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BOOK REVIEW |
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BOOK REVIEW |
Border Management Surveyor Buddhi Narayan
Shrestha discusses the border management of Nepal By A CORRESSPONDENT Nowhere in the world do the two countries
like Nepal and India share a long natural open border. Divided by rivers, mountains and
lands, the borders undergo ups and downs depending upon the situation. Having served for more than four decades at
the Department of Survey in various capacities, Shrestha is known as a person with
extensive knowledge on the border demarcation and related issues. In his recent book,
Shrestha tries to explore reasons behind border disputes between Nepal and India. Whenever Nepal and India try to regulate
their border, controversies appear regarding the border points. The controversies over the
borders are natural since one cannot fully and completely demarcate the border between the
two countries. Although the book is based on the
collections of various articles written by authors in different periods of time, the book
highlights the reasons behind the frequent border disputes between the two countries. Like
all other books, the author projects the conflicting matters rather than focusing on
factors of compromise and consolidation. Being a former director general of
Department of Survey, Shrestha has the first hand knowledge regarding controversies and
disputes between the two countries. Along with writing on the issue, Shrestha also cites
many historical documents to prove his arguments on what the two countries need to do to
settle the borders between the two countries. In many instances, it seems that the
dispute on the border is just a matter of procedural misunderstanding and ignorance in the
historical context of border. Shrestha's book reveals that officials of two countries have
hardly made efforts to end the disputes. Nepal shares more than 1,700 kilometers
long border with India. There are disputes at about 100 different places including in
Kalapani. Rather than taking these issues at the technical level, political leaders always
make efforts to raise the issue in street creating more confusion. Nepal and India demarcated their land about
two hundred years ago and revised it after the handover of some territory after the Sipoy
Mutiny. Till Nepal's southern plain had limited settlement, the question of border
disputes hardly mattered. With the growing settlements in terai and destruction of many
old pillars along the border, the issue has landed into further controversy. Although leaders of both the countries have
made many efforts to find out amicable solution of the border disputes, they are yet to
translate that into the official levels. Shrestha, who has visited different parts of the
world to study the map of Nepal, has written how experts see the problems of border
disputes. In some of his articles, one can see
sentiments dominating as he writes about the border disputes between the two countries.
Had he emphasized opinions based on exerpertise, the book would have been more credible. After writing the first book on Nepali,
Shrestha's second book on English language will help foreigners to understand the border
disputes between Nepal and India. Border Management of Nepal |
Send your feedback to the
editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
