| bihan |
Posted
on 15-Apr-04 12:41 PM
Following is from the Daily Pioneer newspapers of India. I pity those people who not only go to south for religious moksha but also for political blessings. It only proves how much Biharmukhi we are in every respect. These politicians have virtually made Nepal as one of the states of India. Shame on those politicians in whose minds their personal interest comes first. I know many of them will vote for India should a Sikkim type referendum take place ----arguing forcefully that the closest proximity of culture, root, and above all thorugh motivation of money. You leak their boots at any slighest occasion and still gali to dhotis just to show your hollow nationalism. Shame shame.
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India helping Nepal form new Govt?
IANS/ Kathmandu
Speculation is rife in Nepal about a possible change in the government brought about by Indian mediation. Tongues have started wagging about Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa being replaced soon in the wake of the Indian ambassador Shyam Saran meeting this week King Gyanendra, Thapa himself and leaders of Opposition parties.
A day after meeting the monarch in the palace, Saran flew to New Delhi Thursday. Since this is his second trip to the Indian capital in less than a fortnight, there is a strong feeling that the envoy may be discussing in New Delhi an acceptable successor to Thapa.
Earlier this week, he met leaders of the two largest opposition parties, who re spearheading an indefinite agitation against the government since April 1. Saran's meeting with Nepali Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala and Madhav Kumar Nepal, who heads the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist, triggered media reports that he was mediating with the parties, the government and the king to come up with a prime ministerial candidate who would be acceptable to all.
Nepal was last year the Opposition's consensus candidate for the prime minister's post. The reports also hinted that the king would be willing to appoint anyone except Koirala and Nepal, who have been outspoken in their criticism of him.
The current political situation in Nepal is especially of concern to India because of the open border it shares with the country, the large number of Indians and Indo-Nepalese joint ventures and the presence of Nepal's Maoists on Indian soil.
The Thapa government has seen an escalation in the Maoist insurgency, which has led to hundreds of Nepalese fleeing the kingdom and heading for the border towns of India, causing concern for the authorities there.
The targeting of Indian businesses in Nepal by the rebels as well as the adverse effect on them due to the blockades imposed by the insurgents is also a cause for concern.
While the government says it will hold elections by 2005, it has not been able to get the support of the political parties whose agitation in the capital has been joined by professionals and rights organisations.
Interestingly, when Thapa was nominated by King Gyanendra to replace the Lokendra Bahadur Chand government last year, there was much speculation that his name had been proposed by Indian authorities, something that has been strongly denied by the Indian envoy.
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