PHA-Exchange> Fw: Struggle for democracy

Fri Sep 9 04:57:18 PDT 2005

Ravi Narayan
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: mathura shrestha 
Cc: recipient list not shown: 
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 8:03 PM
Subject: Struggle for democracy

Dear All
Please disseminate the article pasted.
Mathura

Civic Societies' struggle for democracy

Mathura P. Shrestha

Today's daily paper of Nepal, Samacharpatra of Tuesday, August 23, 2005 (Page 4), had an apt cartoon in which Democracy is shown tightly stuffed into a closed glass bottle and a cuffed royal hand holding the bottle to exhibit a king's 'democracy'. The king's commitment to democracy is as obvious as that. The monarchy has exhibited its true character, its obsoleteness. It has proclaimed its own incompatibility to democracy, peace and people's wellbeing. Unfortunately, the attitude of Nepal's king is shared directly or indirectly by a few who still believe that the monarchy can be civilized. The tendency is indirectly propagating obsolete paradigms of guided democracy and condition of forced peace (by defeating insurgency). The forced peace is synonymous to an inert or dead peace that only subjugates the people to fatalism and a culture of silence or nonresistance. Such peace even if possible militarily is more dangerous, traumatic or counterproductive than an armed conflict. Moreover, a military solution of the present conflict in Nepal is impossible. Even if the military will grow 20 times, qualitatively and quantitatively, it will not be able to defeat the Maoist's so called 'People's War'. Similarly the Maoists will not be able to defeat the king's military even if it will grow by 20 times. 

The political party leaders are shying away from the reality comprehended by the people. People want to see the political parties reformed and changed to responsible and non-corrupt parties. The leaders do not venture to oblige these for the fear of being replaced by younger and more competent, militant cadres. They continue to do so in spite of mass desertion of their honest cadres. 

The king is cashing on this mood of the people and party cadres and has now regressed 'to punish political parties'. He deliberately suppress the rights of the people to be informed that the people, only the people, have a right to punish or vote out the political parties. No other person has that right, even in the name of the people. 

The present civic societies' struggle is complex and needs to have many roles or purposes. It can't afford to be limited to a single track strategy. Nor it can behave like the struggle of political parties to usurp power. Following 12 roles for the struggle are suggested. I invite comments. The struggle aims: 

1.       To strengthen political struggle for democracy of 7-party coalition rather than try to replace or provide alternative to their movements. But civil societies refuse to be co-opted by the parties in the colition – singly or jointly. The civil societies also reserve their rights to serve as watchdogs in favor of peoples and even to criticize any deviating political parties away from the interests and domains of peoples. 

2.       To help Nepali consciousness to develop and mature to actively defend democracy, their sovereign rights including political, social, economic and cultural rights. They must be empowered to participate in the struggle for democracy and to assert all of their rights. They must learn to love politics and fight to keep politics in people's domains. They must also learn to participate actively in the politics, socio-cultural movements and economic activities, starting from their localities then extending to national and global ones. This way they would be able to control and monitor political parties and state structures. 

3.       To develop networks of struggle as non-formal and loosely-structured to promote participatory democracy, flexibility, and collective but united leadership until a total democracy and peace are achieved. 

4.       To project leadership of young women and men from all ethnic groups including deprived and socially excluded communities, Dalits, Madheshis, disabled, and the poor. This should mean that the senior activists would participate as advisors and promoters, albeit actively. This would send a strong message to political parties sticking to septuagenarian leaders and ways of thinking.   

5.       To demonstrate active voluntarism and independently feasible self-sustenance without financial aids from foreign donors and agencies. 

6.       To involve widest possible ranges of civil societies and human rights organizations that are strongly advocating democracy, people's sovereignty, human rights, multiculturalism, biodiversity, eco-harmony, equity, social justice and people's dignity as well as strongly campaigning against regression and autocracy. 

7.       To encourage a new way of thinking and behaving among the peoples for a culture of violence-free world, multiculturalism, biodiversity, eco-harmony, equity, social justice and people's dignity without guilt complexes and without economic or social exploitations. Organized voices of peoples should be made much more powerful than guns or bullets.   

8.       To diversify the present struggle to include peoples from all cultures and walks of life quantitatively as well as qualitatively. The struggle is to be spread countrywide. It should grow with cultural parameters of all sections of the peoples, and with professional and ethical responsibility of participating peoples in the struggle. Mind set attitudes promoting color and aspect blindness, authoritarian traits, nontransparent or irresponsible behaviors and anti-people despotism will be discouraged. 

9.       To transform the armed conflict to a lasting and meaningful peace by:

·        Investigating and analyzing root causes of the conflict to address its transformation 

·        Reinstating democracy, parliament and representative government. The dialogue with the Maoist is not possible or productive without these. 

·        Transforming the state and societies politically, socially, economically and culturally 

·        Restructuring the state and governance to inclusive, participatory, representative, democratic and decentralized structures and powers to ensure dignity and rights to self determination of all peoples 

·        Developing a new people's constitution through an elected Constitutional Assembly to guarantee people-first concept, and peoples' sovereignty their political, social, economic and cultural rights 

·        Having dialogue between conflicting parties (democratically elected government and the Maoists) mediated and facilitated by national civil societies. UN systems, international governments and agencies, International civil societies have roles as guarantors to assure implementations of peace accords following such dialogue 

·        Promoting dialogue and joint actions between the 7-Party Coalition and the Maoists for democracy, peace and development with equity and social justice 

10.   To manage information systems through all possible networks, media hubs, websites and WEB-BLOGGs to facilitate people's access to information about their struggle locally, nationally and globally

11.   To promote, enhance and manage international solidarity to optimize the struggle to democracy 

12.   To promote international concerns and dialogue on Nepal's democracy along with the international condemnation of the king's despotism, totalitartism, autocracy and ruthless regression.   

Yen, Tuesday, August 23, 2005

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