Nepali Affairs
By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
Plight of Genuine Bhutanese Refugees
Some Bhutanese refugee leaders have expressed their acute distress over the negative consequences caused by the fake refugee mega scandal (TRN/The Rising Nepal, June 17).
The whole episode – which is continuing – has deeply wounded their self-esteem.
They are particularly saddened that the local, district, provincial and central governments are keeping mum, turning a blind eye to their continuing, severe problems and not ready to hear the facts of their woes – like the three wise monkeys!
There are still a significant number of genuine refugees in the camps in need of basic support.
The situation has become so dire that some are on the verge of committing theft to alleviate their hunger.
Many have also been deprived of essential identification documents which have resulted in numerous challenges, particularly concerning education-related matters.
It is indeed a national scandal that the central government is so absorbed with the fake refugee mega scandal and doing nothing to alleviate the problems of the genuine refugees.
Because of the deep-rooted scandal, Nepal’s international reputation has taken a steep dive and we cannot expect the international community to help us.
It is a self-generated problem that we have to solve ourselves.
We cannot expect any support from India which colluded with Bhutan in generating the refugee problem in the first place.
In the present circumstances there is absolutely no possibility any more of settling the remaining refugees in third countries or even of repatriating them back to Bhutan.
The only way out of the dilemma is to gainfully absorb the remaining refugees in Nepalese society – by providing jobs, education and proper housing – and above all affirmative action.
They are even deprived of basic health services; all the while when great leader Sher Bahadur Deuba is spending time in Singapore, probably the most expensive city in the world – for a health check-up!
The Question of Religion & Culture
Can it be that Nepal and India are two countries separated by the same culture [as the UK and US are two countries separated by the same language]?
We have so much in common – our main national languages Nepali and Hindi are descended from the same ancient languages Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit and we share the same script Devanagari.
In our main religion, we share the same scriptures.
However, we seem to be on different cultural paths. Unlike in India, we did not have the long centuries of Muslim and British tutelage, and Hinduism (the religion so named by the British) evolved differently from the original Sanatan Dharma which continued in the area that later became Nepal.
Basically, our national identities evolved differently because of the historical experience and geo-political circumstances.
The point can be made that there are actually no Hindus in Nepal, as there is no mention of the word ‘Hindu’ in the Shastras.
The word ‘Hindu’ comes originally from the Persian and is associated with the River Indus.
The inhabitants of this river valley came to be known culturally as ‘Hindus’, and later India was the Land of the Indus.
Originally, the people who lived near the River Indus later adopted the Sanatan Dharma. They were of Aryan descent and dispersed in various directions, including the broad river valleys of the Ganga and Yamuna.
Some entered the far-west of what is present-day Nepal.
Some settled in the Sinja River valley [a tributary of the Tila River, which then flows into the Karnali River]. In time, here evolved the Khas culture and the Khas Kura [language].
The chieftians of the various clans and their entourage slowly but certainly expanded eastwards and established principalities [Rajyas]. The most eastward was in Nuwakot, near the Nepal Valley.
At the same time, they also expanded the Khas-Arya culture.
The Persians and later the Greeks under Alexander the Great saw trans-Indus people as ‘Hindus’, i.e. later Indians.
For the Mughals, the country was ‘Hindus – stan’ (the place of the Hindus).
For our ‘Great Unifier’ Prithvi Narayan Shah, the region south of Tarai-Madhes [which was then mostly jungle] was ‘Mughlan’ – forbidden country down under, a source of danger and bad influence, i.e. beyond the pale.
The British opted for ‘India’. The term was later extended by the British conquerors to the whole of the sub-continent.
After independence ‘India’ was also ‘Bharat’ a mythological depiction going back eons.
In both domestic and international politics, the national interests of Nepal and India diverge significantly.
The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com
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