Commentary
File photo: A man crossing the river by Tuin
By P.R. Pradhan
In the history books, Nepal is identified as the nation of warriors. Still, many Nepali youths are serving in the Indian army. Many Nepali youths have shed their blood and lives for India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Contradictory to it, what the Nepalis have achieved from India, is a very sad story. Time and again, Nepalis are being killed, humiliated, rapped by the Indian Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) personnel. They are continuously encroaching the Nepali soil and demolishing the border pillars. The Indians have not only illegally annexed the Kalapani territory but also encroached upon Nepali soil in different places, including Susta. The Indians are continuously bullying on Nepal.
The fate of Jayasingh Dhami:
One among the Nepali youths is Jayasingh Dhami, 35, who has been murdered by the Indian SSB personnel very cruelly and inhumanly.
Dhami, who was on the way to Kathmandu seeking an abroad job for a better life for his family, was disappeared in the Mahakali River when two SSB personnel untie the Tuin rope knot on a tree through which Dhami was crossing the Mahakali River in Far West Nepal on 30 July morning.
According to District Police Office, Darchula, Inspector Narendra Chand, Jaisingh Dhami, 35, of Byas Gaonpalika-2 went missing after falling from Tuin while crossing the Mahakali River.
According to the locals, after three locals crossed the Mahakali River from Tuin in the morning, two SSB personnel started to untie the knot of the Tuin rope when Dhami was crossing the River and when he was about to reach the endpoint of the Tuin, the rope fell to the River along with Dhami.
Villagers are compelled to go to the Indian village across the Mahakali River even to travel the district headquarters Khalanga and other parts of the country, including Kathmandu.
According to local Nabin Dhami, Dhami was the fourth person attempting to cross the Mahakali River after three persons already crossed the River.
Locals in the Nepal side of the River had shouted and requested the Indian SSB for not untying the knot of the Tuin rope but the Indian security personnel didn’t respond to locals’ request.
Lessons to learn:
How long should Nepal bear such Indian bullying? Can’t the Nepal government save Nepal’s territorial integrity, Nepali sovereignty and inhuman killing of the Nepali nationals? Our leaders in the government must imagine what could be the Indian reaction if one Indian national was killed by Nepal’s security personnel on the Nepal-India border!
Strengthening military capacity:
Our political leaders and intellectuals believe that Nepal doesn’t hold the capacity to fight against any other country. This is a wrong conception. Look at Israel and Vietnam, although being small countries by size, they stand as a mighty military power. We are aware that the Bangladeshi army has killed the Indian border security force in cross border firing when the Indian army tried to bullying the Bangladeshi army personnel. If there was the presence of Nepal’s security personnel and if the Nepali security force was capable with sophisticated arms, the Indians would have not dared to kill Dhami heinously.
Lessons to those ex-VIPs:
Ex-prime minister Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda and other ex-VIPs are receiving security from above 55 security personnel. Whether they need such a large number of security personnel, is a burning question. They have taken deployment of a large number of the security personnel as their prestige and image. If that security personnel were deployed on Nepal’s border with the foreign countries, they could preserve border pillars and also stop border encroachment along with providing security to the Nepali nationals in the bordering area.
The government’s prime duty:
It is very funny to describe that still, the Nepali nationals have to travel to India to go to other parts of Nepal. Yes, five decades ago, when the Mahendra East-West Highway was not constructed, Nepalis had to travel to India to reach other parts of Nepal. King Mahendra took initiative to construct the East-West Highway thinking that Nepalis should be able to travel their country via Nepali territory. Today, we have been able to travel from one part to another part of the country from within our land. However, there left one remote district Darchula, still, people are compelled to travel to India to go to other parts of the country. Why our leaders didn’t think about constructing the village road connecting the district headquarters! The issue is very sensitive and strategically very important.
Furthermore, people in bordering areas rely on the Indian market for all kinds of goods and services. The Nepal government should be able to provide all kinds of facilities within the country so that locals should not travel to the Indian towns/villages for the purchase of daily essential commodities.
Also, the government should regulate Nepal-India border immediately by restricting people travelling to each other country without a passport and visa.
Meanwhile, the government must develop an immediate plan for providing jobs to the youths within the country so that they should not think about going abroad for dirty and risky jobs.
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