Wednesday, November 26, 2008

"People's Federal Democratic National Republic"

Thats a mouthful for sure.  


Those brilliant  Maoists have been banging their heads together for six days to try and mend a catastrophic rift in their party.  It seems most of the hard-liners want to announce an all Communist "People's Republic"  immediately; while Prachanda wants to go a little slower so as not to throw the country back into chaos.  After what blogdai can only assume to be and excruciating application of sheer brainpower, our boys in red have decided to call Nepal the "People's Federal Democratic National Republic."  Just think of the expense in stationary this will incur!  PFDNR Nepal. 


What this title tells us, just by looking at it, is that the Maoists are still deeply divided and deeply factionalized. it's as if the Maoists threw every point of contention they had into the title, not caring if it worked or even made sense.  Nepal is now the "agree to disagree" nation from its title.  


Maoist honcho's called this new title a "synthesis" of party policy documents. blogdai sees it as an "emulsion:"  hurredly mixing together things that don't belong.   


Imagine if we left the Maoists to rename our popular Kathmandu watering holes:   

Fire and Ice Pizza would be:  "Cold Firey Hot Pizza Ice"

Tom and Jerry Pub:  "Jerry's Pub with Tom's Name but mostly Jerry's unless it' Not"

Yin/Yang Bar:   "Yin or Yang both at once with no balance or compromise Bar."


Let's break down this new title and look at it.  Both the words that are used and their positioning tell us quite a lot about what went on in that Maoist meeting.  


People's  

Only ideologically totalitarian or Communist governments use this word to describe their country.  The fact that it occurs first in the title tells blogdai that the hard-line Communist ideologues in the Maoist party holding sway.  It also shows that every Maoists eventually wants a Communist Nepal.  


Federal

Means a type of representative government; the type that no Nepali can adequately describe, but is supposed to limit the chaos of pure democracy by letting elected representative speak for the majority of people in any given district or "federated" sub-unit of a nation.  It is the second term used in the new Maoist title and probably sits there to appease the NC and UML.  


Democratic

Dead in the middle of the new title.  It is in the weakest position for emphasis--almost an afterthought.  Maoists know that if you use any variation of the word "democracy," to describe yourself, whether applicable or not, the U.S. will leave you alone, the world media will fawn all over you, and foreign aid will keep arriving.  It's a lot like all of those ridiculous military medals that despots like to create and wear on their uniforms:  No real meaning but gives a good impression. 


National

A poor thinker's stab at national unity.  Mainly, it's just the Maoists way of saying that they've finally made it to the big leagues.  No factionalizing, they tell us, "we are now a national brand."  Thanks to Ian Martin and James Moriarty.  


Republic

If you read the new title quickly, you find that Nepal is actually called a "People's Republic"  Notice how "People's" and "Republic" frame all other words?  They are the two most strategically placed words in the title.  Republic, next to Federal and sometimes Democracy, is unnecessary and redundant.  All three terms share concepts and mechanisms.  


This new title shows what can happen when a room full of hog butchers begins to squabble.  We get nothing approaching compromise, but we can infer quite a lot about the Maoist's intentions from the mish-mash of a title they want to slap on Nepal:  We are on our way to a Communist state.


-=blogdai






33 Comments:

At 3:01 AM, November 27, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

anyone who expected anything different from the maoists is clearly stupid.

 
At 8:16 AM, November 27, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Would that they were only "hog butchers" as you say. I laughed out loud at this new name.

A classic example of ignorance coming to power through brute force and misinformed world legitimizing. Ask them to actually govern and you get this primary-school mixed bag of political concepts.

How in the world did we not see this coming?

 
At 8:59 PM, November 27, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well a lot of us saw this coming and said so. Including a lot of independent journalists and even blog dai. I think those who could make a difference were too blinded by their hatred towards our ex-monarch.

 
At 1:41 AM, November 28, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's been obvious from the start that the Maoists were never interested in democracy - read their website - now at least they've admitted that they want establish a communist republic - and who's going to stop them? (or the increasingly murderous YCL..) - Anonymous 1

 
At 8:40 AM, November 28, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Without gun Maobadi can do nothing.

 
At 5:29 PM, November 29, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hillarious b'dai! Love the themes!

Let's do some more watering holes:

Tongues and Tails Lounge: Tail of the tongue in your tail.

Northfield Cafe: North Field in the South Mountain with an ocean and a desert.

New Orleans Cafe: New Cafe Democratic Republic of Orleans.

 
At 5:47 PM, November 29, 2008, Blogger blogdai said...

Oh god, anon, an immediate blogdai response is required here.

You bastard! I laughed for 5 minutes. I'm still laughing as i write this, but in the spirit of good political critique, let's have a (humorous) look at what you say.

Having a tongue put in one's tail would probably not be much of a stretch for this bar since it makes no attempt to hide the fact that it a dance/massage joint.

