The 2006 Democracy Movement in Nepal

1. What methods did the group(s) use to express their frustrations and ultimately lead to a revolution? The rebels used various methods to express their frustration; one method was the boycotting of things. These things that were boycotted ranged from municipal elections to taxes. Another method used was organized protests and strikes. These protests were usually made up of Nepalese citizens and members of the SPA or the Maoists. One notable strike was the nationwide strike established by the SPA (Seven Party Alliance, one of the leading rebel forces) that demanded all businesses to close, and for all the citizens to protest for a few days. The demonstrators also created a blockade in the streets during the strike. This not only meant transportation would be on hold, but it would also cause the blockage of supplies from India such as food, medicines, etc. The nationwide strike lasted for two days. 2. How is your revolution similar and or different to one of the revolutions previously studied? The Democracy Movement of Nepal is quite similar to the EDSA revolution. First of all, both the revolutions had a large amount of support from the citizens. Another similarity is the main purpose of why the revolution was formed, both of the revolutions wanted to get rid of their leader at the time and establish a democracy. One difference was the level of peace. The protests of the Nepalese movement were fairly violent, as demonstrators would throw rocks at the police forces, while the police forces would fight back by launching tear gas grenades or beat up protestors. In some occasions, the police force would use live firearms; this would be the cause of a few deaths and injuries. On the other hand, the EDSA revolution was fairly peaceful, and the violence was very minimal. 3. What was the eventual outcome of the revolution, and did the nation/people become better due to the revolution? King Gyanendra would eventually realize that most of the citizens were not happy with him being ruler. Others were also not happy with the way the King had been ruling Nepal; India and the United States withdrew their assistance to the government when they had heard the news about the King’s new curfew to shoot any demonstrators on sight. Ultimately, the King gave in to the rebels, and his direct rule was abolished. The nation become better in the sense that most people were satisfied with the results, so the number of riots and protests would decrease, although there are still some people who want the old monarchy system back. The people certainly became better after the revolution, as they got most of what they wanted; right now they have a little bit of democracy and they stripped King Gyanendra of his power. 4. Was the revolution justified? Would other methods have worked? The revolution has justified a large portion of the government, but some unfairness is still left in Nepal. For example, the groups that were against the government had created something called the 18 May Act, where on the May 18th, the parliament of Nepal had made a bill that decided to strip the power off the King of Nepal. The bill included that the government should also tax the royal family, give 90,000 men to the parliament and destroying the national anthem until a new one is made. But the unfairness about this is that the King is not kicked off his seat, some hard activists were outraged that the bill did not say that the King should surrender his position. So we can say that the revolution was justified in some people’s eyes. In others though, such as the activists, it wasn’t justified. 5. Briefly state whether or not your revolution follows Crane Brinton’s stages of revolution. The Nepal democracy movement sort of fits into Crane Brinton’s stages of Revolution. The first stage included the intellectuals (in this case, civil politicians) speaking out against the government, and eventually forming a group to oppose it. Another example of symptoms is the riots and protest groups formed by the citizens. In the second stage, the people start to get more aggressive, this is an example of people rising up to the government. There is a small battle between the crowds and the police that try and suppress them, 3 civilians die. In the third stage, the revolution try to spread the word around and protest, more deaths occur when protesters are shot in an attempt by the police to restrain the crowds. The nationwide strike also occurs during this stage, this would be a major part of the revolution as it was the last event before the action started to lessen. In the final stage, the king is stripped of most of his power. The country enters a period of recovery and temporary rules are established; with the new authority trying to restore Nepal to its normal state. Bibliography: "2006 democracy movement in Nepal." Wikipedia. 28 12 2007, Wikipedia, 5 Feb 2008 . "NEPAL: Ethnic groups threaten nationwide strike." IRINnews. 18 04 2007. IRINnews. 5 Feb 2008 . Mishra , Anuj. "Democracy from below: a grassroots revolution in Nepal." openDemocracy. 23 04 2006. openDemocracy. 5 Feb 2008 . Bhatti, Khalid. "Half a million people celebrate as the King reinstates Parliament." socialistworld. 27 April 2006. socialistworld. 5 Feb 2008 .