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India: Charm that Hurts Nepal

By Munna Singh

For me the hardest thing to digest has been India's role in all this - heretics such as S.D. Muni and Yechuri all make trips and consult their henchmen (SPA and Maoist), in India - we all seem to know about this but act nonchalant. Nepal is becoming a remote controlled nation.

I read Kantipur sometimes, I abhor it, and find news as if doctored by the South block. For me they represent India rather than a credible newspaper. A friend who works in a Himalayan Bank innocently squealed that Kantipur Publishing House deposited Rs. 64 crore in four banks, one being his.

More or less, most people agree that the way things are, it only means a civil war. Even if Maoists stay on the backs of SPa take over, resistance will crop up, to defeat unilateralism and draconian laws and policy that the Maoists espouse, with definite curtailing of speech, freedom and individual rights. The endgame for them and to COMPOSA is to make a Nepal a model communist state. Now, the quandary is - knowing all this India is hell bent on supporting the Maoists and SPA. What gives? The logic can be only one thing - Nepal is not a country but a puppet regime under and by South Block. It shows that for India, anything is ok and can be handled except the Monarchy. In their eyes, a true Nepal is one without the King, and the rest is within their realm by hook or crook.

It is quite naiive to chit chat only about the SPA and Maoists because at the end of the day - it is India who is running them both. I do not suspect this, I take this to be the truth. Nor is it a question of India bashing or being anti-India! But somewhere in retrospect - I see a well defined map by India with total disregard for the people of Nepal. Not a good move even by the standard they have set for themselves with all the neighboring countries.

If there is a concerted effort by the powers-that-be then I see Maoists making a hasty retreat with compulsion to join the main stream without arms. The effort must be on making a level playing field for everyone, not just big parties or a renegade party but for all without the chance of affording parties (big, renegades) to hijack the better interest of the nation on behest of a Foreign country.

I see less chance of better judgment prevailing in India in regards to Nepal and the necessity of Monarchy in Nepal. So it is upon us to set the stage whereby in a gradual process we create a platform that propagates nation building from within, practically putting our house in order that can rebuff unwarranted and unnecessary foreign intrusions. To achieve this, I assume we must share the burden in all aspects to formulate a charter that is all-encompassing in terms of ethnicity, social, political and economic aspects. The task is uphill but the time to start is now before it is too late.

alan@newsblaze.com