Northfield itself is a joke. Barga turned it into a maze of sandwich bars and convenience shops to the point that I have trouble finding my way into the place. They used to have great breakfast's as they were once partners with the legendary "Mike's Breakfast" but no more. Barga was the Thamel version of P.t. Barnum: quite the huckster. But he was always affable and a gentleman. His problem was that he always tried to copy Sudesh over at the New Orleans, but lacked Sudesh'e sense of style.

OK, now I'm not sure Sudesh would appreciate you calling his bar "democratic republic" of anything. You go directly to blogdai's soul when you mention the king of all clubs, but it is still quite funny. Sudesh and I are very old friends and I never forgave him for changing the name from The Blue Note Bar to the New Orleans Cafe. But alas, jazz fans, blogdai and brother Shrestha have plans for a Blue Note revival. Hold that thought....

-=blogdai

 
At 6:26 AM, December 04, 2008, Blogger blogdai said...

Seriously as Blogdai, you try to make some good, arguable points. My question is, where are the responses? Too much depth of consideration and we scare the average blogger away I'll assume.

Go back to "Kill the King; Give Maoists a chance; and give us more foreign aid," and watch the responses swell up again-- am I correct?

-BD

 
At 7:26 PM, December 04, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If the commies are riven into factions so much the better for Nepal. Then the day when you might be liberated from the commie yoke might be closer at hand. Unless of course one faction decides to eliminate the other factions ... not an unknown technique in the commie world eh?

 
At 8:53 PM, December 16, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Go back to "Kill the King; Give Maoists a chance; and give us more foreign aid," and watch the responses swell up again-- am I correct?

Apparently Not!

 
At 12:46 AM, December 29, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

oh what fun watching kanak dixit [ last seen rabidly calling for the kings ouster] at the frontlines of a march again..down with regression now changed to down with progession?...hell the country doesnt know what it wants ..as far as im concerned they can all march and protest and rot away...and you blogdai can go and get drunk at sudesh's

 
At 11:13 PM, December 29, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Power hunger Girija and goons and dollar farming journalists and civil societies (not all)should be blamed for all these consequences...

I don't see any differences between yesterday and today. All they are howling for their vested interest only, it is neither for the people nor fot the country....

 
At 12:32 PM, January 23, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Look at the tone change towards the Maoists- until yesterday, until the elections day, everyone, including journalists, so called 'civil society' leaders, human rights activists, Kanak Mani, Manjushree, and the rest who pretended to pioneer Nepal's search for freedom- they all went gaga over Prachanda's seemingly charismatic yet false promises.

They actually believed Maoists would do good. Ha! How soon things change!!

 
At 3:04 PM, January 23, 2009, Blogger blogdai said...

Yes, you are right. Unfortunately you are right way too late.

It is the mark of any Nation's ability to handle its own affairs and politics when it can and does view developments with just a small part of jaded optimism tendered with a large dose of watchful, critical cynicism. Nepal is not there yet, and may never be.

blogdai pointed out correctly the farce that was Jana Andolan for what it was: a calculated attempt to temporarily merge rival factions and manipulate public opinion in order to regain governmental power.
"How dare you doubt our new democracy" was the response here.

blogdai also continually points out that Prachanda has NEVER renounced his ultimate goal of turning nepal into a communist, unilateralist state. He said so himself on numerous occasions (See: blogdai: "nepalis are stupid"). What does it take for you to pay attention? "Oh, Prachanda is reforming government," and that goof Jerry Guo from Newsweek ( for whom blogdai arranged an interview with King G.) touted in his big nepal article how Prachanda was investing in "science" for a new Nepal. Hogwash, uniformed hogwash spat out by Polyannas.

Now here we go, and all of the sudden the lights go on! Was it because the YCL not only has not stopped its violent activities even after Prachanda explicitly promised he would demand they do so, but instead has increased their brutality that made us all change our minds?

You need a good communist whoopin', blogdai thinks, before you all will wake up. Get ready Kingdom of the lazies, here it comes and it's all your fault.

-=blogtoldyouso

 
At 3:52 PM, January 24, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Blogdai,

Like I said- your 'whooping' needs to land on Kanak Mani's butt, and on butts of many of your friends who sit on the mantle of elite-ness and profess what's good and what's bad for Nepal.

In Nepal, its not the people who are lazy and dumb (oh come on, people who elected Bush elected Obama and aren't quite that dumb after all!), its the dogs who claim to represent people that are dumb and have erred numerous times in Nepal's history. From the aid-munching human rights activists to self-proclaimed civil society 'leaders' to youth representatives..you name it. And media hasn't done justice in listening to and transcribing what people of Nepal really want.

