By Dr. Yubaraj Sangroula (KATHMANDU, Sept 29) – Nepal is pushed a chasm of ‘Indian cruelty’, which violates not only the international norms and values, including rules of international law, but also the ‘Article 51(a), (b) and (c) of the Indian Constitution. India is a republic, and democratic nation. These two buzz words in Indian literature of constitutionalism are ‘left without meaning’ by a ruling echelon of the Bharatiya Janta Party, a Hindu fundamentalist party, in its current treatment to Nepal. This treatment has highjacked the pride of India ‘being a democratic nation nurtured by Gandhi, Nehru, Patil, Bose, and many other leaders of world acclamation. The Modi Government has pushed Nepal into a virtual state of blockade, and has seriously harmed the long standing cohesion by paling its hands on head of the some Madhes centric parties, who have been violent in action, irresponsible in manner and cohesive in language. The hate language they have been fostering will cause a serious damage to the nation for long time. This article will attempt to unravel some insights of the ‘Indian blockade’ intended to paralyze the life of Nepal. This blockade can be defined as proxy aggression, which means an attempt to divide two communities in a sovereign countries for vested interested outsider.
As allegedly pointed out by Mani Shanker Iyer, the member of Rajya Shava of India, Modi has isolated Nepal, a small trusted friend, after Pakistan, form India. Mr. Iyer finds the treatment of Modi government to Nepal similar to that of Pakistan. Series of communications have flowed from India by exposing the causes of Embargo against Nepal in explicit terms. As indicated by Iyer, the lust of Modi government for extreme punishment of embargo against Nepal is motivated by an ‘idea of failure to convert Nepal into a Hindu State’. He suggests, Modi is extremely shrewd in style of campaign’. He is master in creating ‘deception’ by well crafted words, the style is often described as that of Goeeble. Modi pretended in his first visit of Nepal ‘being the most closest friend of Nepal’. He read out his written speech in Nepali language. He tried his best to create a hoax. However, many people in Nepal did not believe what he said as there is saying in Nepal “barking dog does not bite”. He was shrewdly barking, and he was letting people to delude themselves.
On 25, a man called Akhilesh, an Indian national, wrote an article in Diplomat Magazine, which is published from Japan, conspicuously, meticulously and conspiratorially inspiring the Indian establishment to ‘initiate a plan to merge Nepal’s Terai into Indian territory’. The so-called article not only condemned the sovereignty of Nepal but also unfoundedly accused that “Nepal’s hill population is depriving the population of Madhese, and has subjected them to a state of injustice’. This article has fostered a hate speech and communal differences. The article claimed that the merger of Nepal’s Terai will not spark much tension as both the USA and Russia have maintained good relation with India, and recognition of merger would not not be a problem’.
This article is visibly sponsored by looking its superlative language. The article probably is used as an instrument ‘to test the ‘reaction’ of the majority of the population’. This is in fact a matter of grave concern. Yet, the government of Nepal has hardly taken into notice of this article, the most importantly the design the article is impregnated by. This article is enough for Nepal to expose the ‘grand design certain part of the Indian politicians and bureaucrats are long conceiving about’. It has been well described by some high level intelligence official of India in the past. Mr. Kao, who was so instrumental in designing annexation of Sikkim, had advised Indira Gandhi to stride resolutely for annexation of Nepal after Sikkim. Unfortunately, this move was severely halted by the unfolding political unrest in India. The political parties of Nepal however have made several severe mistakes in the past. The suspicion of the people to the parties in their ability to protect the national sovereignty and integrity is thus heightened at this point.
Why Modi took an exceptional way of pushing Nepal with a hard line situation? It is an open secret. The boundaries of provinces in in the new Constitution are not the ‘true issues behind’ this blockade and sponsored movement. The issues of boundaries of provinces are just ‘a hoax, or deception to camouflage the true intention’. Modi wanted to get Nepal declared a ‘Hindu Nation’. And, it was thought to be a ‘trial to move forward for the same in India’.The problem of minority in India is tough, as they are the most poorest part of the population in India and most deprived segment in the entire population. Then how Modi government can have morality to criticize the Government of Nepal, which made one of the best democratic constitution in the 21st century? It is a paradox indeed. A country with its mammoth problem of injustice and inequality in social life, the communalism ridden political system and criminality infested system of government is passing an order to ‘make the type of constitution’ to a country which has come out with a best model of political system.
Few instances can be put forward. India has not been able to reserve the seats for women even after a long struggle of Indian women. Nepal in contrast has given 33 percent seats in the parliament to women. Women have been place in a situation to share the highest public posts of the nation. Mother or father can transfer the ‘nationality to the child by descent’. A woman marrying to a Nepali citizen can have naturalized citizen instantly after marriage. Nepal has included rights of marginalized people as fundamental rights. Commissions for marginalized people have been established by the constitution. The new constitution of Nepal has been one the best progressive constitutions in the world today.
As rightly pointed out by number of intellectuals from India, the Modi government has truly been upset by this development in Nepal. The psyche the new constitution of Nepal brings among the people is that of ‘matured nation state’. Making constitution by Constituent Assembly is a dream of Nepal for last decades. The success of promulgating the constitution places Nepal into a category of modern nation state, thus making certain segment of Nepal unable to fulfill their dream of annexing Nepal into India. The growth of constitution as a successful republic, democratic constitution will make it further difficult to treat Nepal as a buffer state. In this context, the idea of disturbing the Nepal in order to push the constitution into an abyss of failure is thus perfectly designed one. The so-called Madehse political outfits are nothing but instruments.
