Sustain Humanity


Saturday, December 19, 2015

Mail from Nepal:AN INDIAN QUEST FOR JAFFNAIZATION OF NEPAL-TERAI

Mail from Nepal:AN INDIAN QUEST FOR JAFFNAIZATION OF NEPAL-TERAI

Posted by The Himalayan Voice:
[Integrating the Tarai with the mountains makes common sense also from the development perspective. The West Seti project will submerge 2000 ha of land and displace 16,000 people in the four hill districts of Doti, Dadeldhura, Bajhang and Baitadi, but would irrigate 360,000 ha of farmlands in the three Tharu heartland districts of Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur, generate 750 MW of electricity to be used mostly in the factories of the Tarai yielding an annual revenue of Rs 15 billion that could be used for the overall development of  the country including the districts upstream.]

By Bihari Krishna Shrestha 

The author's interface with Sagaramatha TV in Kathmandu on 
the Devastating April-May Earthquake Video >>
The Nepali language media last week was rife with reports that Indian officials told Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa during his recent visit to New Delhi that the bottom line for ending the blockade was that the word 'secular' should be removed from the preamble of the newly-adopted constitution and the whole of the Tarai should be one province.

While the advantage of Nepal being declared Hindu Rastra once again for the BJP's domestic audience is understandable in the meantime, what is puzzling is the purported insistence on the whole of the Tarai delineated as a single province. Incidentally, the same demand was raised by the Loktantrik Madheshi Morcha back in 2007 during the first Madhes Movement. The similarity between that demand then and the Indian conditionality now, if true, is  intriguing.

That proposal makes absolutely no sense from whichever angle you look at it. The Tarai is a narrow strip of land some 30km wide running 800km east-west, how can it ever be self-governing? What do the people of Jhapa have in common with those in Kanchanpur? They are much closer to their cousins in Ilam and Panchthar. Secondly, the Tarai is ethnically diverse with people of Madhes and Pahad background more or less equally represented at close to 40 percent each.

Credit: Nepali Times
There are other even more compelling reasons why a separate Tarai province would be potentially disastrous for its inhabitants. The massive extraction of groundwater across the border in the Indian plains has meant that the water table in the Tarai is receding fast.

While only a few decades ago, a tubewell 6m deep would have water, it now needs to be at least 50m deep. The worse is yet to come. The only possible sources of water for the Tarai for drinking, irrigation and industrial development will be the rivers and streams flowing down from the northern mountains.

Integrating the Tarai with the mountains makes common sense also from the development perspective. The West Seti project will submerge 2000 ha of land and displace 16,000 people in the four hill districts of Doti, Dadeldhura, Bajhang and Baitadi, but would irrigate 360,000 ha of farmlands in the three Tharu heartland districts of Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur, generate 750 MW of electricity to be used mostly in the factories of the Tarai yielding an annual revenue of Rs 15 billion that could be used for the overall development of  the country including the districts upstream.

So, why would even the Madhesis want the whole of the Tarai to be a provincial strip in the plains only? Why would New Delhi also push that? A plausible answer was provided recently by Indian columnist Ananda Swarup Vermawho wrote that India could be 'trying to turn Nepal into another Jaffna'. The Tamil separatist conflict in northern Sri Lanka sucked India into a bloody and unwinnable war that New Delhi barely extricated itself from.

True, India hasn't been as blatant in the Nepal Tarai as it had in northern Sri Lanka, but we must learn fromIndia's mistakes to protect Nepal's national integrity. While, with all the behind-the-scene activities going on and the growing criticism within India of the Modi government for blockading Nepal the siege could come to an early end. Or, it may not.

Either way, the Nepal government would do well to use this opportunity to bolster political and trade ties withChina. Not to thumb our noses at India, but to restore balance in our bilateral ties with the northern and southern neighbours. This would raise hackles in India, but New Delhi will realise that it was its folly that pushed Nepal to the north.  

Nepal's logic as a buffer between India and Chinapresupposes that it benefits from its interaction with both the countries socially and economically even as we stay away from becoming either country's satellite. This must constitute the crux of Nepal's foreign policy from here on: a redefinition of the older doctrine of a 'yam between two boulders'.


*
Comment(s)

The heading Zaffnaization of Nepal's Madesh was interesting and read it through.

It is preposterous in the part of that Indian official who even talked of Jaffanaization of Nepal's Madhesh, if at all he did. It is in the verge of being stupid, if I may say so, because India has learnt its lessons in Sri Lanka well and will not resort to such adventurism. It will be diplomatic Hara-kiri. And India is not so stupid to do so.

I therefore request all the Nepalese media and leaders of Nepal who are devoting considerable time to shape India-Nepal future relation to be more careful in their utterances and arouse the negative sentiments in the minds of people in both countries. 


