CBSE Class 10 Social Science Popular Struggles and Movements Assignment

INTRODUCTION

Democracy involves conflict of interests and viewpoints.Theses differences are expressed in organised ways. Those who are in power are required to balance these different demands and pressures.Ordinary citizen plays a significant role through different ways and organisations to shape democracy. Pressure groups and movements are some direct ways to influence. The strugglee of Nepal and Bolivia are two recent stories that show how power is exercised in democracy.

17.1 POPULAR STRUGGLES IN NEPAL AND BOLIVIA

(a) Movement for Democracy in Nepal :
Nepal witnessed an extraordinary popular movement in April 2006. The movement was aimed at restoring democracy. Nepal, was one of the ‘third wave’ countries that had won democracy in 1990.
Although the king formally remained the head of the state, the real power was exercised by popularly elected representatives. King Birendra, was killed in a mysterious massacre of the royal family in 2001. King Gyanendra, in February 2005, dismissed the then Prime Minister and dissolved the popularly elected Parliament. The movement of April 2006 was aimed at regaining popular control over the government from the king.

Events :
All the major political parties in the parliament formed a Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and called for a four day strike in Kathmandu, the country’s capital. The protest soon turned into an indefinite strike in which Maoist insurgents (Communists who believed in the ideology of Mao) and various other organisations joined hands. The security forces found themselves unable to take on more than a lakh people who gathered almost every day and demanded restoration of democracy. The number of protesters reached between three to five lakhs on 21 April and they served an ultimatum to the king. The leaders stuck to their demand for restoration of parliament, power to an all–party government and a new constituent assembly.

Outcome :
On 24 April 2004, the last day of the ultimatum, the king was forced to concede all the three demands. The SPA chose Girija Prasad Koirala as the new Prime Minister of the interim government. The restored parliament met and passed laws taking away most of the powers of the king. The SPA and the Maoists came to an understanding about how the new Constituent Assembly was going to be elected. The struggle of the Nepali people is a source of inspiration to democrats all over the world.

(b) Bolivia’s Water War :
"Bolivia" the poor country in Latin America witnessed popular struggle against the privatisation of water.
(i) The story started when the government sold "the right to control of municipal water supply", to a "Multinational Company" (MNC). The MNC immediately increased the price of water by four times. This led to a spontaneous popular protest.
(ii) In January 2000, a new alliance of labour human rights and community leaders organised a successful four-day general strike in the city. Ultimately the government agreed to negotiate and the strike was called off, but nothing happened.
(iii) The police resorted to brutal repression when the agitation was started again in February. Another strike followed in April and the government imposed martial law. But the power of the people forced the officials of the MNC to flee the city and made the government concede to all the demands of the protesters.
(iv) Lastly, the contract with the MNC was cancelled and water supply was restored to the municipality at old rates. This came to be known as "Bolivia's water war".

(c) Democracy and Popular Struggles :
The movement in Nepal was to re-establish democracy in the country. The movement in Bolivia was against one-specific policy of the government. Both the movements saw people coming to the streets to voice their demands. The public demonstration finally resulted in the government agreeing to their demands.

We can draw three conclusions from these two examples:
(i) Democracy means 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 a particular decision is against their interests. This involves conflict between the groups.
There is a conflict between those who are in power and those who want to get power.
(ii) Most of the conflicts see mass mobilization. All the people come together to voice their demands. Sometimes these conflicts are solved through existing parliament or the judiciary. But when the conflict involves these existing parliament or the judiciary, the solution of the conflict comes from people themselves.
(iii) Some new political organisations get formed at the time of conflicts. There is spontaneous public participation. These political organisations make the public protest more effective.

17.2 MOBILISATION AND ORGANISATIONS

(i) In Nepal call for indefinite strike was given by the SPA or the Seven Party Alliance. This alliance included the seven big parties that had some members in the parliament. The protest was joined by the Nepalese Communist Party (Maoist) which did not believe in parliamentary democracy.
The struggle involved many organisations other than political parties. All the major labour unions and their federations joined this movement. Many other organisations like the organisation of the indigenous people, teachers, lawyers and human rights groups extended support to the movement.
(ii) The protest against water privatisation in Bolivia was not led by any political party. It was led by an organisation called FEDECOR. This organisation comprised local professionals, including engineers and environmentalists. They were supported by a federation of farmers who relied on irrigation, the confederation of factory workers' unions, middle class students from the University of Cochabamba and the city's growing population of homeless street children. The movement was supported by the Socialist Party. In 2006, this party came to power in Bolivia.