These outfits are always controversial. In fact, burning constitution has become their profession. In the post-1990 era, they frequently burnt down the constitution, when they were not in power. These outfits have some unique characters. They are (a) mostly feudal in their family background, and they are high caste in social group. They are conservative and have a very deeper nexus with the Kathamandu power elite groups. Most of them are settled in Kathmandu. They have married hill women, and their children go the most lavish boarding schools in Kathmandu; (b) they cannot live out of power, and when they are out of power they engage as a part of bargaining for political power and challenge the state with disturbance; and (c) they are generally violent in their activities. These characters are notorious.
As one of the most important dynamics of the Madhes movement relates to western countries based organizations, who have agenda of fostering Christian base and they also are engaged in watching over Muslim population in Nepal, thus they can control Muslim population from having their relation established with terrorist muslim outfits in other countries. For this, the western powers have poured money on the people through NGSo, though this money is largely channeled to the higher class through Madhesi-controlled NGOs. The objective of the INGOs funding is to create an atmosphere conducive for mushrooming of Christians, as well as to generate instruments to monitor Islamic population in Nepal. For this both purpose, the higher-caste Madhese community is useful for several reasons. One, the consistent flow of money through NGOs makes them happier so they would not be detrimental for smooth propaganda for religious conversion of the so -called lower caste people. Two, the higher caste Madhese can be brought into limelight to the societal division in Nepal, thus the voice of hills against INGOs’ vested interests, in the name of human rights and development activities, can be effectively controlled and pushed back. Unfortunately, the drive of Modi Government against Nepal is serving this hidden agenda. Third, the division between hills and Tarai of Nepal will place Nepal into a paradigm of a weaker state and unstable government and violence ridden society. This is too crucial for the west to monitor over China and India both. This hidden objective is also well fostered by the Modi government, thus placing larger security interest of India into difficulty by itself.
What is unfortunate in today’s South Asia is that Socialist secular forces in India have suffered big setbacks. Once, through Gujral doctrine, the relation among nations of South Asia was taking a prosperous and dependable shape. The induction of BJP in power and imprudent political polices of Indian Congress to push socialist forces out of the periphery has placed Indian state into a ‘platform’ of dominant power over the neighbors, thus consistently pushing them to the helm of suspicion and non-cooperation among themselves. The communality of politics implanted by few educated elites of different ethnic groups in support of western organizations has now transformed regional rivalry, which is further pumped by religious militancy of Modi government. Nepal today somehow has stood into a conflict between mission of Christian conversion supported by the western organizations and Hindu fundamentalism notion of the Modi government in India, and this has been pushing the secular forces into a helm of indecisiveness. The present crisis is thus obvious– it is an outcome of unholy competition between Western powers for declaring Nepal secular state and Modi’s insistence to make Nepal a Hindu state. Unfortunately, those demanding for secular and Hindu state seem illogically aligned against New Constitution.
The Modi government’s design is well exposed by secular intellectuals of India, including secular parties such a Indian Congress and Communist Party of India. Yachuri’s clarification on Monday is obvious example of it. K.V Rajan’s interview to Kantipur also discloses the insight, i.e. the Government of Modi was in constant touch with Nepalese political echelon consistently to push the Political Leaders to avail to the Indian interest. The hidden dialogue indeed pushed the Nepalese leaders to depart from Modi’s pressure to declare Nepal the Hindu State, and to take a firm stand to declare constitution, which virtually alienated the Madhese parties. What wrong the political parties did then?
From this analysis two questions emerge. Firstly, what is the nexus between the current movement of Mdhese centric parties and India? The strong support including blockade seems to have been well designed by a hidden agreement between Madhese centric parties and Modi government. This has been proved by strategic move of Madhes centric parties to stand with all forms of violence and blockade in no-men land, and the support for them from across the India. This support is not local as local businesspersons in India have already deplored the blockade. Secondly, there has been a deeply entrenched design in place through Madhes centric parties to forge out difference or hatred between two communities in Nepal, which is well proved by sponsored article to separate Madhes from Nepal and and carnage in Tikapur.
Nepal has been a emerging state with diversity of population and cultures. The present constitution has taken well defined principle that the diversity must be taken into consideration. Hence, the constitution has addressed the following issues brilliantly:
a. Republic has been now institutionalized.
b. State has been federated, with substantial power devolved to the provinces. The restructuring plan has not included indenyity-based provinces, because Nepal cannot afford becoming a racial state. The geographical structure of the state cannot afford distributing Nepal into racial provinces.
c. The principle of constituencies based on population strength along with geography has been incorporated.
d. The principle of Women having 33 percent allocation in the representation system is endorsed by the constitution.
e. The principle of citizenship based on nationality of mother or father is endorsed, and the issue of naturalization of the citizenship is fully endorsed.
With these remarkably important endorsement, the Nepalese constitution has been endorsed by 90 percent of the people. However, the racial politics implanted by some janajati elites with support of the western organizations and the notion of fundamentalist Hindutwa implanted by Indian sadhus and BJP have virtually deprived the country from marching towards a cohesive society and economic development of Nepal. It is thus a responsibility of every citizenship to fight against these two vices, and preserve the sanctity of the new constitution. Some concerns may well be addressed by amendments in constitution, as argued by some lawyers the amendment is not impossible.
