By Deepak Adhikari
Midnight Celebrations: People in Anamnagar after the address Pic by Bijay Kumar Son
When at the middle of the night, people started sloganeering in Ghattekulo area, I awoke, thinking that it was just another protest for democracy. But, lo and behold, it was a celebration of people’s power; they were enthralled by what they have achieved. The euphoria and excitement was all around. They were shouting “Yo Jit Kasko Janatako” (This is people’s victory). They chanted: “Hamro andolan jari cha (The movement goes on). Sambidhan sabha banki cha (Election of CA is yet to be held). Bir saheed amar rahun (Long live the martys).”
The king, through a televised address, restored the House of Representative almost after four years of its dissolution in May 2002. When the announcement came at 11:30 PM, most of the country was in slumber. It took around two hundred residents of that area to inform me about king’s renunciation. I thought, this would herald a new beginning.
Today’s The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur are published with People Power Wins in red bold letters accompanied by pictures of rhondondendron, signaling a new beginning. Our colleague in Nepal Magazine has called the ongoing movement “Rhondondendron Revolution,” hinting at the bloom of the flower in the spring season.
At the moment, SPA leaders are holding meeting to respond the announcement. UML General Secretary Madhav Nepal said that the peaceful demonstration would continue unless the election of Constituent Assembly is held.
The SPA’s final pretests as well as the general strike have been called off. This morning, people in the street looked relaxed. The scattered brick and half-burnt logs of the road were already clean. People’s countenances were glowing with enthusiasm and rapture. They have voluntarily borne 19 days of suffering when the nation went to the standstill. Protesters were preparing for toady’s protests in and around Ring road. But, the situation has taken U-turn.
Now, all eyes are on SPA leaders. People’s power has bestowed them a second chance to build a new Nepal from the ruins. Such historical opportunities are very rare. And, if they can not act in accordance with people’s sentiment, time will not give them many a chance. So, this is time to act. And, they should act with caution in each step. They should not repeat the mistakes of the past.
United We Blog 
Comments
83 responses to “King Renounces, All Eyes on SPA”
replytoall ,
i thought u r a villain…but now i know u r a JOKER.
bad performed!!
Taaya,
The only change in the constitution this time will be the fact that you will be able to vote in the refferendum for the constitution. That is very important. We will get the chance to read the constitution, there will be discussions, it will be transparent you know. Not like the old one where we were just informed that it was ready and now we’d be following that.
The only thing which bothers me about the current constitution is the power for Monarchs and how they’re treated as gods. And only to make that feasible, they have potrayed him as the king of the ‘Hindu’ nation. I consider myself Hindu somehow and I have no problem living in a Hindu country. But they just used this word ‘Hindu Nation’ to make their point for the advantage of the King. Even though majority of population are Hindus, you don’t need a label. Reminds you of countries like Iran, Pakistan or Syria.
Maoists are politicians. And they have managed to cash the lack of knowledge of the rural nepali population. Period.
We have problems, not because of what is written in the constitution , but it is because the lack of the knowledge about our rights. People take advantage of other people and blame it either in culture or religion. That is the way we are practising things since hundreds of years. And it will take years to come to get rid of this system.
Taaya, try and develop a little sense of humour, please! You are far too serious for your own good.
Look what has happened right now is that a window of oppurtunity has opened for all those things you are worried about to be addressed. Without the need to resort to violence. Step by step it can be done. But I admire you for raising these questions, keep doing so. Try and keep a positive attitude though.
TAAYA:
do u think i give a horse arse to what you think about me.
i believe in what i believe and u do the same. i aint no start calling names… u see me the villian cause my views and urs dont match… that means ur views are biased about me and that is because of our differences in views… people in this blog site has called me names and u aint see none of that… now i retaliate u see it… now thats funny yeah . …. hahaha
anyways…. u start at me i reply at u. dont know who u… but here just to settle it … u seem like a WHORE…
hey dont mind.
hurray Girija will be the PM
long live Girija
hatti ayo hatti ayo
fussa
nobody nobody and nobody can out do Girija…… now that is an universal truth…
Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Confusionism; irrespective of what you believe, in my opinion state should always be secular. Thats why the Lady of Justice is blind folded with black cloth. In that regard, Taaya is right. The momentum this people’s movement has gained should not be allowed to come to rest based on a petty bait offered by Gyane. We must strive forward for a secular Himalayan state, where people follow the code of law, and that no one is above the law.
harip;->
Naturally, we had forgotten to be optimistic…coz of KG, all corupted leaders and maoist….
