April15, 2005
Members of North American Diaspora are pleased to announce the official launch of "Liberal Democracy Nepal (LDN)", a web-based forum for hosting serious intellectual and sustained discussion on the future of liberal democracy in Nepal. A collaborative project with the Nepal Study Center (NSC) of the University of New Mexico that began in November 2004, Liberal Democracy Nepal (LDN) endeavor is governed by a commitment to establishing an open-ended and comprehensive web forum for the airing and exchanging of ideas among a wide range of actors and participants with stake and interest in seeing a successful liberal democracy take root in Nepal.
This project has received support of goodwill and encouragement from numerous notable personalities from Nepal such as political actors, policymakers, members of civil society, grass roots organizations, and the academicians both from Nepal and abroad including an intellectual giant like Professor Noam Chomsky of MIT.
liberaldemocracynepal.org
The Op-Ed and discussion materials and comments will be posted on the Nepal Study Center?s (Department of Economics, University of New Mexico) Digital Space repository ( Dspace). This open access Dspace repository goes out to more than 140 universities around the world and is easily accessible from Nepal as well.
In its first issue, LDN has invited thinkers from the major political parties in Nepal to contribute to this inaugural issue and to help Nepalis and friends of Nepal make sense of what happened on Feb. 1, why it happened, and what needs to be done to undo the political damage and restore Nepal back to the constitutional democratic path. In addition, the Express Your Opinion section focuses on the Middle Ground white paper that has been collectively proposed by a group of members from the North American Diaspora and their Nepali friends.
Future editions of LDN will feature analyses and discussion on a full range of subjects relevant in conceptualizing and instituting a liberal democracy in the particular case of Nepal. Thinkers are encouraged to submit articles for discussion consideration.
A summary of the Op-Ed issue and the select comments posted on the NSC?s Dspace will also be featured in Nepali newspapers on a regular basis both in English and in Nepali.
LDN encourages you to read the FAQ section to understand the various features of the LDN forum, and the section ?To Contributors? gives an idea as to how you can be an active participant and contributor.
Sincerely,
On behalf of the friends who have endorsed the Liberal Democracy Nepal forum: political leadership, policy makers, academicians, members of civil society members and grass roots organizations, and the members of Nepali Diaspora, including those who have given valuable suggestions and support at the January-Conference in Washington DC:
- Dr. Alok K. Bohara
- Dr. Anup K. Pahari
- Ms. Mallika Shakya
- Mr. Sharda J. Thapa
- Dr. Gaury Adhikary
- Dr. Ambika Adhikari
- Mr. Girija Gautam
- Mr. Arun Sharma
- Dr. Shiva Gautam
- Mr. Suman Timsina
- Mr. Shambhu Lama
- Mr. Naresh Koirala
- Mr. Dilli Raman Dhakal
- Dr. Govinda Koirala
- Dr. Jeet Joshee
- Dr. Shyam Karki
- Dr. Tara Niraula
- Dr. Madhu Ghimire
- Mr. Dilli Chaudhury
- Mr. D.B. Gurung
- Mr. Subhas Darnal
- Ms. Bishnu Pariyar
- Mr. P.L. Bishwokarma
- Mr. Purana Bista
- Mr. Yubaraj Ghimire
- Dr. Murari Sharma
- Mr. Bishal K.C.
- Mr. Puru Subedi
- Mr. Prakash Adhikari
- Mr. Ujjwal Bhattarai
- Mr. Hom Raj Acharya
- Mr. Ratan Jha
- Dr. Pramod Aryal
- Dr. Pramod Mishra
- Dr. Mahendra Lawoti
- Dr. Mukti Upadhyay
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