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Popular Struggles and Movements Lijin Golden
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Lijin Golden

Major Aspects of this ChapterNepal1. Popular Struggle in Nepal2. Meaning of Constitutional Monarchy 3. Meaning of Absolute monarchy

4. Second Movement for Democracy in Nepal5. Seven Party Alliance (SPA) 6. Maoist

BoliviaPopular Struggle in Bolivia 2. Difference in between the popular struggle in Nepal and Bolivia 3. Importance of the popular movements (Struggles)1.

Mobilisation and OrganisationImportance of organisations in Popular struggle 2. Two ways of participation in a struggle- Direct and Indirect Participation1.

Pressure Groups and Movements1.

2.3. 4.

5.6. 7. 8.

Meaning- Pressure group Difference- Pressure group and Political Party Different forms of pressure group Meaning- Public interest group Different types of Movement Group How the pressure group & Movements influence on politics Difference between sectional and public interest group The influence of pressure groups in politics is it healthy?

Popular Struggle in Nepal Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia Nepal is one of the thirdwave country that had won

democracy in 199o and became a Constitutional Monarchy. The King remained as the head of the state but the real power was exercised by popularly elected representatives. King Birendra who has accepted the transition from Absolute Monarchy to Constitutional Monarchy. But he was killed in a mysterious massacre of the royal family in 2001 and his brother Gyanendra inherited his throne. But he was not ready to accept the democratic rule and he wanted absolute powers for himself.

In February 2005 he dismissed the entire government and

assumed full executive powers. He stated that he has done so to prevent the Maoist from gaining the power. In January 2006, all major political parties came together and formed a Seven Party Alliance (SPA). The Maoist also joined and organised a mass protest against the King. Thousands of people also supported their movements and came to the street to protest against the King. Foreign pressure also increased on the king to give up the powers. Finally on 24 April 2006, king announced he was giving up the absolute powers and power should be transferred to the people. The SPA chose Girija Prasad Koirala as the new Prime Minister. This struggle to regain democracy came to be known as the Second Movement for Democracy

Meaning- Constitutional MonarchyIt is a form of government under which the Constitution of the country acknowledges an elected representative as the head of the state. In the modern constitutional monarchies, the monarch is the head of the state but he plays only symbolic rule.

Meaning- Absolute MonarchyUnder the absolute monarchy, the head of the state has absolute powers. The monarchs runs the country with total powers.

What do you meant by Nepals Second Movement for democracy? In February 2005, King Gyanendra has dismissed the entire

government in Nepal and assumed full executive powers. He stated that he has done so to prevent the Maoist from gaining the power. In January 2006, all major political parties came together and formed a Seven Party Alliance (SPA). The Maoist also joined and organised a mass protest against the King. Thousands of people also supported their movements and came to the street to protest against the King. Foreign pressure also increased on the king to give up the powers. Finally on 24 April 2006, king announced he was giving up the absolute powers and power should be transferred to the people. The SPA chose Girija Prasad Koirala as the new Prime Minister. This struggle to regain democracy came to be known as the Second Movement for Democracy

Seven party Alliance (SPA) in NepalIn February 2005, King Gyanendra has dismissed the entire government in Nepal and assumed full executive powers. For to restore democracy in Nepal all the political parties in the parliament formed a Seven Party Alliances (SPA) and this party called for a four day strike in Kathmandu, the countrys capital. The king Gyanendra was forced to accept all the demands of the SPA and selected Girija Prasad Koirala as the new Prime Minister of the interim government.

MaoistsThose communists who believe in the ideology of MaoTse-Tung, the leader of the Chinese revolution. They see to overthrow the government through an armed revolution so as to establish the rule of the peasants and workers.

BoliviaPopular Struggle in Bolivia/ Water war in Bolivia 2. Difference in between the popular struggle in Nepal and Bolivia1.3.

