathers, to the extent we can generalize, envisioned a press that above all else would stimulate public involvement -- what media historian John Nerone has termed the "town meeting" metaphor of the press. ..... as the control in each market became concentrated among one or two or three owners, and as ownership concentrated nationally, all media came to reflect the interests of owners and advertisers, rather than diverse interests of any community. ...... Since 1992 there has been an unprecedented wave of mergers and acquisitions among the media giants ...... When Disney produces a film, for example, it can also guarantee the film showings on pay cable television and commercial network television, it can produce and sell soundtracks based on the film, it can create spin-off television series, it can produce related amusement park rides, CD-roms, books, comics, and merchandise to be sold in Disney retail stores. Moreover, Disney can promote the film and related material incessantly across all its media properties. ...... What is tragic — or absurd — is that the dominant perception of the "free press" still regards the government as the sole possible foe of freedom. That this notion of press freedom has been and is aggressively promoted by the giant media corporations should be no surprise, though that is rarely noted....... The effects can be seen on the two most important issues in U.S. politics in the 1990s: Foreign trade and health care. In both cases, powerful interests were able to neutralize public opinion, even though, initially, based on personal experience, it was against GATT and NAFTA and for a single-payer health system. ...... After a wave of mergers and acquisitions, three of the world's four largest media giants now own the three largest book publishers. At the retail end, U.S. bookselling is becoming highly concentrated into the hands of a few massive chains. This corporatization of publishing has led to a marked shift to the political right in what types of books clear the corporate hurdles. ...... The Internet has opened up very important space for progressive and democratic communication, especially for activists hamstrung by traditional communication media. But, the notion that the Internet will permit humanity to leapfrog over corporate communication is in sharp contrast to the rapid commercialization of the Internet....... public systems of broadcasting were established to serve publicly determined goals, not to generate profit. ...... The extent to which there is non-elite participation into communication policymaking may be a barometer for the level of democracy in a society........commercial broadcasters became a force that few politicians wished to antagonize; almost all of the congressional leaders of broadcast reform in 1931-1932 were defeated in their re-election attempts, a fate not lost on those who entered the next Congress........ The initial plan to have the CPB funded by a sales tax on the purchase of new radio sets and television sets, somewhat akin to the BBC method, was dropped, thus preventing public broadcasting a stable source of income necessary for planning as well as editorial autonomy. ........ The U.S. government only provides around 15 percent of the revenues; public stations depend on corporate donations, foundation grants, and listener/viewer contributions for the balance. In effect, this has made PBS and NPR stations commercial enterprises, and it has given the large corporations that dominate its subsidy tremendous influence over public broadcasting content, in a manner that violates the fundamental principles of public broadcasting. It has also encouraged the tendency to appeal to an affluent audience, rather than a working-class audience, because upscale viewers/listeners have far more disposable income............ The overarching purpose of the 1996 Telecommunications Act is to deregulate all communication industries and to permit the market, not public policy, to determine the course of the the communications system......... gives the green light to further consolidation of the global market these firms dominate........ the ideology of the infallible marketplace, a virtual civic religion in the United States and globally in the 1990...... The case for the market rests upon a mythological presentation of pure competition, where there are an infinite number of small entrepreneurs battling to serve the public by lowering prices and improving quality in constant ferocious competition. In terms of pricing, output, and profits, oligopolistic industries resemble pure monopolies far more closely than they do the mythical competitive market. And in few areas is this more true than in the advertising, media and telecommunication industries.......... In markets, one's income and wealth determine one's power. It is a system of "one dollar, one vote," rather than "one person, one vote." ...... commercial media firms produce that which is most profitable and in their interests. When people consume from the options provided, the media giants then state that they are satisfying audience demand. ...... a case of supply creating demand as much or more than it is a case of demand creating supply. ..... Citizens must determine the nature of their communication system through full and open political debate ....... Often journalists have fairly conservative positions on class issues of trade, taxation and government social spending, especially as one climbs to the high-paying ranks of the elite journalists....... With lavish funding from a dozen major conservative foundations, including those of Bradley, Scaife, and Olin, conservative groups have developed a very sophisticated PR apparatus to funnel conservative positions and stories into the media....... Conservative pundits dominate TV and radio discussion programs, paired with centrists who are quite comfortable in the corridors of corporate power. By contrast, it is nearly impossible to find even token left criticism in the mainstream media....... create a decentralized, accountable, nonprofit and noncommercial sector, which could provide a viable service to the entire population ..... This does not mean that there is no place for commercial media, merely that the dominant sector of the system must be nonprofit, noncommercial, and accountable to the public. Moreover, to the extent that commercial media and advertising play a role in a democratic media, they should be taxed to subsidize the nonprofit and noncommercial sector. ....... spectrum space should be leased (never auctioned) for commercial use, with the proceeds applied to support nonprofit and noncommercial media...... The opposition is wealthy, powerful and expert in ideological warfare. It effectively owns both major political parties. Its self-interest is draped in motherhood, the flag, the First Amendment, apple pie, and, of course, the mythological market ....... labor's demise has been partially due to the right-wing ideological assault on unionism and progressive government policies. In the 1940s there were approximately 1,000 full-time labor beat reporters and editors on U.S. daily newspapers. Today there are less than ten....... this is also a global fight. The corporate media/communication system may well be the defining feature of the global market economy....... communication technologies lay the basis for instantaneous global capital and currency markets, and undermines not only national sovereignty, but also popular sovereignty, as societies seem compelled to obey the dictates of global markets or face immediate and stern economic punishment........
Robert W. McChesney / Rich Media, Poor Democracy argues that the media, far from providing a bedrock for freedom and democracy, have become a significant antidemocratic force in the United States and, to varying degrees, worldwide...... the major beneficiaries of the so-called Information Age are wealthy investors, advertisers, and a handful of enormous media, computer, and telecommunications corporations.... we must organize politically to restructure the media in order to affirm their connection to democracy. .....
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