Elephant and dragon in our room: Nepal's movement for territorial integrity
For the past few days, the Kalapani-Lipulek-Limpiyadhura has remained the lead story for the Nepali media. In a rare show of unity, Nepal's political parties from the left, right and the centre have come together against India's territorial aggression of Nepal's region of strategic importance close to the China border, formalised by cartographic aggression, though the ruling political party is a bit reluctant when it comes to using all avenues to resolve issues of Indian encroachment upon Nepali territories even as student wings continue to hit the streets against this aggression. This is substantiated by the fact that a) Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli chose to not attend an all-party meeting meant to discuss the aggression and find a way out b) Co-chair of the ruling CPN (CPN), Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', toning down his rhetoric a bit, said it is too early to internationalise the issue (take the issue to the United Nations?) for obvious reasons c) The political leadership in charge in Nepal seems to be going again for tried and tested methods that have failed to resolve the issue, instead of holding a one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
This reluctance will only boost the morale of a Bharatiya Janata Party government -- an emerging Third Reich of sorts in its own right -- bent on subjugating countries in the immediate neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, efforts to weaken the movement against this aggression seem to have begun in right earnest. Have a look at these developments:
a) The main opposition Nepali Congress has started pointing at Chinese encroachment upon Nepali territories. Of course, there are reports of China encroaching upon Nepali territories and we should stand against all forms of aggression. But, at this juncture, raising this issue is akin to a weak army fighting on multiple battlefronts. At this moment, let us channelise all our energies, let us use all our avenues and diplomatic acumen to resolve the dispute with our southern neighbour through a peaceful, well-thought-out process. Once the process is on track, we can raise the issue of Chinese aggression, also in view of the fact that the scale of aggression is far less than Indian aggression.
b) Vested interests have started maligning the movement by charging that a certain country is fuelling the fire. Yours truly feels that this charge undermines the intellectual capacity of the Nepalis to know what is right for them and for their country. It is an affront to the patriotic Nepalis and is part of desperate attempts to weaken the movement. Refuting these allegations, we shall ever be watchful and wage a long and hard but peaceful struggle for the restoration of national sovereignty.
c) When national forces are standing together for national sovereignty through a rare show of unity, a movement for medical reforms has resumed. This is not to show that this resumption is against the movement for national sovereignty in any way. The doctor involved in spearheading this movement and his die-hard followers may be fighting for a noble cause and may, one fine day, be able to free national medical education from the clutches of the much-hyped medical media. Will they start their fight against the international medical mafia once they are done with finishing off the national medical mafia? For now, will it be asking for too much to come join a peaceful campaign for national sovereignty, given that yours truly is not competent enough to ask if the doctor's protest is in line with the Hippocratic oath?
In the end, the president of a neighbouring country is coming to Nepal on a four-day official visit. Yours truly does not know what this visit is all about. Is it meant to increase land connectivity with that country, despite the fact that there's no escaping our southern neighbour even in this new scheme as the land route will pass through her territories? Is it meant to facilitate the export of our hydropower to the (relatively) distant neighbour using the territory of the southern neighbour? Or does it have some covert purpose, given the fact that our southern neighbour is rendering stateless a huge number of what it calls immigrants from the country whose president is visiting Nepal?
Text: Devendra Gautam
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