Popular Struggles and Movements

Let us learn about the popular struggles and movements in Bolivia and Nepal.

Popular Struggles and Movements: Struggle In Bolivia

Latin America is blessed with an abundance of freshwater. The region contains four of the world's 25 largest rivers. Bolivia is a poor country in Latin America. The World Bank pressurized the government to give up its control over the municipal water supply.

Bolivia granted a 40-year privatization lease to a subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation (an MNC), giving it control over the water on which more than half a million people survive. After privatization, the company increased the water prices by 3-4 times affecting the poor people of the country.

This resulted in non-payment of bills by the poor families and the in-turn company disconnected their supplies of water. Also, the flooding dramatically increased due to the neglect of pipes and infrastructure. This led to a spontaneous protest by the people of the country. In January 2000 various labor, human rights, and community leaders joined together to protest against the privatization of water.

They organized various strikes in the country. Eventually, the agitation of the people forced the government to agree upon their demands, and the contract with the MNC was called off. The water was transferred back to the municipality at the old rates. This struggle against the privatization of water came to be known as Bolivia's water war.

So this is again an example of people�s struggle against the establishment, which has severely influenced the policies of the region.

Popular Struggles and Movements: Struggle In Nepal

Democratic Movement in Nepal

Nepal saw a massive popular uprising in April 2006. The movement's goal was to restore democracy. People tried to reclaim the king's influence over the government. Nepal is a country that belongs to the third phase of development. In 1990, it became a democratic country. Following that, the king was technically the state's ruler, but the real power was wielded by elected representatives. The transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy was endorsed by King Birendra. In 2001, he and his entire family were brutally murdered.

King Gyanendra was named the new king. He, on the other hand, was not willing to accept democratic governance. He fired the Prime Minister and dissolved the popularly elected Parliament in February 2005.

Events During the Revolt of the People

The Seven Party Alliances�SPA was created by all of the existing political parties. In Kathmandu, they had called for a four-day strike. The protests turned into an indefinite strike over the next few days. The Maoists and other organizations joined forces in this strike.

Curfews were broken and Nepalis took to the streets. Every day, tens of thousands of people came to demand the restoration of democracy. On April 21, the people gave the king an ultimatum. The leaders rejected the king's half-hearted concessions and went ahead with their demands.

Their requests were as follows:

Restoration of parliament
Power to an all-party govt.
New constituent assembly

The Revolution's Outcome

The king was compelled to give in to all of the requests on April 24th. As a result, Girija Prasad Koirala was selected as the interim government's new Prime Minister. The SPA and the Maoists reached an agreement on how a new Constituent Assembly would be chosen. The majority of the king's powers were taken by Parliament. In Nepal, it was known as the second democratic movement.

Popular Struggles and Movements in Nepal and Bolivia: Conclusion

In the previous modules, we have learned about struggles in Nepal and Bolivia. As you already understood, both movements saw people coming on the street in protest. In both cases, public demonstrations finally led to the government agreeing to their demands. There are some major conclusions that one can draw from both the struggles.

First, democracy means the involvement of every citizen in the decision-making process. It is possible that sometimes decisions are made through consensus and do not involve any conflict. But sometimes decisions made are not in everybody�s interest. Some people or some groups might feel that the decision is not in their interest or favor. This involves conflict between the groups, between those who are in the power and those who are not.

As you saw, in the case of Nepal, wherein the opposition political parties revolted against the monarchy, and in the case of Bolivia, people revolted against the establishment.

In the case of Bolivia, the decision to privatize the water supply was taken by the government, without consulting the people at large, as a result, the decision went against the people�s will, and mass agitation happened.

Second, most of the conflicts saw mass mobilization. People came together to voice their opinion. Sometimes these conflicts are solved through the existing parliamentary system or judiciary, but when the conflict itself involves these institutions, the solution of the conflict comes from the people themselves.

As in the previous case, the people of Bolivia were in direct conflict with the government, which had taken a decision, which was against the will of the people.

Third, with these kinds of protests, generally, new political organizations get spontaneous public participation. These political organizations make the public protest more effective.

Read More: Pressure Groups: Difference Between a Pressure Group and a Political Party