Let’s not be disappointed of the PM going to be, Parliamentary election to be held soon(??) may bring new leaders….Be Optimistic:->
kirat,
yeah !step by step…but faster steps..longer leaps..
but u know we have to raise our voice again and again , alert those ones who think that this democracy is only for wakswatantrata,etc.
this time should be real democracy.
glade,
u donot have problem living in a hindu nation. but i have.
since u have only suffered from monarchy, that’s only the real issue for u.
but i have suffered from this cast,gender discrimination as well and these are also urgent for me.
u look from others perspective too.
again, donot mistake me for deviating the real issue. but i am strengthening the issue.
u have to accept these issues than subside.
Though i am not fully satsfied by Girija becoming PM again but the reinstatement of parliament can be a good point of departure for now without excessive killings by the security forces.It is upon all parliamentarians to go step by step to the elections of the CA within a year.
Today’s Maoists statement says that they are not satisfied with declaration of the King. They see conspiracy in this also. They have said that they will put in effect the NAAKBANDI in all the district HQs untill CA will not be announced without any condition.
I think if they give more trouble now, India should help us in arresting them. Now India must do something that violence does not spread once again in Nepal.
Taaya, faster steps and longer leaps sounds good until you have a very bad fall. We are talking about the fate of around 30 million Nepali people-caution is necessary.
taaya, what is the problem living in a Hindu nation ? I am not Hindu myself but consider Hindu somehow just for the fun of it , and I have no problem. Maybe you know something which I don’t .
Taaya and Kirat should marry each other. This would be the greatest achievement of this revolution.If taaya is a lady and Irat is a man. If they are from the same sex also they can marry now a days.No problem hahahaha
now i see people getting real communal and religion conscious… why dont we start killing each other… u hindu and u buddhist and u smth else….. ta bahun ma janajati…. ta chetri ma damai…..why dont we start a war again… and a violent one… we nepali we are peacelovers only of name…. lets start it lets fight thats what the pople of nepal like the most….
??? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ????, ?????? ???????? ??????? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ?????, ???????????? ???????????? ??????? ????? ????? ?????? ????? ?? ?????? ????????? ??? ??????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??
This must be done otherwise, seven parties lose their credibility and Criminals will always prosper in this country.
We are disputing ovr nothing. If the house of representative, representative of the people, calls the people to elect the new constituent assembly and the people elect it, who can negate the authority of the people? If some one does, he will be against people’s will and will crushed.
layman,
what makes u think that we should marry?
r u trying to amuse???i am not amused,at least.
do u think that we r here to search for mates????
i also support same sex marriage. if u r really interested in getting me a mate, why don’t u find a girl instead…
glade,
abt the hindu nation:
u seem a sensible man yourself ,so i donot think it necessary to explain it to u.(btw i have talked a lot in this issue already).
nidayeko manchelai uthauna sakincha tara nidayeko natak garme manchelai k garne.
i tried to make a pundit see this issue from my perspective.
but u know he was so angry with me and had such revenge inside that he tried to strike me when he got a chance (at a very irrational and illogical point).
then i told myself, pundits are a whole lot cleverer than myself so i need not waste my effort to explain to them.
RODODENDER REVOLUTION good idea, HURRAY . At last the people power has done it once again.
I happen to read an article written by Baburam Bhattarai in one of the Nepalese weekly newspaper here in Hong Kong, he wrote that history has time and again showed that in every democratic movement in Nepal people were always ahead of the party people and the leaders were always last. THE PRESENT movement was the basic needs for all of us.
As Kundan Dixit wrote in Nepal times that ‘It was the compromise that gave the 3 force the face saving way to back down, the king got to save his thrown, the parties got their parliment restored and the Moaist got the promise that the parliment would deliberate at the constituent assembly.
Now what about us ? As you all have discussed about the constituent 1990, It had clearly said that the multiparty democracy and king will stand permanent rest can be worked out if two third of the parliment rejects it.
The king moves in the past 4 years indicates that he can always go against the 1990 constituent, it has been his cup of tea.and There is still a chance he could work against it in future.
What I want? Is an absolute ceseation of the monarch and establishment of the people Republic of Nepal.All the Culprits be trialed and punished. Free education below class 10( cause people lack education). Moaist should be disarmed and bought in the poltical main stream. The new constituency should be written which should includes the the RODODENDER REVOLUTION main agenda and RNA, NP and AFP should be under that constituent.
My final wish let the young leader lead us. We are tired of the old hunks.
Jai Nepal.
Layman is a pervert.
Tayaa:
When you say Pundit I suppose you are talking about me…
You must have a very short memory because I thought we reached an agreement. Didn’t we agree that we can do whatever it is that the people want? Didn’t I say that whatever the CA will decide will be acceptable to the both of us. If the CA decides that they wish to abolish the Hindu Nation jargon that’s fine by me…
However, it seems like you are too dramatic and obviously love to distort things.
I agree with Tayaa, Hindu culture is very annoying. The religion is ok, but the caste and gender discrimination it causes is terrible.
