On/Off the Record

By P.R. Pradhan

 

Indians are continuously demonstrating their hegemony in Nepal. They have one-sidedly occupied the Kalapani territory and constructed a road up to the India-China border. 

Indians are constructing an embankment at the Mahakali River along the Nepal-India border by diverting the river flow towards the Nepal side.

Indians have one-sidedly constructed a border outpost at the noman’s land in Tikauliya of Attariya district in Bihar, which is across the Daraiya village in Biratnagar.

The Indian border security force killed Jaysingh Dhami while crossing the Mahakali River by a tuin which was cut down by a border security force personnel. 

What are our leaders doing against such Indian hegemony? Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is seeking an opportunity to visit India. He was preparing to go to Gujrat just to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi even without a state visit status. The present coalition government is trying to please the Indians and receive their blessings. The government named ambassador to India, the United Kingdom, and the USA, yet, it is unable to name an ambassador to China, Nepal’s immediate neighbor, the largest economy, and a supporter country.

Deuba has not shown interest to visit Beijing considering the Indian displeasure. It seems the present government, in the process of becoming pro-Indian, is trying to maintain distance from China. 

The five-party alliance government is comprised of the modified communist Unified Socialist, patriotic communist United People’s Front, and hardliner communist Maoist Center, led by the Nepali Congress, a democratic force, and in particular, the Sher Bahadur Deuba camp, known to be a pro-West and pro-Indian leader. They all have focused on pleasing the Indo-West powers.

Against the Indian bulling on Nepal, the government, just for formality, issued statements but denied sending diplomatic notes. Instead of protesting the Indian bulling, the executive chief of the government is found keen to visit India. 

Always, India is a threat to Nepal. In the past, the Indian design to invade Nepal was failed after a strong statement from the Chinese leadership that any attack on Nepal would be taken as an attack on China. After the Chinese statement, the Indians had postponed their mission “occupy Nepal”!

Then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi had the plan to split the Tarai territory from Nepal. 

We saw the 1990 people’s movement and the 2006 April uprising followed by the 12-point Delhi agreement all took place through a sole Indian sponsorship. Today, what was the Indo-West design that has been surfaced along with giving the name Madhesh to naming the No 2 Province. Rival political parties joined hands in rectifying the name desired by the Indians from the provincial council. There is no historical, cultural, religious relationship with the name Madhesh, so far, Mithila, Bhojpuri, Janakpur are the names deeply linked with the Madhesh Province. 

Immediately after naming Madhesh Province, the Tarai-centric leaders have remarked that this is the beginning and they plan to incorporate all 21 Tarai districts in the Madhesh province. Moreover, 10 other indigenous ethnic communities plus Janata Samajbadi Party led by Upendra Yadav and Baburam Bhattarai have issued a joint statement commending JSP for the success of naming the province with the ethnic identity. “JSP has proved that the provinces based on ethnic identity can be possible and it has also paved the way for introducing provinces with ethnic identity,” the statement read. 

The agenda of ethnicity-based provinces is the design of the Indo-West powers. The design is intended for introducing conflict based on ethnicity, aimed at splitting Nepal. 

Secularism, federalism, and republicanism were imposed on Nepal for pushing the country towards a failed nation as the economy cannot bear the burden of such an expensive system. 

The idea, understandably, is to occupy Nepal by destroying her economy. 

Only by empowering the Nepal Army with the strength of a minimum of one million armed personnel equipped with sophisticated arms and establishing special relations with Beijing, Nepal’s survival can be secured. Otherwise, Nepal may face the fate of Kashmir or Sikkim or else. Have our security organs done homework on the possible scenarios? The basic question is whether we are heading towards a “new” Nepal or “no” Nepal!