Chitre-jee, Republic is a foregone conclusion, well except for GP Koirala who probably still habors a hope that he might somehow be able to retain monarchy and save his and NC's old vision and legacy. However, since most Congressis including GP's bhardars are admitting that support to monarchy is going to cost NC very heavily, GP will have no option but to give up his love for monarchy. It is only matter of how soon or how late. And talking about saluting our brave republic-loving brother and sisters, in the midst of the April Revolution, when Kirtipur and Chitawan-basi declared their lands "Republic zone" and people of Rupandehi were discarding "Shri 5" from public offices, I was so ecstatic, I proposed, in Nepal Democracy Forum, to write congratulation letters to the people of Kirtipur, Chitawan and Rupandehi. Although there was some support and enthusiasm, most of who's who did not seem to be ready yet to join the republic bandwagon. So the idea did not materialize. Below are some of the postings to ND group then. Ramailo lagne rrahechha aafno posting aafaile pheri padhda ra self-promotion pani garna paaunda. So, here they go… ______________________________________________________________ From: Deepak Khadka To: nepaldemocracy@googlegroups.com Date: Sun, Apr 9 2006 10:32 am Subject: An Appeal to ND An appeal to ND members ----------------------------------- Friends, Our friends at the ground zero can give more accurate picture. However, the news of spontaneous declaration of "republic zones" and discarding of "Shree 5" in particular and universally dominant pro-republic slogans in demonstrations in general has shown that, at the popular level, the movement is undeniably pro-republic. The same also tells that how far the movement will go will depend on how DECISIVELY and LEGITIMATELY it becomes a pro-republic movement at political level. GP Koirala, by his reminder in his interviews with BBC and eKantipur on the eve of andolan that he is not leading a republican movement, had distanced the political leadership from the republican mass for whatever or for not so unspeculative reasons, if I may. Pro-republic mood of the ongoing movement clearly shows a gap between GP Koirala's vision of the movement and the ground reality. However, I am not here to express my sorrow Koirala's poor vision. I am here to share my thought about what can and should we (the ND group) do, in addition to what we already are doing, to help the movement. Actually, I am here with a special personal appeal to all members of ND group. Before stating the appeal, I would like to say that I am making this appeal by acknowledging the diversity of political thinking among us and fully respecting many members' opposition or unreadiness for the idea of republicanism. My appeal and the reasoning for it are simple. Appeal: Let us acknowledge the movement as it is. Let us recognize the movement as it is. Let us give our approval and encouragement to spontaneous popular developments about the movement as they are happening. Because that is the ultimate and the most believable support to the real movement and, most important of all, Nepali brothers and sisters who are giving their sweat, tears and blood, at this very moment, will feel supported and loved and cared for what they actually are doing. ND members friends, let us acknowledge, recognize and applaud Chitwan and Kirtipur for declaration of "republic zones" and Rupandehi for discarding "Shree 5". Let us congratulate for their courage and aspiration. Let us tell them that we are 100% behind them at every step of their move. Let ND group write letters addressed to people of Kirtipur, Chitwan, Rupandehi and wherever they are rising. Can we ? Shall we ? Shouldn't we ? Wouldn't it make the andolit people of Nepal feel intimately cared and supported by top Nepalis of Sat samundra paari ? The way the movement is at the ground does not have a political leadership at the moment. It is politically bebarish. So, it is vulnerable to anything that can promise the political leadership. It is vulnerable to the Maoists for political leadership. Yes, it is. (GP Koirala made the movement actually more vulnerable to the Maoists, ironically, by fearing it might be if he approved the R-word). And ND group is doing the same. It does not recognize R. It pretends it is not hearing the R reverberating from the streets of Nepal. It talks about the news, but applies a self-censorship to convert the R-word to D-word. Let's recognize R-word as the R-word. If nobody acknowledges R for R, people will go to the Maoists because the later does. So, let's tell the people of Chitwan, Kirtipur and Rupandehi that we do recognize their declaration for what it is, not for what others would like to interpret them. Let us give them hope that there is a DEMOCRATIC leadership and INTERNATIONAL support for 'R' they declared they want. They do not need to turn to anybody else. Thank you for listening my rambling. And I apologize in advance if I have offended anybody by myself being offended by some member's practice of self-censorship to convert "R" to "D" in their communications. Deepak Khadka _____________________________________________________ From: Deepak Khadka To: nepaldemocracy@googlegroups.com Date: Mon, Apr 10 2006 10:31 am Subject: RE: An Appeal to ND B..-jee, D..-jee, G..jee, Y..-jee and P..