Kittiko- Hachchiko Movement

Popular Struggle in Bolivia (Or) Prepare a note about- Water War in Bolivia Bolivia is a poor country in Latin America The World bank pressurized the government to give up its control

of municipal water supply. The government sold this right for the city of Cochabamba to a Multi National Company (MNC) The company immediately increased the price of water by four times. People received the water bill of Rs 1000 in a country where average income is around Rs 5000 a month This led to a popular protest. In January 2000, formed an organisation called FEDECOR labourers, human right activists, and community leaders, environmentalists has organised a successful four day general strike

The government agreed to negotiate, and strikes called off

but police restored to brutal repression so agitation again started in February. Another strike started in April but government imposed martial laws. But as a result of the power of the people struggles the MNC officials had flee the city and finally government agreed all the demands The contract of MNC was cancelled and the water supply restored to the municipality at old rates. This came to be known as Bolivias water war.

To make a comparison between the popular struggles in Nepal and Bolivia1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The Movement in Nepal was to re establish democracy but the movement in Bolivia was one specific policy of the government Both these are instances of political conflict that led to the popular struggles In both movements peoples had came in to the streets and they had raise their demands The public demonstration finally resulted to the government has agreed to their demands In both conflicts had saw mass mobilization of the people In both struggles new political organisation get formed at the time of conflicts.

Prepare a note about- KittikoHachchiko Movement In 1984 Karnataka government set up a company called

Karnataka Pulpwood Limited 30000 hectares of land was given free to this company for 40 years. Much of this land was used by local farmers for grazing the cattle The company planted eucalyptus trees for paper pulp. In 1987, a movement started Kittiko Hachchiko (pluck and plant) led non violent method and they plucked the eucalyptus and planted saplings of trees that useful to the people (your opinion- as a farmer, environmental activist, government official and consumer of paper)

Mobilisation and OrganisationImportance of organisations in Popular struggle 2. Two ways of participation in a struggle- Direct and Indirect Participation1.

Two different ways of participation of an Organisation in to a struggleThe people organise the mass protest against the government and the government policies. The examples of Nepal and Bolivia shows that various human rights, labour and community leaders join together to protest. Different kinds of organisations work behind all the big struggles. They organised the mass protest more systematically and make the protest more effective. These organisation play their role in to two different ways 1. Direct Participation 2. Indirect participation

Direct paticipationThe organisation try to influence the decision in a democracy by directly participating in active politics. They themselves create new political parties and contest elections. They aim to form good policies by being a part of the government itself. They enter the politics and make good policies for the citizens of the country

Indirect ParticipationEvery citizen cannot form a political party. They dont have the necessary skills or the desire to take part in direct political activity. They voice their demands by voting. People form organisations to voice their interest. These organisations promote the interests and the viewpoints of the members of the organisation. They are called pressure groups. They influence the government policies without the sharing the political power.

Pressure Groups and MovementsMeaning- Pressure group/ Interest Group Difference- Pressure group and Political Party Meaning- Sectional and Public interest group Different forms of pressure group Different types of Movement Group How the pressure group & Movements influence on politics 7. Difference between sectional and public interest group 8. The influence of pressure groups in politics is it healthy?1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Meaning of Pressure GroupA pressure group is an organised or unorganised body that promotes its particular interests within a society. They exert influence on public officials and agencies for their interests. They direct their efforts towards influencing the government policies and forming public opinion. They do not aim to share the political power. These organisations are formed by the people for common interests, occupations or opinions and work for the common objectives Eg: Narmada Bacahao Andolan, Movt for Right to information, Anti Liquor movement, Womens movement, Environmental movement etc

Difference between pressure group and Political PartyA pressure group is an organised or unorganised body that seeks to promote its interests. It is formed by the people of common interests, occupations and opinions. It aims to influence the government policies and form the public opinion. It does not aim to directly control or share the political power. It works for the common interest of the group alone. A political party seeks to attain political power in the country by contesting the elections. They have their own ideology and vision and represent various interests.

