CBSE Class 10 Political Science (Civics) Chapter 5 Notes - Popular Struggles and Movements

Popular Struggles And Movements in Nepal And Bolivia

We will first look at the popular struggles and movements that happened in Nepal and Bolivia. Popular struggles and movements class 10 chapter 5 help us to understand the importance of movements and struggles in forming a democracy. 

Movements In Nepal

The Movement in Nepal tells us about the popular struggles and movements that took place before democracy. In the year 1990, the king of Nepal had accepted democracy and the country changed from an absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy. Then in 2001, the whole king's family was mysteriously massacred, which led to a new king. The king Gyanendra did not accept the democratic rule, therefore in 2015, he dismissed all whole parliament along with the prime minister. 

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(Popular struggles and movements in Nepal)

In the year 2006, the major parties of the parliament came together to start a movement to restore democracy in the country. The Seven Party Alliance (SPA) came together in Kathmandu and called for a four-day strike. The SPA had three demands, and people from various regions and organisations joined the Movement. The demands were a new constitutional assembly, the power to an all-party parliament, and the restoration of parliament.

Eventually, the king had to accept all the terms and demands of the people due to the popular struggles and movements project. In 2018 the government of Nepal abolished kingship and became a democratic nation.

Bolivia’s Water Wars

Unlike the Movement in Nepal, Bolivia was already a democratic country, yet it faced a lot of problems. It was a poor country, and the World Bank had forced the government to allow an MNC to take control of the water supply of Cochabamba city. Since a company has a monopoly over the water supply it increased the prices of the water by four times, which agitated a lot of people in the city and led to various riots and protests. 

In the year 2000, members of the various organisations such as labour, human rights, and community leaders came together to form a new alliance called FEDECOR. The group then held a four-day strike in protest of the rising prices of water. After months of struggles and movements, the government had to concede and take control of the water supply.

Mobilisation And Organisation

Various organisations back every power struggle and movements that happen in the world. Let's look at the different organisations that played a role in the Movement in Nepal. First, we have the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) which consisted of the major parties of the parliament, and second, we also had the Nepalis Communist Party (Maoist). Along with these two influential groups, there were also some other organisations such as teachers, labours, students and human rights groups that played a significant role in the Movement.

The Bolivia movement was led by the FEDECOR, which compromised of local professionals. There were also supported by organisations like factory workers, farmers, students, and other socialist parties.

Pressure Groups 

Pressure Groups are a group of people or organisations whose main aim is to challenge government policies. These groups include people with similar interest, occupation, opinions or aspiration that fight for a common goal. Pressure groups are formed if the government policies have either some flaws or are exploiting either people or nature. Some of the examples of pressure groups are Women rights organisation, Chipko Movement, and Democratic rights organisation.