​Col. Shiv Om Rana, PhD
Mob +9199999 078 seven zero
Twitter handle : @happyshiv
My Blogs are here >>
For more, please click >>

The Himalayan Voice
Cambridge, Massachusetts
United States of America
Skype: thehimalayanvoice


    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal ...

    www.bhaskar.com › Uttar Pradesh › Crime
    Sep 30, 2015
    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal border.

    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal ...

    www.bhaskar.com › Uttar Pradesh › Crime
    Sep 30, 2015
    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal border.

    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal ...

    www.bhaskar.com › Uttar Pradesh › Crime
    Sep 30, 2015
    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal border.

    indo nepal relation in the age of madhesi movement ...

    ▶ 2:53
    Nov 11, 2015 - Uploaded by Celibrity Profile
    indo nepal relation in the age of madhesi movement ... Blockade at India-Nepal border aims to jolt govt to ...

    I support Madhesi Movement : Samir Mahaseth - YouTube

    ▶ 7:10
    Sep 17, 2015 - Uploaded by Ikon News
    People of MIthilanchal has very close relations with Madhesi in Nepal .We use to marry our daughter in their ...

    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal ...

    www.bhaskar.com › Uttar Pradesh › Crime
    Sep 30, 2015
    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal border.

    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal ...

    www.bhaskar.com › Uttar Pradesh › Crime
    Sep 30, 2015
    madhesi movement turns violent stone pelting on indo nepal border.

    Episode 9 Madhesi Movement Part 1 - YouTube

    ▶ 11:24
    Oct 24, 2011 - Uploaded by SUPPORTNepal
    Episode 9 Madhesi Movement Part 1 ... Pahila Madhesi OR Pahila Nepali: BBC Debate- Prashant ...

    Madhesi blockade continues along India-Nepal border ...

    ▶ 1:42
    Oct 25, 2015 - Uploaded by ANI News
    Birgunj, Oct 26 (ANI): Hundreds of agitated members of theMadhesi ... movement of traffic from India to Nepal ...

      Madheshi Movement 2015: 9 Rally for Rights, 09 October ...

      ▶ 0:43
      Oct 11, 2015 - Uploaded by MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips
      MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips ... Sanjay yadav maithili songs_ JAGA JAGA HO BHAIYA ...

      Madheshi Movement 2015: 2 Rally for Rights, 09 October ...

      ▶ 0:24
      Oct 10, 2015 - Uploaded by MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips
      MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips ... MadhesiMorcha Speech Against Government For Killing ...

      Madheshi Movement 2015: 4 Rally for Rights, 09 October ...

      ▶ 0:35
      Oct 10, 2015 - Uploaded by MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips
      MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips ... Sanjay yadav maithili songs_ JAGA JAGA HO BHAIYA ...

      Madhesi Song - YouTube

      ▶ 2:56
      Oct 11, 2013 - Uploaded by Fellow Clasher
      Madhesi Song ... Blockade at India-Nepal border aims to jolt govt to recognise Madhesi's rights, says ...

      PM Modi meets a delegation of the Madhesi leaders in ...

      ▶ 0:19
      Nov 25, 2014 - Uploaded by Narendra Modi
      The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting the Madhesileaders, in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 25 ...

      Madheshi Movement 3: 6 Rally for Rights-18 Oct 2015 ...

      ▶ 0:42
      Oct 18, 2015 - Uploaded by MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips
      MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips ... I supportMadhesi Movement : Samir Mahaseth - Duration ...

      Madheshi movement 2015: Protest @ Birgunj 8 October ...

      ▶ 0:44
      Oct 8, 2015 - Uploaded by MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips
      MADHESHI MOVEMENT -III Watch Video Clips ... UnitedMadhesi Front_Tamalopa_Mashal Julush_ Bijuli ...

      madhesi strike-2015(part-2) - YouTube

      ▶ 3:07
      Sep 16, 2015 - Uploaded by Aaj Tak Gyan
      Nepal border India strike by Madhesi - Duration: 3:06. by COOL BROTHERS 72 views. 3:06. I support Madhesi ...

      Madhesi yuwa ko akrosh - YouTube

      ▶ 3:03
      Oct 1, 2015 - Uploaded by bijay725
      Madhesh boy furious about madhesi andolan. ... Young citizen-led dialogue in the context of Terai ...

      madhesi andolan in nepal - YouTube

      ▶ 10:07
      Oct 7, 2015 - Uploaded by aditya giri
      madhesi andolan in nepal ... Blockade at India-Nepal border aims to jolt govt to recognise Madhesi's rights ...

--
Pl see my blogs;


Feel free -- and I request you -- to forward this newsletter to your lists and friends!

No comments:

Post a Comment