What do you meant by Interest Groups or Pressure group in Politics? Which are the two types of Interest Groups or Pressure groups in Politics? (Or) Differentiate between Sectional and Public Interest (Promotional pressure groups)An interest or pressure group is a group that seeks to encourage or prevent changes in the public policy without getting elected. They either work to promote a particular policy of the government or protest against the policy of the government depending on their interest

Sectional Interest GroupThe sectional groups are those that represent the interests of a particular section of the society. They aim for the betterment of their members only not society in general. Eg: Trade Unions, Business Assosiations, Professional assosiations (lawyers, teachers and doctors)

Public Interest Group (Promotional Pressure group)A public interest group is one that represents the interest of the entire society in general. Their activities benefit all the members of the society and not just a particular section in the society. They promote collective interests and not just selective interestEg: FEDECOR (Bolivia), SPA (Nepal)Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) is an organisation of government employees that campaigns against the caste discrimination. Their principle is to ensure social justice and equality in entire society.

Different Types of Movement GroupsA movement seeks to exert influence on the policies of the government. These movements can be of various types. Some movements are issue specific movements that concerned with only one issue. They work to achieve that single objective and have a very limited time frame. Some Movements have more than one objective to deal with. They work to achieve the broader goal and have a long time frame Eg: Nepalese movement for democracy, Narmada Bachao Andolan Movement, Women Movement and Environment movements etc

Narmada Bachao Andolan MovementThe movement started with the specific issue of the people displaced by the creation of Sardar Sarovar dam on the armada river. Its objective was to stop the dam from being constructed. Gradually it became a wider movement that questioned all such big dams. Metha Padkar, the human right and environmental activists gave the leadership to form this movement.

National Alliance for Peoples MovementsNAPM it is an organisation of organisation. Various movement groups struggling on specific issues are constituents of this loose organisation which co ordinates the activities of a large number of peopless movements in our country.

How the Pressure groups and Movements influence the PoliticsThey try to gain public support and sympathy for their goals and their activities by carrying out information campaigns, organising meetings, filling petitions etc. They try to influence medias for to give much more attention about their issues 2. They organise strikes or disrupting government programmes. Workers organisations, employees associtaions and most of the government groups often use this tactics for to force the government for to accept their demands.1.

3. Business groups often employ professional lobbyists or sponsor expensive advertisements. Some persons from pressure groups or movement groups may participate in official bodies and committees that offer advice to the government.

Different forms of relationship between political parties and pressure groupsA pressure group is an organised or unorganised body that promotes its interests.While the movements or interest groups do not directly engage in party politics, they trying to influence the political party. Most of these pressure groups taking a political stance without being a party. They have political ideology and position on major issues. The relationship between pressure group and political parties take different forms direct and indirect. 1. The pressure group are either formed or led by the leaders of political parties or extended their support to the political party. Most of the trade unions and the student movements are formed by the political parties or they are affiliated with the political parties.

2. Some times the political parties grow out of the movement. Eg: when the Assam movement led by students against the foreigners came to an end, it led the formation of Asom gana Parishad. The parties like DMK and AIADMK in T.N can be traced to a long drawn social reform movement during the 1930- 1940 3. In most of the case the relationship between parties and interest or movement group is not so direct. They often take positions that opposed to each other. Yet they are in dialogue and negotiation. Movement groups have raised new issues that have been taken up by the political parties. Most of the leadership of political parties comes from interest or movement groups.

Is the influence of pressure group in politics healthy? How the activities of the pressure group are useful in the functioning of a democratic government? A pressure group is an organised or unorganised body that

seeks to promote its interests. It is formed by the people having common interest, occupations and opinions. It aims to influence the government policies and form the public opinion. They do not aim to attain the power. They just seek to promote their interest. This interest can be of a specific section or the whole society.

It is argued that sectional interest groups are not good for the

democracy. They promote only the interest of their section and ignore the whole society. It makes division in the society. He pressure groups are not accountable to the people in general. They are not answerable to the general public for their actions and decisions.. The can also influence the public opinion by spending a lot of money on advertising their idea. However the pressure groups they are not unhealthy for democracy. They help the people of a particular section to voice their interests and demands. It gives an opportunity to the people from the socially weaker section of the society to raise their issues and demands. No one sectional group can put extra pressure on the government. If a section put extra focus on only its interests, members of the other sectional groups can raise their own demands. This helps in maintaining a balance between the demands of various groups in the society.