Wednesday, August 02, 2006

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
UML Inching Towards Federalism
Monarchy, Army, Federalism

My Three State Proposal: Plus Points
  1. The demarcations are not ethnic.
  2. The current district boundaries are kept intact.
  3. It is assumed in my proposal that people will move around for ethnic reasons.
  4. There will be no water disputes between the states.
  5. The districts are given a lot of power. The district chairperson is directly elected by the people. That is the level where all the hitherto ethnic minorities will shine as a first step. Some of them will go on to become Governors and Presidents.
  6. The real challenge is to do with linguistic diversity, and the way they impact social institutions like the schools, the workplaces, the government offices, the parliaments.
  7. I believe my Proposed Constitution seen in its totality is the best deal for the DaMaJaMa as well as the others. It has been written with the goal of having universal appeal. The basic principles can be applied elsewhere as well.
Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
  1. The good news is that he sees the need for federalism. That is an important, big, first step in the right direction. The unitary state idea has been a disaster in Nepal.
  2. This Bahun has managed to realize decentralization just will not cut it. There are many others who are not there yet.
  3. Sharma wishes to redraw the district lines as well. I have not taken that step, and think it unnecessay administrative extra homework.
  4. Sharma refuses to recognize the Madhesi identity. He recognized Yadav, but not Madhesi. It is a divide and rule Pahadi mentality.
  5. The Panche Pahadi mentality is to recognize the castes in the Terai, but not the Pan Madhesi identity. Sharma subscribes to that.
  6. Only 14 of the 75 districts are such that any one caste is a majority. That is a good thing.
  7. 32% of all village units have one or other caste or group in majority. So the rest are much more mixed. That is a good thing.
  8. There are 92 languages, of which 12 are spoken by more than 1% of the people.
  9. Sharma says 55 of the districts are majority Nepali speakers.
  10. 20 of the districts are non Nepali dominated. But then those 20 might be some of the most populous.
  11. 84% of the village units have linguistic majorities of one or the other language.
  12. Less than half the Magars speak the Magar language.
  13. Maithili dominates the eastern Terai.
  14. There has been a tendency among all hill groups to migrate to the Terai. Another movement trend has been from the villages to the towns.
  15. Sharma's proposal is one for six states and 19 districts. The districts are too big. In the case of the Terai the districts are too big and populous. They might as well be called states and not districts.
  16. The largest district will have a population of 3,600,000. That is a state, not a district.
In The News

Prachanda meets PM Koirala NepalNews mainly focused on how a consensus could be forged regarding management of arms and armies of the state and the Maoists. ..... over two hours
UN Mission consults with Nepali Army, PLA officials in western Nepal
Reach consensus on alternative to parliament: ICDC; Govt. Maoist to reach consensus on arms mgmt. the committee has already completed the draft of the constitution and will finalize it once the government and Maoists reach consensus on the alternative parliament issue....... would be able to come up with a common understanding on the issue of arms management of both sides by tomorrow ..... the rebels’ army will be managed as per the constitution formed after the election of the constituent assembly. .. the armies from both the sides should be treated equally
RPP demands provision of constitutional monarchy in interim constitution Rastriya Prajatantra Party led by Kamal Thapa ..... party also demanded protection to the women, Janajatis, Dalits and Madhesi in the interim constitution...... party has also demanded to make a constitutional basis to provide citizenship certificates to all Nepalis.
NC submits suggestions to ICDC eight-point suggestion ...... the fate of monarchy will be decided by the constituent assembly polls ...... the provision of an interim parliament and involving the Maoists in the interim constitution........ the election to the constituent assembly should be mixed and inclusive. The party decided to work out how the interim constitution can be made inclusive and the possibility of transforming the current parliament into an interim one.......

