05-27-2007, 11:17 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>India's Himalayan Blunder-II </b>
Pioneer.com
Udayan Namboodiri
Allowing Maoists to control Nepal would be a dangerous idea for India
The fault lines that run through Nepal's body politic have caused the country much distress since 1990. Up to a certain point, the main debating point was whether democracy would have a ghost of a chance in Nepal. But today, the fragmentation of the political class and the ethnic tensions that have erupted in the Terai region, have an altogether different meaning for the Indian observer. No longer is this just an internal problem for Nepal. The growing clout of the Maoists in Kathmandu could have a wide range of effects on India's domestic political landscape. Besides, it could lead to questions hanging over regional security.
In many ways, Nepal externally resembles the opposite of the Italy of the 1860s. Back then, there was a civil war to unite the country under a King. In early 21st century Nepal, an unified country is sought to be atomised with the help of spurious republicanism. Multi-ethnic Nepal today sits on a tinder box, whose fuse has already been lit.
Internally, Nepal's experience with Anglo-Saxon democracy is just about as deep as 1950s India. Apart from a conscious lack of morality, there is also vast ignorance of the true nature of political currents. In the long run, the collective inability to see through the fundamentals of the Communist ideology that shapes the programme of the Maoists - the most dominant force in Nepalese politics - will cost this nation dear.
At another level, Nepal could be likened to a moderate Afghanistan of the 1990s. Though there is a rump Parliament, its writ seldom travels beyond the national capital territory. If western Nepal is Maoist territory, the vast stretch from Nepalgunj to Jaffa is now under the influence of the Madhesis. Warlords have great influence over local societies.
The contribution of the Madhesi movement, a much-fragmented struggle already, to the boiling pit of Nepal is also quite considerable. People are marvelling at the momentum acquired by this struggle. It grew so fast that all the characteristic ups and downs that go with a South Asian political outfit has accompanied it. It has been infiltrated by the Maoists, broken up into factions and often degenerated into a mob.
It is time to worry about how New Delhi's interference in Nepal's domestic affairs is exacerbating the country's crisis. The manner in which the CPI(M)'s Politburo and Rajya Sabha member, Sitaram Yechury, is leveraging his old friendship with former JNU batchmates, Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, to dictate his views on how Nepal should be run, raises grave questions about the role of India in the region's affairs.
In the past, dispensations in New Delhi have often burn their fingers meddling in the internal affairs of the smaller neighbours. If history always makes its visitations riding recognisable horses, then the monotonous iteration of the Congress' 'hand' in disastrous interventions makes for pathetic reading.
This time, there is a new element - the search by Indian Communists for strategic space. Much like the Afghanistan policy of Pakistani generals in the 1980s, the denizens of AKG Bhavan in New Delhi are on the lookout for spheres of influence beyond India's borders. Yehchury is keen to see Nepal's Constitution being shaped by the aspirations of the CPI(M). He is encouraging the Maoists to speak with a forked tongue on virtually everything from foreign investment to the contours of the future Constitution.
When Young Communist League members terrorise the citizens and loot property, the Maoists profess with all solemnity that there won't be any more trouble. But they make no effort to implement prime minister Girija Koirala's order to redistribute the looted lands among the original owners.
With each passing day, the unpopularity of the Maoists is growing. Their atrocities extortion, abduction and outright attacks on innocent people are facets of everyday life. The fact that they have joined the so-called "interim government" which began its career on April 1, has made no difference to their plan of action - which is to terrorise the population into submission. Moreover, they are refusing outright to start the second phase of registration of their arms and combatants. They claim that arms management was a part of the "political package" and since that political process remains is stalled for the moment, arms management cannot move forward.
The Nepali Congress and the Maoists are strange bedfellows in the present arrangement. It strikes as strange that New Delhi should be seen as backing a criminal enterprise. Not only does this run counter to India's regional interest, the policy also compromises India's own fight against the Maoist insurgents who are hell bent on establishing the "red corridor" between Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
What most Indians don't know - or don't care to know - is that the planetary positions are just right for Yehchury to implement his expansionist agenda. The Prime Minister of India, who is supposed to be the main direction-giver of the country's foreign policy, is like putty in the grasp of the CPI(M). There is an External Affairs Minister who owes his political career to the munificence of the Marxists.
The Opposition BJP is too involved in planning its next rebound in some corner of India to take notice of the implications of the world's only Hindu state becoming "secular". There is little public articulation in India of the need to preserve the monarchy, in a constitutional form at the very least, in order to secure Nepal's integrity.
Fragmenting Nepal would be a dangerous idea for India. How a handful of Communist leaders are allowed to get away by pushing the Indian government down a dangerous road is a big mystery. This week, elections to the Constituent Assembly was put off till November.
A lot of Nepalese people are unaware why the Maoists decided to take the democratic route to establish itself in power. They have little idea how impossible it would be to dislodge them if they come to power even once. The technical knowhow to rig the election - whenever it is held next in Nepal - will most likely be supplied by the CPI(M). And once ensconced in power, the Maoists will transform every institution of the state into an extension of their party and make Nepal into another West Bengal.
Today, it is amusing to see a lot of Nepalese intellectuals striving to rationalise the crimes of the Maoists. In the 1950s, Bengal's men and women of letters oozed similar affection for the Communists and performed great intellectual gymnastics to justify the "historic inevitability" of their crimes.
There is a lot of talk in Nepal now about the "unpopularity" of King Gyanendra. But little do the votaries of Republicans realise how the Russians came to regret the disappearance of the Romanovs and, with them, the entire aristocracy. It all adds up to a blunder of Himalayan proportions.