Until we get rid of the caste system and it’s feudalistic properties, the country will never develop.
It’s funny that in Nepal, you can legally change your last name only within your caste. What if a person of nepalese descent in America (an american citizen), changes his last name from (example) sharma to shrestha, does he automatically change castes in Nepal? The caste system is unnecessary. Period.
The Maoist leader person had done an interview with BBC this morning. He says that the Maoists are insighting ‘counter violence’ against the nepalese army. It kind of made sense to me. 🙂
It’s also pretty sad that a leader of villagers, running around in rural nepal, can speak better English than most of the high profile political leaders, and probably even Mr. Shah.
Melissa it is not the religion, it is culture. Hindusm has nothing to do with caste or gender discrimination.
There can be Shrestha Bahun too, nobody will put you in the religios court if Sharma will change his name to Shrestha without changing his caste ; )
The Maoist leader ‘person’ was Dr. Baburam Bhattarai , though he IS indeed a very intelligent man , I don’t have to believe what he says. What made you think ‘counter attack’ on the barracks of RNA made sense ?
Bhudai Punditji,
we reached on agreement to see the result of CA
but can i have your honest answer, what would u vote for personally 1.hindu nation 2.secular nation
i too thought the argument was over. but, i was so disgusted with u when u sprang from nowhere to blame me that i am somewhere abroad writing such craps…
(i don’t think the blame made any sense).
i am not being dramatic, why would i?
About hinduism:(i find it more spiritual and vast than christainity, based on my limited knowledge)
of course,there are pros and cons and u proud hindu guys u better give your effort for the reforms of your religion.
simply boasting that it is perfect and not making any effort to make it better is not going to help.
so many are already victimised by your religion.
Tayaa:
Even when Nepal was a Hindu nation it was still secular wasn’t it? Christians, Muslims, Buddhist etc. could all freely practice their religion.. people could convert to any religion they wanted etc. However given the choice I would choose Nepal to be a secular state.
You were disgusted? What about the accsation you made against me? Am I suppose to jump up and down and sing songs at that?
But one thing I will you is that gender/caste discrimination is not Hinduism’s fault. In fact all the flaws you find in all religion is never the religions fault but it is people who distort things…
Bhudai Pundit ,
hindus vote for secular nation!!
this is what i want.
sorry for any misunderstandings, if there are.
but have u wondered why hinduism has not spread behind the border of india and nepal though it is one of the oldest religions?
why number of hindus are reducing even in this hindu nation?
TAYAA:
i aint no hindu… but the way you are slamming hindu people and religion is a strt up bitching as per i see. u live in nepal, i doubt that, but still if u live or ever lived in nepal then i dont think that the dharma has ever come in ur way as a blockade to do or not to do something… yes if u a beef eater then u cant or are not allowed to go into a temple, now if that is what u deem as discrimination than u can again fry it and eat it…..
if u want to go to pasupati wearing a leather belt because u live in a democratic nation and are not allowed to then hell again fry it and eat it….
making religion an issue that too in nepal shows that u are a total anarchist…. the only thing that i see as bad in hindu religion,well thats not religions fault but the people who practice it, is the caste discriminination…. that is a con of the hindu religion except that its bull of u to be so OPEN minded…..
all hindu guys,
i donot want to disgrace hinduism but u know my heart aches when i see this beautiful,old and vast religion manipulated so badly.
i myself have some ties with this religion as i am living inside the ether of hinduism.
smile comes to my face when yoga and ayurveda and spiritualism of east culture gets globalised, but at the same time i am also aware of the disastrous part of this religion.
i think u better thank me than condemn me for showing your points of reform.
Tayaa:
The reason Hindusim hasn’t spread is because we are not an institutionalized religion! Hindusim doesn’t have conversions etc. It’s more about a way of life then a religion!
Yes I also hate caste discrimination but what other disasterous part are you talking about?
B. Pundit, that’s not what secular means. There was/is no separation of religion and state in Nepal and therefore it has never been and isn’t a secular state.
With stupid laws like ‘thou shalt not eat cow–and killing a cow is like killing a human,’ Nepal cannot be a secular country until it gets rid of all religiously oriented laws.
Melissa, Taaya, Pundit
I agree with you all. Yes it is a high time we need to get rid of this pride of being the only Hindu nation of the world. We don’t need that label anymore as it useless and it portrays Nepal as somehow fundamental religious country and at the same time it is not fair for the Nepalis who believe in something else than Hinduism. Religion is always a tricky business and nothing should be associated with it. And especially the constitution shouldn’t be based on the religion.