Nepal probe summons army chief for questioning Hindustan Times, India
Nepal's 5-star hotel resumes service in Kathmandu People's Daily Online, China
Nepal's bodyguard opens fire, 19-yr-old killed; investigation ... Kantipur Online, Nepal UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal’s ..... Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Man Bahadur Adhikari opened fire at a group of teenagers "who attacked the UML general secretary’s vehicle." ..... Sanogaucharan, Gyaneshwor at around 9 pm when Adhikari and driver Govinda Uprety were returning to Baluwatar after dropping Nepal at his residence at Koteshwor...... “The assailants tried to stab the vehicle’s occupants after forcing open the driver’s side window. The knife was found still lodged into the driver’s seat” ...... Uprety had sustained knife wound in the ear...... Adhikary, who attempted to escape, was chased by the knife-wielding assailants. He then fired three shots from his 9 mm automatic pistol "in an attempt to thwart his pursuers." ...... Deceased Gurung was a Karate player and a recent SLC graduate whose father Rambahadur is a karate instructor.
Head of UN mission to Nepal expresses optimism on peace ... UN News Centre
Maoists Threaten Indians Working at Nepal Casinos Casino City Times, MA
Lest we forget Nepal Asia Times Online, Hong Kong While war unfolds in Lebanon and India's and Pakistan's nuclear-backed dispute over Kashmir dominates news from South Asia, monumental changes are under way in Nepal ....... There is more at stake than replacing monarchical rule in the small, impoverished Himalayan kingdom. No less than in the neighboring Middle East, in South Asia causes and effects of armed insurgency versus democratic nation-building are regional and global, with profound implications for regional powers such as India, the "war on terror" and even nuclear politics. ....... Throughout South Asia, further progress toward stability and democracy requires a political process that can somehow unite disparate elements including traditional elites, armed insurgents and millions of landless poor. In this sense, with insurgent violence in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and most recently bomb blasts on Mumbai's commuter rail, Nepal's tenuous peace process is an important laboratory for finding regionwide solutions. ....... CPN-Maoists long advocated total land reform - giving millions of subsistence farmers title to land they tilled for generations ....... Now, UN political observers arrive at a pregnant, delicate moment, in which the ostensible conflict resolves, only to enter a new and difficult phase of trying to reintegrate armed insurgents into the political process, with terrorism and insurgency on the rise regionwide. ........ one general lesson to draw from Latin American and African post-conflict zones is "don't rush"....... Elections, and even intermediate steps toward democracy such as truth and reconciliation commissions, may have to wait until the Maoists buy into the process and all Nepal's stakeholders have more confidence in political procedures.The more immediate task is to convene a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution that can unite its various factions. ..... The UN's monitoring role and its current reporting mission are key. International civil society can also help by keeping Nepal's transition in the spotlight and by keeping humanitarian aid flowing. ...... No stranger to factional violence, India has relevant experience doing everything Nepal now must do: convening a constituent assembly, creating a constitution, achieving open public debate and building social consensus on intractable issues such as caste, and bringing disparate elements together into a workable democratic framework. India has also addressed its own feudal past by instituting successful land reforms in Kerala and West Bengal. ....... The most evolved democracy of South Asian countries, India

Prachanda meets Koirala; Sitaula says common understanding near Kantipur Publications
Maoists have links with Naxalites: India it's official in India that Indian Naxal outfits have ideological and logistic links with Nepalese Maoists. .... Indian Minister of State for Home Prakash Jaiswal told the lower house of parliament, Lok Sava, in a written reply Tuesday said, " Indian Naxals [Maoists] are reported to have ideological and logistic links with Nepalese Maoists." The Naxals, in turn, have links with Islamic organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba .... Over 200 districts in 14 Indian states are grappling with the menace of Naxal activities such as bombings of railway and other infrastructures and attacks on security patrols. India has adopted a two-pronged approach -- counter insurgency and economic development -- to deal with the crisis described as number one threat to national security. .....
Maoist ‘donation’ drive in Bardiya In blatant disregard of the cease-fire code of conduct reached between the government and Maoist leadership, rebels here on Tuesday announced that they would start collecting "donations" from industrialists, businessmen, employees, teachers and others in Bardiya district....... "At least 300,000 rupees is the monthly expenses just for a battalion of the "People's Liberation Army (PLA)" of Bardiya" said "Sandiv" district secretary of the party at a press meet here on Tuesday, adding, "Therefore, we are planning to launch a donation campaign which is voluntary and not forced donation." ..... "The government did not allocate budget for the PLA," said Maoist leader Bala Ram Kafle, adding, "That is why, we are compelled to collect donations." ..... would collect money in Gulariya, the district headquarters, Rajapur, Bhurigaon, Mainapokhar, Basgadhi, Sanoshri and other commercial areas in the first phase of the donation drive.
Stock market loses Rs 3b in a day
Rs 1m for Tatopani victim’s family
Maoists continue abductions, intimidation, extortions Maoists continue to violate the understandings and agreements reached with the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA). .... abducted a CPN-UML member and held him captive for more than four hours in Kathmandu. .... They took him inside a carpet factory in Gongobu where there were about 15 people. They scolded him for tearing up their pamphlet and said that if it were not a "normal period", they would punish him severely........ they released me handing over six pamphlets of Prachanda to stick at my house and said that as punishment I must provide at least two rooms for them whenever they come," he said showing a roll of pamphlets. The Maoists offered him Rs 50 as bus fare saying they would recover it from him later......... The Maoists have also asked for donations and to send all employees compulsorily to attend the national conference of ANCWU...... Locals said they feel terrorized. ..... They said they were roaming around villages to interact with the public and were seeking support for the "October Revolution" in case the ongoing peace talks failed to reach a logical end .......
हतियार व्यवस्थापन
लुटेरामा सैनिक र प्रहरी पनि
माओवादीद्वारा प्रहरीचौकी पुनःस्थापना रोक
शान्ति प्रक्रिया निणर्ायक नभए भयानक दुर्घटना ः गौतम नेपालमा सुरक्षा निकायहरूको कमाण्डको बनावट पुरातन सामन्ती प्रवृत्तिको छ र अझसम्म पनि त्यहाँभित्र पूर्ण व्यावसायीकरण र प्रजातान्त्रीकरणको अभाव छ ।' सभामा कांग्रेसका रामचन्द्र पोखरेल र आनन्द बिष्ट, एमालेका कृष्ण थापा, कांग्रेस -प्रजातान्त्रिक) का चेतमान श्रेष्ठलगायतले नेपालमा जारी शान्ति प्रक्रियाबारे धारणा राखेका थिए ।
दलितमाथि कुटपिट
माओवादीका फेरिएका अडान
माओवादीको संविधान मस्यौदा

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