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| Kathmandu, Friday January 03, 2003 Paush 19, 2059. |
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Rebels have safe havens, all
By VIJAY B KUNWAR
With the ever-escalating and widening intensity
of the insurgency some fingers are being pointed towards the southern neighbour for
allegedly harbouring the Maoist leaders. Many of these men hastily conclude "the war
comes to an end on the day India ceases to support the Maoist rebels". These
easy-goers are eyeing towards the south for an immediate solution; but they ignore the
fact that our neighbour may be focussing its eye lenses on the whole of South Asia,
seemingly for its own concerns.
Taking or getting safe shelters in various parts
of India commonly referred to as Mughalan (land of the Moghuls) has been a tradition
practised by the Nepalese people from time immemorial. But while pondering over the well
inscribed pages of Nepali political history dating back to year 1775 (BS 1831), we have
Prince Bahadur Shah, the younger son of Prithvi Narayan Shah the great to take a refuge at
Betia in India after being exiled by his elder brother King Pratap Singh Shah. This is a
well known and a recorded event of modern history; there may have been many such
instances. Minor cases may not bear major significance while reviewing in this brief
account.
Swami (Nirgunanada) turned King Rana Bahadur
Shah declared a rebellion from his recluse in India to claim the self relinquished state
back from his own son King Girvana. But his army could not face against his son’s,
and the Swami had to retreat again at Varanasi in 1800. The then British rulers extended a
warm reception and allowed the Swami to operate against the monarch at Kathmandu. The
Swami had some henchmen of his own kith and kin along with his exiled Queen and a few
Knights and Courtiers, all a flock of exiled, self-exiled and unwanted courtiers labelled
anti-national, outlawed and traitors by the mainstream regime of the Nepali Durbar. The
East India Company was in search of such an opportunity. They played the Swami card and
pressurised Nepal to accept a British proposal of a trade treaty. In return, the Company
assured Nepal’s King that it would disallow the Swami to leave from India.
Personalities like Bhimsen Thapa, Bal Narsing
Kunwar and Jugat Jung, among others received refuge in various places of India. They were
all dependent on the British officials for their revival in Nepali politics. The British
always took advantage of such a situation. Not only the Kings, Princes, Regents and
courtiers of high office, but the Queens of Nepal also have taken political asylum in
India. Queen Rajya Laxmi and King Rajendra entered Varanasi in 1846 after the infamous Kot
Parva. Some entered India on the pretext of pilgrimage, while many escaped for the safety
of their lives. Almost all of these refugees sooner or later became active in politics,
favoring the British Raj and opposing their own rulers of Kathmandu. Plans related to
political and military insurgency were engineered in India, irrespective of its
realisation back home.
Queen Samrajya Laxmi left Kathmandu in protest
against the dismissal of her trusted Counsel Pushkar Shah, but was denied entry into India
by the British; this may be taken as an evidence that any political entry into India was
minutely observed by the British. No one could have entered India without their nod,
whether it was a religious or a political pilgrimage.
Padma Shumsher vacated the post of prime
minister for Mohan Shumsher and went to India, and requested India’s first Prime
Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to press Mohan Shumsher to return the post of prime
minister to him. Pandit Nehru allowed Padma to remain at Delhi but played diplomacy with
him. He had to resign from India to fully handover the reigns into Mohan’s hands.
King Tribhuvan took asylum at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and fled to India. Nehru was
the key figure to facilitate the tripartite Delhi accord signed among the King, the Ranas
and the Nepali Congress.
After the ban on multi-party system and the
dissolution of the parliament, some of the workers were put into custody while some
managed to flee to India in course of time. Activities against the Panchayat regime were
operated from India. Most of the parties except a few like Praja Parishad were born in
Indian soil. The parties later unified as Nepali Rastriya Congress and the Nepal Communist
Party were also born in India. In those days, all the political parties began reorganising
in and operating from India. Leaders and cadres of the NC and CPN were all operating from
India. They were integrating their strength and resources to fight against the legitimate
establishment of Kathmandu. Leaders namely Subarna Shumsher, B P Koirala, Pushpa Lal, Man
Mohan, Nirmal Lama, Mohan Bikram Singh were all operating from their safe hideouts of
Varanasi, Kolkata and Gorakhpur.
Communist leader Pushpa Lal was based in
Varanasi and Mohan Bikram in Gorakhpur. Varanasi has remained an all time hotspot for B P
Koirala and all of his cadres apart from Patna. The Patna based Ram Raja Prasad Singh,
leader of Janabadi Morcha -Nepal who bombed the then Rastriya Panchayat and some
symbolically strategic places, was facilitated with training of militants at a place of
the newly constituted Uttaranchal state. His chief lieutenant Khem Raj Mayalu, who became
a minister in the Deuba cabinet, was safe and secure at Lucknow. All activities were being
operated from India and it did certainly have intelligence reports of all these
activities. The movement of 1990 was a direct result of the circumstances created by India’s
embargo on Nepal. Without their non-cooperation with the then government led by Marich Man
Singh, the restoration of multi-party democracy might have taken a longer time.
The Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950 between
Nepal and India was signed when the then Rana prime minister was under threat of his
political existence; King Tribhuvan was overwhelmed by his re-emergence and the Nepali
Congress for its historical advent. It was on the whole an upper hand of the facilitating
party. But based on this very historic treaty any Nepali is free to move into and secure a
safe haven in India. But they will not touch you unless and until the Nepalese indulge
against Indian interests and commit even minor infractions of their rules. And, the
Indians do enjoy more than an equal right to be in here, as well.
So, if India was harbouring the Maoists, can
Nepal too remain far behind ? Certainly not. The Indian ambassador a couple of days back
has informed us that Nepal is reciprocating by providing practical training on guerrilla
warfare tactics to MCC and PWG ultras in the hills of Nepal. Hence, for the first time in
the history of modern Nepal, we are also providing a safe haven to the Indian terrorists.
This disclosure from the Indian diplomat is sure to annex new avenues of political
dimensions in the days to come; particularly when the Maoist movement comes to an end,
whether through negotiations or through the victory of either parties at war.
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