It is very funny though when you go through our laws. Nepal is considered as a Hindu country but there aren’t many things in the current constitution which supports that theory. Alright it is clearly stated that Nepal is a Hindu nation and we have a law which prohibits on the slaughter of the cow. Mind you it only prohibits on killing the cow, nothing is mentioned on the consumption of the meat.
We get a lot of holidays based on the Hindu merriments and you can’t deny that everyone enjoys that ; ) . Alright we go for secularism and we will also cut off the holidays based on religions, but I still don’t understand how these things work. The countries which pride themselves as being fundamental secular like Norway, the Netherlands, France, Sweden etc , they have many holidays based on Christianity.
Anyone ? if we agree on secular state of Nepal , what do you want to see on the constitution ?
No need to be known as Hindu Kingdom unless we want to be fundamenalist. Remember, one women from Sangkhuwa sava was jailed for eating cow meat beacuse of Hindu-based constitution even though she was culturally and relgiously competible to eat beef. In fact many star hotels serve beef and losts of Nepalese abroad eat beef. Let draw a constitutions and shape new forward looking Nepal that provides room for all citizen regardless of sex/gender, ethinicity, caste and age etc so we live in peace and thrive in diversity.
Long live Democratic Nepal
Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights in Nepal,USA
26th April, 2006 Press Release
New York
Alliance for Democracy & Human Rights in Nepal, USA (ADHRN) is cautiously optimistic about the most recent political developments in Nepal. While the king’s address to the nation relinquishing executive powers and recognizing that the sovereignty lies in people is encouraging, it is ADHRN’s firm position that the true aspirations of the Nepali people, as demonstrated by the recent historic movement, was to achieve a Constituent Assembly.
ADHRN would also like to caution the monarchy not to interfere with the clear road map to Constituent Assembly as envisaged by the Seven-Party Alliance(SPA). The outcome of such Constitutional Assembly elections shall be accepted by all the political forces, including the king, without any hesitation.
It is also incumbent upon the SPA that they break away from their notorious history of power-hungry actions, and take this second chance to make the best for the people of Nepal. Any decision that they take from now onwards, be it that of forming an interim cabinet, their possible peace talks with the CPN-Maoists, or the overall governance of the country in the interim period, should take confidence of the people — they should always uphold the nation and the people’s interest at the helm. The battle has been won, but the war continues; and as exemplified by the people’s wishes expressed in the recent historic Jana Andolan, the complete victory will not come until there is an unconditional Constituent Assembly election.
It has also been ADHRN’s firm position that the CPN-Maoists must make unequivocal commitment to full disarmament and to enter the mainstream politics peacefully. At this juncture in Nepali political history, they must adhere to their 12-point Understanding with the SPA. The wave of peaceful protests that made the monarchy ever-so-threatened has proven their ability to achieve what the Maoists have not been able to in the past ten years of their violent movement.
At this crucial hour of great transformation, we stand by the Nepali people and congratulate them on their partial but significant victory over autocracy. The resilience and the courage expressed by the Nepali people to stand against tyranny are highly commendable. However, ADHRN urges everyone, particularly the members of the Nepali civil society, to remain vigilant and not let future governments deviate from the path towards meaningful and complete democracy, peace and prosperity for all Nepalis. It is ADHRN’s firm belief that only the unconditional election for Constituent Assembly, with the fate of the monarchy clearly in the hands of the people, can bring sustainable peace and prosperity to Nepal.
.
Sanjaya Parajuli
President
HINDU REPUBIC OF NEPAL
I do not know what has happened to NEPALI PEOPLE.
The status of Nepal should not be changed from Hindu to secular. It will be a SUICIDE for Nepali people. We are proud to be people from Sagarmatha and the only Hindu country in the world.
The king has nothing to do with our Hinduism. to link the King’s dynasty and Caste system and oppression with Hindu religion means nothing other than the illiteracy of our religion.
Secularism will lead Nepal to a cultural distruction.
The King is a criminal in the eye of Hindu religion. In Hindu relgion, no one is exempt from Law, no one of above the law. Great Hindu emperors have confessed their crimes and been punished. If you read our old scriptures, you will find the kings either confessed the crimes and inflicted punishment or they were cursed and condemned. Even Gods like Vishnu and Shiva have been victims of punishments and curses.
We are in the 21st century but Hindu religion has been misused and exploited by the rich and powerful people. It is our duty to reestablish it and protect our heritage by uprooting such sinful evils like Gyanendra and his dynasty. We can make our country the HINDU REPUBLIC OF NEPAL, ans still maintain our heritage.
To make our country a republic means to commit suicide. It will destroy our cultures, and our land will be converted into totally different cultures.
Instead of peaceful temples with pigeons and monkeys, we will see mosques and churches and the marketplace exchanging suicide bombs. You have heard about the religious violence between fundamentalist muslims and christians. When Nepalis will no more have Hindu culture left, it will be another Israel.