On/Off the Record
By P.R. Pradhan
It is not a secret that India sponsored the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. The then-Indian minister, who later became the President of India, Pranav Mukherjee, in an interview with Al Jazeera had disclosed that India had sponsored the Maoist “people’s war”, which, the Indian government had identified as the terrorist element. India had performed a double standard by sponsoring the Maoist “people’s war” involved in the bloody insurgency in Nepal even by declaring the armed rebellion a terrorist element.
Later, noted anti-Nepal and anti-China scholar S.D. Muni and a former ambassador to Nepal, who became the foreign secretary of India, Shyam Sharan, have also revealed that Maoist leaders Pushpakamal Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai were used by India to trouble Nepal.
Since 1951, after the end of the Rana rule, India has wished for Nepal’s merger into India. Then home minister Sardar Ballavbhai Pattel was of the view that Nepal should be merged into India. Then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru remarked that the Himalayas as the Indian border in the North. The Indian annexation process of Nepal was derailed along with the 1962 India-China war, in which India faced a humiliating defeat.
King Mahendra, King Birendra and also King Gyanendra — who became king for a very short period — struggled hard to safeguard and strengthen Nepali sovereignty and independence.
In the process of strengthening Nepali sovereignty, King Mahendra established different organs, and King Birendra strategically introduced the Zone of Peace proposal, which was opposed by India. King Gyanendra had proposed China’s presence in SAARC as an observer.
The Indians are working on different modalities in the process of bringing Nepal under their grip. The models are the Bhutanization, Sikkimization, and Kashmirization processes. Accordingly, the other modality is splitting the Tarai districts.
Whether it was the 1990 “people’s movement” or the 2006 “people’s movement-2”, both political revolts were sponsored by the Indians in the process of abolishing the institution of monarchy, which, the Indians felt was “problematic”. In 1990, the Indians failed in their mission, however, in 2006, they became successful.
The 12-point Delhi agreement drafted by RAW officials is the principal guideline of the present political system. However, the present system is strongly dominated by Western efforts to destroy Nepal, meanwhile, the Indians were seeking their ownership in the political change under the 12-point agreement. While the Indians didn’t get credit for the political change, India has yet to recognize the present constitution. Be that as it may, since 1990, Indians have been involved in micromanagement in Nepal. All the leaders are acting to the Indian tune. We were not surprised when Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal said that his family friend Preetam Singh visited Delhi several times in an effort for rewarding Dahal with the PM’s post in Nepal.
Earlier, Dahal had said that there should be an India-comfortable government as if he was speaking on behalf of Delhi instead of the elected leader of Nepal. Meanwhile, Kathmandu Metropolis mayor Balen Shah has raised an issue that PM Dahal was elected by majority members of Parliament, therefore, all who elected Dahal as the PM seemed to be the Indian brokers!
It is unfortunate that we, the voters, are electing those foreign brokers again and again. Now, Nepal has become the playground of foreign powers as we see the emergence of a new political party, perhaps, it is another party representing the foreign power. This party became vitreous with the decisive vote of the Christian community and giving the slogan of a change, attracted youth voters. Swornim Wagle, one prominent member of the new party and also the MP, is of the view of demolishing the Nepal Army. A responsible Nepali citizen cannot imagine this idea but he is publicly advocating for dismantling of this historical glory of Nepal.
Unfortunately, the Nepal Army, even watching perversion in all sectors, has remained a silent spectator. Viewing the adverse trend and political instability, for years, we have been predicting that the country is heading towards a failed state, which, now, with evidence, The Economist newspaper has predicted about Nepal’s fragile scenario. Nevertheless, those “12 brothers” sponsored by George Soros’ Open Society, are defending the nation’s economy by producing graphs and charts claiming tremendous progress in the economic sector in the past three decades. They are even advocating that Nepal was exporting rice not because it was surplus but by squeezing the stomach of the Nepali population. How the private sector have been flourished, is just an example that the government undertaking Gorkhapatra Corporation is paying a higher amount of tax than the Kantipur Media Group. Of course, we have become self-reliant on shoe production but these factories are unable to produce shoes compared to the quality and standard that were manufactured by the erstwhile Bansabri Shoe Factory.
Login to add a comment