-jee, Thank you for sharing similar sentiments and sharing that in the forum. I just want to reiterate that I am absolutely not inquiring and questioning personal political convictions of respected members of the group. I am also not trying to preach or convert anybody to republican religion. (On a lighter note, I am absolutely sure about republicanism and equally absolutely sure that, on the eve of declaration of republic Nepal, whenever that will be, everybody, including GP Koirala, will declare themselves as republicans. So I am not worried about that part.) All I was asking was to not to deny the pro-republic character of the ongoing movement (I think it better be described as uprising) demonstrated on the ground zero. Say, not to "de-republicize" the materials related to the movement. And my concern partly comes also from my experience of "agulto_le haneko kukur bijuli dekhda tarsanchha" type. Our last year's New York rally was pre-dominantly pro-republic. A lot of members reported and talked about the rally in this forum and the news also went to local papers in Kathmandu. But it was interesting, no, it was rather terribly disappointing that not a single member mentioned that part. The reports, discussions and news all were "de-republicized" before they were publicized. I complained about that in this forum in a message with a bit sarcastic title "Pro-republican NY Rally: To Report or Not to Report". I had said "I feel a sense of collective discomfort and denial about fully vocal republicanism here". But nobody bothered to respond. Here is the link to the thread. - http://groups.google.com/group/nepaldemocracy/msg/22274f1ecd9e14eb Then, there was this discussion about recent Himal Poll here, which I fear might have led some to believe that republicans do not have a respectable number in Nepal. (I do not have doubt about professional integrity of the poll. However, I see a serious scientific problem with the poll, which I haven't found time to share and discuss here. Anyway, this for some other time. I would say only this much. If you are taking the numbers at their face value and concluding that republicanism do not have future in Nepal, you can not be more wrong.) So, these background fears and my sense that "de-republicization" is still practiced in the group when pro-republic mass is at the forefront of the movement in Nepal, made me do the appeal I made. At least a dispassionate and objective recognition of R-character of the movement by leading members of this forum is deserved. Mero appeal/gunaso/binti tetti ho. Deepak Khadka _____________________________________________________ From: B.. To: nepaldemocracy@googlegroups.com Date: Mon, Apr 10 2006 11:56 am Subject: RE: An Appeal to ND Deepak-jee If your goal is to write to salute young republicans of Nepal on behalf of the forum, I believe you could certainly do so; personally, I don't see any problem with that. The only modality I may suggest is to circulate the letter here first and try to accommodate comments you may receive from other members as much as possible. The Nepali media may or may not print anything we send as they seem currently overwhelmed. On second thought, that may not even matter as long as the letter reaches those people it is intended to reach. Just my two cents. b.. __________________________________________________ From: Deepak Khadka To: nepaldemocracy@googlegroups.com Date: Mon, Apr 10 2006 6:13 pm Subject: RE: An Appeal to ND B-jee, Thank you for suggesting that writing letter addressed directly to the uprising republicans could be done. My idea is not just a letter with very GENERAL support for DEMOCRACY. I think of it as a historical letter with signature of all prominent members on it and with a categorical support for SPECIFIC pro-republic uprising we are witnessing. Think of it as a paradigm shift, if you know what I mean ;-) If we can have it, I am sure this will become a glorious historical document (I imagine a "Republic Revolution Memorial" in a very near future Nepal and a section in it dedicated to the diaspora's contribution. And I imagine our letter proudly displayed there !) Can it be done ? I mean, do I have at least 100 signatures (from our 150+ membership) willing ? Deepak Khadka ___________________________________________________ From: B.. To: nepaldemocracy@googlegroups.com Date: Mon, Apr 10 2006 6:41 pm Subject: RE: An Appeal to ND > Can it be done ? I mean, do I have at least 100 > signatures (from our > 150+ membership) willing ? My experience with such things is that people do what is within their comfort zone. This is a diverse group, so I cannot think of a firm number. Besides, many members are not even active participants for whatever reasons. If you decide to pursue it though, i request that you and other republicans keep any pressure tactics or shaming tactics out of it. I mean, we shouldn't pursue this agenda as if to suggest that if you're not a republican, you're less of a democrat. Personally, I'm ready to support a well conceived letter that addresses this question, but I realize that others too are fully within their rights to reserve judgment on this or any other issue. This is how I envison us functioning as a diverse but mutually supportive forum. b.. __________________________________________________ From: Deepak Khadka To: nepaldemocracy@googlegroups.com Date: Mon, Apr 10 2006 8:28 pm Subject: RE: An Appeal to ND > If you decide to pursue it though, i request that you > and other republicans keep any pressure tactics or > shaming tactics out of it..... > b,, B..-jee, I agree. This is a kind of thing that should be 'labor of love'. Deepak _________________________________________________ Nepe