I'm a Nepali and I can bring to table thousands of Nepalis who want a peaceful, prosperous, corruption-free nation. Most of all, we wanted then to be heard by Girija and his followers, now by Maoists and his followers, at some time by Birendra and his followers.

There shouldn't be a need for another revolution to change things everytime we want change, but there aren't many options left otherwise. Unless you know any powerful US senators who can put in your word for a twist of scenarios in Nepal.

"and that goof Jerry Guo from Newsweek ( for whom blogdai arranged an interview with King G.)"

Really?

 
At 6:55 PM, January 24, 2009, Blogger blogdai said...

Yes, really. The bastard owes me a transcript of the interview and he stiffed me. Oh well.

And yes, ol' blogdai can find time for lunch with a Senator or two; but that's not what intrigues me about your post.

You say you have a thousand nepalis at you disposal? To that I ask "really?"

Let's do this: I'll take you at your word. I'll give you the space to organize your movement here and a reasonable amount of financing if you can prove what you say. Deal?

Get to it, saati.

-=blogdeadserious

 
At 4:52 AM, January 26, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

People's in Federal Democratic Natioal Republic , one thing seriously why we add so many words to the word Nepal. It seem like covering ourself with words and show ourself great instead of doing in real.
Different topic now, this is for the nepali blogging history. I believe blogdai wrtier and reader have a lot of knowledge regarding this subject.
Friends
I have written a blog which is basically intend to collect nepalese blog informtion.दौंतरीमा मैले यस्को जमर्को गरेको छु। साथीहरु सबैले सक्दो सहयोग गरौं र नेपाली ब्लगको सबै कुरा डकुमेन्ट गरौं। यसमा
तपाइले पहिले पढ्नु भएका ब्लगको नाली बेली या छोट्करीमै भए पनि लेख्नुहोला।
http://dautari.org/2009/01/blog-post_4621.html
धन्यबाद
नेपालियन

 
At 11:43 AM, January 26, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

BD,

I just did stop laughing after reading your post. First, you misinterpret what I say. "I can bring to table thousands of Nepalis" if necessary isn't the same as 'a thousand nepalis are at my disposal at present'.

2nd, your offer of financing the movement, enticing, eh! I'll take it if you wanna give it! The movement- what movement?

That being said, the point is, 'the movement' has to be started by everyone and anyone, not just me. What helps the movement is people like you and me and numerous others in Malaysia, Kuwait, Japan, Europe..who've seen the world outside Nepal. Their communication to their home helps. If they return to Nepal, that helps as well.

I don't think its a one-person thing- entire Nepal needs to wake up and catch up to the pace of the world, and that'll happen only if majority Nepalis realize what they really want for themselves from the people they elect to represent them. Especially when a nation is wrought with violence as Nepal, a 'Barack Obama' will never get a chance for change in that nation.

 
At 1:45 PM, February 27, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Write news or feature your blog at merosamachar.com . thats a citizen journalism site. means anyone can write news. thanks!
I'd love if blogdai could feature this site on his blog!! (and he could feature his own blog on Mero Samachar!!!!!)

 
At 1:53 AM, March 15, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, Nepal's not going to be a Communist Republic anytime soon. Somalia is what its going to be. The Tharus have just finished their agitation and now its the Muslims' turn........etc.

The Maoists have no control over the Terai, they're losing what little control they had in the East to the Limbuwan and Khambawan groups, even in the West, Magar and other groups are taking over.

The Maoists thought they could use ethnic groups to their advantage. Looks like the reverse has happened. Ethnic groups used Maoists to come to power and look ready to ditch them now.

 
At 1:56 PM, March 15, 2009, Blogger blogdai said...

We may need to start realizing that a Nepali politician's definition of effective government means simply protect your slice of the pie and get nothing done for your country.

Everyone used the Maoists, Koirala during Jana Andolan; India through Koirala; Ian Martin, to legitimize his job, and many others.

Prachanda's problem is his honesty. He doesn't even try to fool the public and pretend he's running a government. It's pure ideological bullshit and communist absolutisms and restrictions, period. As we all know, the sham of effective government in Nepal has always acted to maintain the status quo. Interrupt that equilibrium and greedy politicians start to plot your demise....

Prachanda has no control over his government and especially no control over the Nepal Army. They are recruiting and retooling at India's behest. Go ahead, Bumbling Babu Ram, threaten to build up your Maoist army once again. My, what effective unifiers those Maoists are eh?

Koirala will coat-tail any side with momentum so look for him to support Maoists overthrow at the hands of the NA. He'll also just fall in love with the idea of restoring the monarchy and installing King G's grandson on the throne.

Never bite the Indian hand that feeds you, eh Girija babu?

-=blogdai

 
At 10:59 AM, March 19, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

King G will soon be back on his throne!

