May 20, 2005

Nishchal Nath Pandey tries to explain the implications of Nepal’s Maoist movement to India and China

By A CORRESPONDENT

With the inception of the Maoist movement in 1990, many books have already been published discussing various aspects of the violent Maoist insurgency in Nepal but only a few Nepalese and foreign scholars have made efforts to analyze the geo-strategic implications of the movement.

For the first time in the last ten years, Nishchal Nath Pandey, officiating executive director of Kathmandu-based Institute of Foreign Affairs, discusses the regional security implications of the Maoist movement. Initially, the Maoists movement was seen as an isolated event of extreme communists. Surprisingly, Maoists have escalated their activities throughout the country.

One of the interesting parts of the Maoist movement is that Maoists have escalated their activities throughout the country just after the 9/11 terrorist attack that stunned the world. The global war on the terrorism changed the situation in Afghanistan and the country endorsed a new constitution and held the presidential elections. In Nepal, the situation has deteriorated further and elections were postponed twice in the last three years.

After the revolution of 1951, Nepal has faced a number of insurgencies but this is the most dreadful one as more than 11,000 people have already been killed in the violence and infrastructures worth billions of rupees have already been destroyed.

“Although a lot has been written on the Maoist movement of Nepal, most of it comprises newspapers articles or news reports. But even so, a systematic record of daily events is not available for the common man to read and evaluate. Similarly, there is also a need for more coherent and analytical publications to read and evaluate the situation on the ground. That being so, I have ventured to put forward an overview of the movement, with briefs on the history of Nepal’s extreme left groups, the genesis of the crisis, its growing influence, and, ultimately, the likely impact that it is going to have on India and China, Nepal’s two neighbors that are, according to international security watchers, the military and economic heavyweights of the twenty-first century,” writes Pandey in his acknowledgement. “It seemed that the country was heading on an unmarked road to an unknown destination."

Sandwiched between India and China, Nepal's geo-strategic location is important for both of Nepal’s neighbors. As Nepal and India have long porous border, it is easy for interactions. Like all previous insurgencies, Nepalese Maoists, too, used Indian soil to attack against Nepalese targets. Guarded by high mountains, Nepal-China border does not permit any insurgents to move safely.

At a time when China and India - Asia’s two powerful countries are competing to increase their economic and strategic influence in the region – the small buffer state like Nepal cannot remain untouched.

Pandey discusses all aspects related to rise of the Maoist movement and its implication to Nepal’s two neighbors but what he misses to explain is how a small rag tag insurgent group is now in the position to challenge the existence of the state.

RCSS Policy Studies 27

Nepal’s Maoist Movement

And Implications for India and China

By: Nishchal Nath Pandey

Published by: Manohar Publisher and Distributors, New Delhi and Regional Center for Strategic and Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Distributed in South Asia by: Foundation Books, New Delhi

Price: US$ 7.82