(a) Democracy and Decision Making :
Democracy means involving every citizen in the decision making process. Every citizen votes for a particular party in the election. The elected representatives make policies on behalf of the citizens. Sometimes the people like the policies and favour it. But sometimes people do not approve the policies formed by the government and oppose it. It might get settled peacefully through consensus. But sometimes there are conflicts over the policies formed by the government. People organize mass protests against the government or policy made by the government.
The examples of Nepal and Bolivia show that various human rights, labour and community leaders join together to protest. Different kinds of organizations work behind all the big struggles. They organize mass protests more systematically and make the protest more effective.
These organisations play their role in two different ways:
(i) Direct Participation. The organizations try to influence the decisions in a democracy by directly participating in active politics. They themselves create new political parties and contest elections. They aim to form good policies by being a part of the government itself. They enter the politics and make good policies for the citizens of the country.
(ii) Indirect Participation. Every citizen can not form a political party. They don't have the necessary skills or the desire to take part in direct political activity. They voice their demands by voting.
People form organisations to voice their interests. These organizations promote the interests and the viewpoints of the members of the organization; They are called pressure groups. They influence the government policies without sharing the political power.

17.3 PRESSURE GROUPS AND MOVEMENTS

(a) Sectional Interest Groups and Public Interest Groups :

(b) Movement Groups :

The groups which try to achieve a single objective within a limited time frame or a broad goal in the very long term are known as movement groups.
(i) The Nepalese Movement for Democracy arose with the specific objective of reversing the king's orders that led to suspension of democracy.
(ii) In India, Narmada Bachao Andolan is a good example of this kind of movement. The movement started with the specific issue of the people displaced by the creation of Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river. Its objective was to stop the dam from being constructed. Gradually it became a wider movement that questioned all such big dams and the model of development that required such dams. Movements of this kind tend to have a clear leadership and some organisation. But their active life is usually short.
(iii) The environmental movement and the women's movement are classic examples of movements with long term objectives. There is no single organisation that controls or guides such movements. Environmental movement is a label for a large number of organisations and issuespecific movements. All of these have a separate organisation, independent leadership and often different views on policy related matters. Yet all of these share a broad objective and have similar approach. That is why they are called a movement.

(c) Pressure groups and Movements exert influence on politics in a variety of ways :
(i) Raising public issues : They try to gain public support and sympathy for their goals and their activity by carrying out information campaigns, organising meetings, file petitions etc. Most of these groups try to influence the media into giving more attention to these issues.
(ii) Organise protest activities : They often organise protest activities like strikes or disrupting government programmes in order to force the government to take notice of their demand..
(iii) Participation in the working of Government: Some persons from pressure groups or movement groups may participate in official bodies and committees that offer advice to the government.
(iv) Impact on political parties : Interest groups and movements do not directly engage in party politics, they seek to exert influence on political parties. Most of the political parties take agenda from these organisations. Most of the movement groups take political stance without being a party. They have political ideology and political position on major issues. The relationship between political parties and pressure groups can take different forms, some direct and others very indirect.
(v) Extended arms of political parties : In most of the cases, the pressure groups are either formed or led by the leaders of political parties. They also act as extended arms of political parties. For example, most trade unions and students' organisations in India are either established by or affiliated to one or the other major political party. Most of the leaders of such pressure groups are usually activists and leaders of party.
(vi) New parties : There are many instances when these movements give birth to a political party.
For example, when the Assam movement led by students against the 'foreigners' came to an end, it led to the formation of the Asom Gana Parishad. The roots of parties like the DMK and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu can be traced to a long drawn social reform movement during the 1930 and 1940s.
(vii) Indirect relationship : In most cases, the relationship between parties and interest or movement groups is not so direct. They often take positions that are opposed to each other. Yet they are in dialogue and negotiation. Movement groups have raised new issues that have been taken up by political parties. Most of the new leadership of political parties comes from interest or movement groups.

