| suva chintak |
Posted
on 26-Jan-04 10:28 AM
Why are Nepalis treated so pitifully in India? A Nepali pilgrimage bus is hijacked and people killed and robbed...I hope they don't blame it on Islamic terrorists this time.
From Nepalnews.com:
Nepali pilgrims looted in India
A gang of robbers Sunday looted a Bodhgaya-bound bus carrying 50 Nepali pilgrims in Bihar, India shooting dead at least five of them, according to the Associated Press.
Details of the slain could not be acquired except about the driver, who was an Indian national, the AP report said.
Robbers first took the bus into control in Navada district, which is at 80 kms distance from Patna, the state capital of Bihar, it said.
The robbers opened fire after passengers refused to give up valuables and money, according to the report. The robbers immediately fled the scene after the loot and the injured were rushed to a hospital in Patna, it added.
Bodhgaya is an important pilgrim site for Buddhists all over the world. Lord Buddha, who was born in Lumbini, Nepal some 2600 years ago, is believed to have received enlightment in Bodhgaya. nepalnews.com mr Jan 26
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| suva chintak |
Posted
on 26-Jan-04 10:31 AM
May be this article from another Sajhite in 'The People's Review'(Jan 15 Issue) will help explain the Nepal-India conundrum and why things like the pilgrim killings keep happening!
With a friend like India
BY RAM PRASAD NEPALI
With a friend like India, Nepal does not need enemies. Yet, we have the Maoists as enemy No. 1 at this time.
People while talking about the Indo-Nepal relationship do not balk from saying how much Nepal has benefited from its magnanimous neighbor - be it in terms of trade, foreign aid, education, medicine and in other sectors.
It is often said, in a very patronizing tone, that Nepal would not be able to carry on without the Indian largesse and that if India were to close its ports to Nepali goods or impose an embargo as it did in 1990, that the Nepali economy would collapse. Rarely do these fountainheads acknowledge that India too benefits, and disproportionately at that, as evidenced by Nepal's trade deficit with India worth NRs. 15.7 billion. India also reaps benefits from cheap Nepali electricity, water resources, and cheap labor. But the attitude is - the big brother has been good to you so do be quiet and stop complaining.
Our pundits often point out that the fault lies within and on we, the lazy Nepalese, instead of doing homework, just point the index finger at the only true friend we have. It is pointed out that we don't do Ph.D's on Bhutanese refugees or on Arun III, or on India itself as if that would somehow make everything right. We are asked to turn our other cheek meekly when India slaps us with numerous allegations.
India has often alleged that Nepal allows anti-Indian elements such as the Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) agency and the ISI supported separatist-insurgents to use the Nepali territory. India heightened this rhetoric after the December 24, 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines from Kathmandu and seized this opportunity to make things difficult for Nepal.
The Indian press even carried out malicious campaign by falsely accusing one of the hijackers as a Nepali. It turned out to be false. Indian Airlines suspended all flights to Nepal for six months based on this incidence of hijacking. No other airline in the world has ever suspended its flights for such a long time based upon one incidence of hijacking. India even demanded that their own security personnel be posted at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
Yes, the Indians are extremely sensitive to neighboring countries being used by anti-Indian elements. They mince no words when it comes to making allegations and putting diplomatic and political pressure to see that action is taken against such elements. Recently, the Bhutanese government was pressured into using its military against the Assamese-Bodo rebels that are said to be operating from the Bhutanese territories.
Editorials in Indian papers have showered kudos on Bhutan for taking this bold step. Yet, India has not made even a half-hearted attempt to apprehend the Maoist leaders now operating their command and control from Indian territories. To add insult to injury, India continues to feign ignorance of the whereabouts of the Maoists bases and leaders in India even after the highly publicized meeting between the UML Leader Madhab Nepal and the Maoists in Lucknow. That the Indian intelligence seems to know everything about what the ISI is allegedly doing in Nepal but nothing about the Maoists in their own territory is hard to believe. Recent reports in the Nepali media that include direct statements from Nepali security personnel claiming that the Indian government did not cooperate even when provided with critical information about Maoist operations in India is proof that India does not do on to its neighbors as it wants done for itself.
India has failed Nepal both as a friend and a neighbor. Good friends don't only share tit bits at good times, but help each other in times of need. They just don't watch from a distance when a friend is struggling for life. Yet, that is exactly what India is doing. Maoists have bases in India and the leaders are hiding in Uttar Pradesh. On the strength of these bases and the knowledge that Indian government would not prosecute them, Maoists are robbing, torturing, kidnapping and massacring Nepalese, and India is turning a blind eye. It has promised help and even declared Maoists terrorists, but that rhetoric has not been backed up by actions. Not only is India not helping Nepal, it has also consistently objected to direct US assistance to Nepal (even though the Indian Ambassador denied this in recent interview) as evidenced by series of Indian editorials questioning the Kathmandu-visits by Colin Powell and Christina Rocca.
It is clear to everyone that Nepal cannot afford this insurgency for long. If only the Maoist leadership were to be captured or killed, then the Nepali government can deal with the rest of the Maoist foot-soldiers and activists within Nepal by force and incentives. Without moral and material support coming from across the border, the domestic Maoists would either be defeated or surrender. The genuine peace process can begin only after that.
If Bhutan with merely six thousand soldiers can take action against some three thousand battle-hardened Assamese rebels, it is hard to believe that India with such a large military and intelligence infrastructure cannot expel the Maoists from Indian territories. It is a matter of will and intent. India was able to mobilize some 700,000 soldiers within a month to the Pakistani border when it was posturing with Pakistan and the US during the nuclear arms race two years ago. Only a fraction of that force is needed to take action against the Maoist. India must take genuine action immediately within the Indian territories of Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and put a stop to this cross-border terrorism. This action must go far beyond arresting three small time gunrunners and focus on apprehending the Maoist leaders. Only by helping Nepal defeat its number one enemy will India be able to pass this test of friendship this time.
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