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Pioneer.com
Udayan Namboodiri
Allowing Maoists to control Nepal would be a dangerous idea for India
The fault lines that run through Nepal's body politic have caused the country much distress since 1990. Up to a certain point, the main debating point was whether democracy would have a ghost of a chance in Nepal. But today, the fragmentation of the political class and the ethnic tensions that have erupted in the Terai region, have an altogether different meaning for the Indian observer. No longer is this just an internal problem for Nepal. The growing clout of the Maoists in Kathmandu could have a wide range of effects on India's domestic political landscape. Besides, it could lead to questions hanging over regional security.
In many ways, Nepal externally resembles the opposite of the Italy of the 1860s. Back then, there was a civil war to unite the country under a King. In early 21st century Nepal, an unified country is sought to be atomised with the help of spurious republicanism. Multi-ethnic Nepal today sits on a tinder box, whose fuse has already been lit.
Internally, Nepal's experience with Anglo-Saxon democracy is just about as deep as 1950s India. Apart from a conscious lack of morality, there is also vast ignorance of the true nature of political currents. In the long run, the collective inability to see through the fundamentals of the Communist ideology that shapes the programme of the Maoists - the most dominant force in Nepalese politics - will cost this nation dear.
At another level, Nepal could be likened to a moderate Afghanistan of the 1990s. Though there is a rump Parliament, its writ seldom travels beyond the national capital territory. If western Nepal is Maoist territory, the vast stretch from Nepalgunj to Jaffa is now under the influence of the Madhesis. Warlords have great influence over local societies.
The contribution of the Madhesi movement, a much-fragmented struggle already, to the boiling pit of Nepal is also quite considerable. People are marvelling at the momentum acquired by this struggle. It grew so fast that all the characteristic ups and downs that go with a South Asian political outfit has accompanied it. It has been infiltrated by the Maoists, broken up into factions and often degenerated into a mob.
It is time to worry about how New Delhi's interference in Nepal's domestic affairs is exacerbating the country's crisis. The manner in which the CPI(M)'s Politburo and Rajya Sabha member, Sitaram Yechury, is leveraging his old friendship with former JNU batchmates, Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, to dictate his views on how Nepal should be run, raises grave questions about the role of India in the region's affairs.
In the past, dispensations in New Delhi have often burn their fingers meddling in the internal affairs of the smaller neighbours. If history always makes its visitations riding recognisable horses, then the monotonous iteration of the Congress' 'hand' in disastrous interventions makes for pathetic reading.
This time, there is a new element - the search by Indian Communists for strategic space. Much like the Afghanistan policy of Pakistani generals in the 1980s, the denizens of AKG Bhavan in New Delhi are on the lookout for spheres of influence beyond India's borders. Yehchury is keen to see Nepal's Constitution being shaped by the aspirations of the CPI(M). He is encouraging the Maoists to speak with a forked tongue on virtually everything from foreign investment to the contours of the future Constitution.
When Young Communist League members terrorise the citizens and loot property, the Maoists profess with all solemnity that there won't be any more trouble. But they make no effort to implement prime minister Girija Koirala's order to redistribute the looted lands among the original owners.
With each passing day, the unpopularity of the Maoists is growing. Their atrocities extortion, abduction and outright attacks on innocent people are facets of everyday life. The fact that they have joined the so-called "interim government" which began its career on April 1, has made no difference to their plan of action - which is to terrorise the population into submission. Moreover, they are refusing outright to start the second phase of registration of their arms and combatants. They claim that arms management was a part of the "political package" and since that political process remains is stalled for the moment, arms management cannot move forward.
The Nepali Congress and the Maoists are strange bedfellows in the present arrangement. It strikes as strange that New Delhi should be seen as backing a criminal enterprise. Not only does this run counter to India's regional interest, the policy also compromises India's own fight against the Maoist insurgents who are hell bent on establishing the "red corridor" between Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
What most Indians don't know - or don't care to know - is that the planetary positions are just right for Yehchury to implement his expansionist agenda. The Prime Minister of India, who is supposed to be the main direction-giver of the country's foreign policy, is like putty in the grasp of the CPI(M). There is an External Affairs Minister who owes his political career to the munificence of the Marxists.
The Opposition BJP is too involved in planning its next rebound in some corner of India to take notice of the implications of the world's only Hindu state becoming "secular". There is little public articulation in India of the need to preserve the monarchy, in a constitutional form at the very least, in order to secure Nepal's integrity.
Fragmenting Nepal would be a dangerous idea for India. How a handful of Communist leaders are allowed to get away by pushing the Indian government down a dangerous road is a big mystery. This week, elections to the Constituent Assembly was put off till November.
A lot of Nepalese people are unaware why the Maoists decided to take the democratic route to establish itself in power. They have little idea how impossible it would be to dislodge them if they come to power even once. The technical knowhow to rig the election - whenever it is held next in Nepal - will most likely be supplied by the CPI(M). And once ensconced in power, the Maoists will transform every institution of the state into an extension of their party and make Nepal into another West Bengal.
Today, it is amusing to see a lot of Nepalese intellectuals striving to rationalise the crimes of the Maoists. In the 1950s, Bengal's men and women of letters oozed similar affection for the Communists and performed great intellectual gymnastics to justify the "historic inevitability" of their crimes.
There is a lot of talk in Nepal now about the "unpopularity" of King Gyanendra. But little do the votaries of Republicans realise how the Russians came to regret the disappearance of the Romanovs and, with them, the entire aristocracy. It all adds up to a blunder of Himalayan proportions.
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