NATIONAL 3 -(Spotlight Weekly)

Insecurity Concerns

The deployment of the army in the border regions also raises complaints of harassment

By AKSHAY SHARMA

The government’s decision to use the Royal Nepalese Army to patrol the border checkpoints has been instantly hailed by some and more minutely scrutinized by others.

The decision to deploy the army at border customs checkpoints was taken on March 14 to control cross-border smuggling of goods and to stem the leakage of government revenue through rampant tax evasion.

The mobile team of army personnel will be under the directives of the chief custom officer, policy makers tell us. Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel, speaking at a recent program on the state of law and order in the country said, "His Majesty’s Government is committed to maintaining good governance and law and order in the country."

Tatopani custom point : Will army mobilization be fruitful ?

The government is facing the daunting task of restoring stability in the country. Control of unauthorized trade and other activities along the border could be seen as a major component of that task. Moreover, as one expert puts it, most of the contraband that enters the country is through the borders. "By mobilizing the army, maybe we can stop the huge amount of contraband that is smuggled into the country."

If national means of control or added influence of international coalition suffices to change the behavior of a targeted country, then the power trying to influence it may have to resort to force, says an analyst, on condition of anonymity.

"The least violent use of force is the blockade — either by land, as imposed by the former Soviet Union on West Berlin in 1948, or by sea, as used briefly by the United States against Cuba in 1962," writes Karl W. Deutsch in his book "The Analysis of International Relations".

At the same time, however, the businessmen in the eastern terai have requested the government to review its decision of deploying the army. Some have even protested against the action, saying that the army was terrorizing the local business community. "It is wrong to arrest the businessmen without giving them the right to speak for themselves," said Parshuram Agrawal, the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Jhapa.

If a blockade is not challenged by another power, its enforcement might succeed without bloodshed. But if it is challenged, or if its enforcement fails, or if, though enforced, it fails to change the behavior in the country, then the would-be influencer nation may have to abandon its attempt at putting pressure on the country, or move up higher on the ladder of escalating conflict. And from this level on upward, some people are likely to be killed, says the analyst.

Officials at the Mechi Customs Office claim that the mobilization of the army has improved the collection of revenue. The mobilization of the army has made significant progress by arresting Deep Chandra Agrawal, the proprietor of Manisha Electricals and has managed to confiscate goods worth Rs 450,000. During a raid conducted on March 28, the army also confiscated 4,000 pieces of saris from Dulhan Sari Center and saris amounting to 95,000 rupees from Suresh Enterprises.

"An obvious way of stepping up pressure on the target country is the infiltration of saboteurs and guerrillas, who mine roads, blow up weakly guarded installations, and attack isolated officials or local agencies or minor center of the government," writes Deutsch, agreeing that limited violence can be used as a means of pressure on solving bigger crisis that may loom ahead.

He says, "The foreign input of radio, propaganda, armed agents, special equipment, technical expertise, and (perhaps) troops can be augmented to sustain or even trigger a genuine civil war."

The mobilization of the army in the border regions can also maintain an atmosphere of insecurity and harassment, says the analyst.