 
At 6:53 AM, March 20, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Blogdai,
Today Bhudai Pundit comes to you with his tail between his legs ready to eat his own words. What a colossal judgment of error on my part about the Maoists - their intentions and their actions subsequent to coming to power. I must say kudos to you, because you were the few people that was rightly skeptical and suspicious of the Maoists. Even the Nepali media (including the Nepali Times..) who are now bitching and complaining about the Maoists were like little school girls a few months ago.
It wasn’t easy for me to go out of my way come here and admit this. But you gota call a spade a spade. There is much is disagree with you on but on this one we all got taken for a ride.

 
At 9:16 AM, March 20, 2009, Blogger blogdai said...

It was a learning process for all of us; we all had reasonable opinions.

The question remains however, will the Nepali people learn from this mistake and begin now to see how important it is for each citizen to take an active and informed role in the political future of Nepal?

-=blogdai

 
At 1:17 PM, March 21, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

“The question remains however, will the Nepali people learn from this mistake and begin now to see how important it is for each citizen to take an active and informed role in the political future of Nepal?”

Who is left in Nepal? The significant majority who had any education or political awareness have all immigrated. What is very worrisome to me is who is going to provide a credible opposition to the Maoists? It’s not like we are brewing young, educated, dynamic leaders who are emerging and will take over the reigns of Nepali politics. Especially after seeing that student elections I was reminded that these wild, rowdy, dumbasses are potentially the ‘future’ of the country.

It’s the Maoists and right now the best opposition is Girija and Sujata Koirala. That should indicate just how low we have stooped to when I am hoping that Girija will spur some kind of political movement to remove the Maoists from power.

 
At 6:48 PM, March 21, 2009, Blogger blogdai said...

I cringe as you do at the thought of Girija riding yet one more political tide to his advantage. Watch Girija turn royalist before this whole thing is over. I still remember Sujata, after G's takeover, lamenting having to ride on the back of a motorcycle and being relieved and happy to "finally arrive at an Indian village."

Yes, it is sad that idiots from the YCL and other groups paint a dismal picture of Nepal's political future. But, there ARE smart people with brilliant, unselfish ideas who are wanting to serve their beloved Nepal but cannot find the means to do so. Either that or they've been intimidated and threatened out of voicing their opinions (some democracy).

We need to gather the voices, one at a time and hold a conference of ideas right in Kathmandu. Let's do it.

-=blogdai

 
At 1:34 PM, March 22, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't deny there are people out there with good intentions. I think you said it best - there is a lack of concrete means to really do something meaningful. There needs to be some kind of leadership that is able to channel all those intentions into something meaningful - otherwise all those intentions will just remain as intentions.
Free speech is clearly under attack. There is NO law and order and it’s a free for all violence. Basic safety, basic law and order and free speech are basic necessities. Without these even those smart people with great intentions are not going to be able to get anywhere.
First thing is first – The Maoists have to go! They have to be removed from their throne of power. I cringe at the prospect of Girija using the current situation to his advantage but I’ll tell you what – I’ll choose Girija and Sujata over Baburam and Prachanda any day of the week. Unfortunately, besides Girija I don’t see anyone else having the ability to garner enough support to challenge the Maoists. Do you? The army? Maybe but they can’t do it alone without political support from the NC.

 
At 6:51 PM, March 22, 2009, Blogger blogdai said...

The actual "means" to achieve a new political era in Nepal do not come immediately. First, we must recognize the problem, form groups of like-minded but politically open individuals who also recognize the problem; discuss the situation and form a consensus as to our new direction. The means come eventually and through strength in numbers. But it takes that first step, that first small group...

You are right, sadly, that it may take the same old corrupt individuals to overthrow the Maoists on the one hand, and plunge Nepal into the same old cycle of political apathy on the other.

But again, the KEY is that first small voice that speaks a non-selfish truth to that first small group of like minded individuals.

Who is that person? Where are these little groups? Hurry because we haven't a moment to waste.

-=blogdai

 
At 8:13 AM, March 26, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yup. The politics of hope (no not Obama) vs the politics of envy. Think the last one always wins in Nepal.

Seems that PKD has no time for his old man. Now what kind of example does that set? That's the problem - no decent role models, community values, religion etc etc
http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2009/03/26/FromtheNepaliPress/15774

naagboy

 
At 3:30 AM, March 27, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not a single bill filed for parliamentary session

2 days to go and nothing so far...

What exactly are our MPs doing? Not exactly improving our lot are they? Where's that sense of urgency?

All talk and no action. Just pay lip service and maintain the inertia

naagboy

 
At 12:24 AM, April 24, 2009, Blogger Basanta said...

Blogdai, I have used one of the images here in my blog. I hope you will allow it. I will remove if you you don't like.

 
At 8:11 PM, April 29, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, Blogdai. where can E-Mail you?

 
At 9:19 AM, May 01, 2009, Blogger blogdai said...

blogdai@nepalimail.com

-=BD

 

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