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Kathmandu,Friday January 14, 2000 Paush 30th, 2056.
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Thriving on anarchy
Apropos
your editorial dated Jan 3, the words of the Minister of External Affairs, Dr Ram Sharan
Mahat, (as you have quoted them) may not have been the most diplomatic.
Indeed, the
South Asian region, as rest of the world, remains ridden with conflicts of various hues
and also the acrimonious and violent Indo-Pakistan relationship. And Nepal actually has
too little an influence upon the global political developments to alter them.
However, what
Nepal needs to avoid exactly is taking any side in the vortex of Indo-Pakistan
confrontations and one up-manship.
Maybe, the
hijacking of the Indian airliner IC 814 has finally given a wake-up call to the slumbering
authorities in Nepal -- (ir)responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in
the country. As, in the wake of the hijacking, they have, uncharacteristically, exposed a
source of the fake Indian currency, abundantly in circulation on either side of the
Indo-Nepal border (vide the news you have broken on the same day, Jan 3, 2000).
To one’s
great surprise, however, the Pakistani embassy and its official were, reportedly, found to
be in cahoots of such criminal activities in Nepal. It may, at least partly, substantiate
the accusation of the media in India that the anti-Indian activities of ISI in Nepal
continue unabated.
The media --
weather in India or Nepal -- has been seen to be quite prone to exaggerations as it
remains under pressure to churn out unwarranted opinions and judgements in order to create
sensational headlines and remain saleable.
So, what is
needed for Nepal is a thorough investigation of these two unfortunate incidents, to make
sure that the soil of Nepal is not allowed to be used by any country to hatch conspiracies
against others.
Also, those who
hope to create anarchy in the society and then thrive on it must be ostracized and
circumscribed as they represent a threat to democracy and civil society. As terrorism is
the reality of the contemporary cruel world, we all must fight vigorously against it.
K C Bhatt,
Kathmandu |
