Long and hard road to national independence

Early morning (a little past the Brahmamuhurta, May 10). Yours truly is off the bed, already. You see, sleep is hard to come by in troubling times like these when you look closely all around you, only to find that the thing you are looking for, the state, is present nowhere except in the draconian lockdown (luck-down for many people, except for those in or close to the corridors of power or people close to them) enforced without putting in place means of survival for its Praja, the subjects.

Praja is not what we are, we are free citizens of an independent country, that will be your line of argument, most probably. Yeah you are right, in principle.

You see, liberties become a luxury for the people of a state that cannot ensure inviolability of national boundaries, though it is strong enough to crack down on and arrest people protesting acts of unprovoked foreign aggression by braving the lockdown.    

Praja is not what we are, we are free citizens of an independent country, you will say this. Yeah you are right, in principle.

Close to my place, a column of security personnel (perhaps from the paramilitary force deployed along the 1800-km border with India that's open on our side only, perhaps as part of a design to let in all sorts of elements, including helpless humanity, from across the border and the extended, volatile neighbourhood in times of crises) are doing their daily exercise amid the crooning of pigeons and other birds that seem happier in times of COVID-19, thanks to a cleaner, greener environment resulting from a very small carbon footprint and noise. In the case of Nepal, why is there a need to keep vast tracts of the 1800-km border open for the sake of barely 30 million people of a country spread in 1,47,181 sq km?

Apparently, to keep domestic peace in a country of peace-loving citizens, the state does not need to strain that much, even in times of a serious crisis like this.

But the threat comes not from within, it comes from outside, mainly from across the open border, mostly in the form of unprovoked aggression. That is where this fledgling state fails to keep peace and that is a cause of common concern.

The threat comes mainly from across the open border, mostly in the form of unprovoked aggression. 

Hamro sarkar bahaduriko saath pachhi hatiraheko chha. Amid the drill cry of the column passing by, yours truly, in a state of delirium, hears these words in the background and that takes him back to the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1962. You know, that was the time when one of our neighbours defeated its muhbola bhai, in their war for Aksai Chin and a witty Nehru, in his intellectual best, uttered these words on radio: Hamare fauj bahadurike saath pichhe hat rahe hein (Our troops are retreating bravely). That defeat is said to be behind Nehru's death from a heart attack in 1964. By the way, do our leaders have a heart too? Yours truly has no idea.

Call it the irony of history: Those vanquished and retreating troops found safe havens in our territory: The Kalapani-Lipulek-Limpiadhura region. In course of time, they fortified their presence in the region by building camps, roads and other infrastructure.

In this day and age, those vanquished troops and people seem to be everywhere in our territories.

In blatant violation of international practices, they build water regulatory structures on the no-man's-land and our state looks the other way. Leading masses of a state, the inheritor of the British empire that seems bent on executing its Imperial Project by bringing in neighbouring territories into its fold, they encroach upon our southern plains and high passes, while our fledging state looks on, weakened all the more by petty intrigues and conspiracies to remain in power somehow.

This makes yours truly question: Where has our legendary bravery gone? Where has our statesmanship gone? 

Where has our legendary bravery gone? Where has our statesmanship gone? 

 

Of course, we showed exemplary courage while fighting wars that were not ours, in a territory that was not ours, for a cause that was not ours. The bravery of our ancestors, exhibited during the Anglo-Nepal War, is a shining example of a patriotic war.  But the sad part is that this show of courage paved the way for turning our youths into cannon fodders ready for deployment here, there, everywhere, except along national frontiers.

Anyway, we don't have the luxury to rest on a glorious past. The vanquished, wounded and retreating troops of the yore, who took shelter in our territory, have built a road joining their territory with Tibet via our territory that gave refuge to them, while our state is on sickbed due to multiple organ failures. The state did not respond when our two neighbours signed about five years ago an agreement to facilitate bilateral trade via that very territory of ours, making it clear to us that the Treaty of Sugauli between Nepal and the British empire was not worth the piece of paper it was written on. More than 24 hours have passed since the formal opening of the strategic road linking our two neighbours via our territory, but our state has not bothered to call the ambassador of the aggressor state and seek an explanation from him about the act of aggression. It will indeed be strenuous to hope that our state, which acted as if did not know that the aggressor state was busy building that vital road for years, will use bilateral, trilateral and international forums in a sustained manner to get back our territory.

Troop strength is not the only factor in winning a war for national independence 

You see, troop strength is not the only factor in winning a war for national independence in a true sense. What is worth fighting for if not your land, national independence?

At this juncture, what option do we have except to hope and try, by doing all that we can to bring our state back to life? When vanquished troops and the vanquished state of the yore can perform such a feat, why can't we if we really try?

What is worth fighting for if not your land, national independence?

                                                                                                                                                                                                     - Devendra Gautam