Monarchy still desired: A myth created by fraudulent “scientific” polls

 

 

I am sharing my reflection on this enigmatic myth served and consumed by Nepali elites and media during whole time.

 

From one of my retrospecting postings to ‘Nepal Democracy Group’

 

Nepe

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From: DK

To: nepaldemocracy@googlegroups.com

Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:54:25 -0700 (PDT)

Subject: Re: Constituent Assembly Award ??

 

 

>DK jee, you were right on many of your observations

>about the strength of the Maoists.

 

… -jee,

 

Yes, I was fortunate to be less wrong about certain things. However, I

do wonder if there were chances of what I thought being wrong all

along.

 

Anyway, as we are witnessing many things we believed in or disbelieved

are being proved wrong, we must have been going through retrospection

and adjustment at this point. Whatever stage we are in, one thing we

probably can rightfully claim that we have been as rationale as we

could be at every step, with the information available to us.

 

So if we were wrong, it was the information, not our judgment.

 

And I think we indeed were fed with wrong information. For example,

all 'scientific" polls coming from Nepal consistently and constantly

showed that there was an overwhelming popular support (83-97% even in

2003 and still 45 % in 2007 !!!!) for monarchy.

 

Deliberate or innocent, they were wrong information.

 

They could be deliberate, because in every poll, the question on

monarchy was always "mis/leading" and "overwhelming" (I have talked

about some of them in this forum). I know the respectable names

involved in these polls. But I can not make any sense of these

recurring fraudulence in designing the question particularly on

monarchy.

 

Then the second and apparently innocent misinformation is about the

interpretation of the complex term "monarchy".

 

I think the 'yes' answer to the question on "monarchy" was not a

support for monarchy. If that was indeed the case, how can you explain

the same poll showing 1% support for the king and 45% support for

monarchy ?

 

I know the analysts interrelated that as Nepali people's support for

the institution of monarchy despite their dislike for the king.

 

I think that was an artificial interpretation and an incorrect

conclusion, which now is also proved by the mother of all polls, the

election of CA.

 

Then what was that answer about ?

 

Researchers never devised a second question to find that out. So it is

hard to say with certainty. However, I think the answer was about the

"life and personal safety of the king and the royal family". People

were just saying they don't want the king and the royal family leave

the country or get killed. It was just a simple Nepali compassion to

an important family they were familiar with. It had nothing to do with

"monarchy" as the analysts interpreted for us.

 

So, in this way, through biased questions and wrong interpretation,

our analysts made us and perhaps themselves believe that monarchy in

Nepal was popular throughout (74% just before Jana-andolan II, to give

you an absurd view).

 

Apart from information, we also have been a victim of what I will call

a "reverse dogmatism". (similar to "reverse-racism") against Maoists.

 

This is more clear at this point when Nepali voters have broken what

we must be seeing as a barrier of "dogma" (Maoist's) we could have

never done.

 

Okay, I will stop it here. I do hope friends in the forum will take

this as my attempt to understand a difficult and complex thing rather

than trying to point finger or shame anybody. As I said, and it was

really sincerely said, I know, I have seen, everybody being rational

and good at every step of our discussion and deliberations.

 

best,

 

DK

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