(d) Is Their Influence Healthy ?
(i) A pressure group is an organised or an unorganised body that seeks to promote its interests. It is formed by the people having common interest, occupation and opinions. It aims to influence the government policies and form the public opinion.
(ii) They do not aim to attain power in the government. They just seek to promote their own interests. These interests can be of a specific section of the society or of the whole society in general.
(iii) It is argued that sectional interest groups are not good for the democracy. They promote only the interests of their section and ignore the whole society in general. This gives more importance to that particular section of the society.
(iv) The pressure groups are not accountable to the people in general. They are not answerable to the general public for their actions and decisions. They can also influence public opinion by spending a lot of money on advertising their idea.
(v) However, pressure groups are not unhealthy for a democracy. They help the people of a particular section to voice their interests and demands. It gives the people from the socially weaker sections of the society to raise their issues and interests.
(vi) No one sectional group can put extra pressure on the government. If a particular section puts extra focus on only its interests, members of the other sectional groups can raise their own demands. This helps in maintaining a balance between the demands of various groups in the society.

choose the correct option

Question : What did Nepal become a constitutional monarchy?
 (a) In 1960   
(b) In 1970   
(c) In 1980   
(d) In 1990
Answer : D

Question : What was the aim of the extraordinary movement Nepal witnessed in 2006?
(a) Restoring Democracy   
(b) Abolishing untouchability
(c) Bringing down military rule   
(d) Division of Nepal
Answer : A

Question : Who become the new Prime Minister of Nepal in 2006?
(a) Beni Prasad   
(b) Girija Prasad Koirala   
(c) Gyanendra   
(d) Himmat Prasad Koirala
Answer : B

Question : Which organization was setup by the Nepalese people to restore democracy in Nepal?
(a) The Dual Alliance   
(b) The Tripple Alliance   
(c) The Nepal Congress   
(d) The Seven Party Alliance
Answer : D

Question : On which day was the king of Nepal (King Gyanendra) forced to concede all the demands of SPA?
(a) On June 1, 2001   
(b) On April 24, 2006   
(c) On July 24, 2006   
(d) On June 1, 2007
Answer : B

Question : What was the Bolivian protest called?
(a) Bolivian war   
(b) Bolivia’s Water war   
(c) Water for Bolivia   
(d) Bolivian crisis
Answer : B

Question : To which of the following countries does FEDECOR belong?
(a) Nepal   
(b) Northern Ireland   
(c) Belgium   
(d) Bolivia
Answer : D

Question : Which political party came to power in Bolivia in 2006?
(a) Democratic Party   
(b) Socialist Party   
(c) Liberal Party   
(d) Conservative Party
Answer : A

Question : Which of the following is an example of moments growing into political parties?
(a) NAPM   
(b) FEDECOR   
(c) BAMCEF   
(d) Assam Gana Parishad
Answer : D

Question : Which of the following can be classified as a type of public interest group?
(a) Trade unions   
(b) FEDECOR 
(c) Doctors   
(d) Teachers
Answer : B

Question : When was the king Birendra of Nepal Killed?
(a) In 1999   
(b) In 2000   
(c) In 2001   
(d) In 2002
Answer : C

Question : How did people protest against the “Kittiko – Hochchiko” movements?
(a) By planting more eucalyptus trees.   
(b) By plucking more trees
(c) By plucking eucalyptus trees and planting other saplings
(d) By plucking all eucalypts trees on the 30,000 hectare piece of land
Answer : C

Question : Name the type of government adopted in Nepal in the year 1990.
(a) Monarchy
(b) Dictatorship
(c) Colonial rule
(d) Democracy.
Answer : D

Question : What is the principal concern of the promotional groups?
Answer : Their principal concern is to promote collective rather than selective good. 

Question : Name one movement that gave birth to a political party. What is the name of this party?
Answer : The Assam movement led by students against the ‘foreigners’ It led to the formation of the Asom Gana Parishad.

Question : Name some people’s movement which have become very popular.
Answer : Narmada Bachao Andolan, movement for right to information. Anti-liquor movement, women’s movement, environmental movement.