Madan Ragmi, Political Analyst (Courtesy: Telegraphnepal.com)
TGQ1:
How you have been evaluating the current state of Nepali politics? Please tell
us as to how the party leaders should have treated the people after the advent
of the Republican order in Nepal?
Madan
Regmi: Well, we have both positive and negatives
sides to it. The political practices that have been taking place after the
advent of the Republican order are not a correct one in itself. The structure
is itself an incorrect one. There is not even a single constitutional expert
housed in the entire Constituent Assembly. The whole practices of the current
CA body are not in the prime national interests of the nation. The dwindling conduct of politics of the past
four years complicated the politics even more.
It created a situation of community-caste conflict, likely
disintegration of the nation-state and more so of a dangerous financial slide.
The past four years should have in essence
strengthened the people of the country, the nation’s stamina should have gone
up but that was not forthcoming. To recall, the nation began taking a downward
trend immediately after the signing of the Sugauli Treaty, 1816, on matters of
Nepal’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national independence , which,
in other words to explain, did not stop instead it took a further slither over
these recent years. These three pillars began visibly to take a downward
trend.
Frankly speaking, we have yet not freed
ourselves from the clutches of the Indian expansionism and British imperialism.
It remains intact. Let me tell you that
our motherland Nepal was the
single country in the South Asian region which was the most competent and
strongest among all the countries in existence then now at the moment remains
in the grip of the expansionist India
which is nothing more but a creation of the British Imperialism. India’s direct
or indirect domineering interference still continues. We are living under such
a tragic situation. Now you yourself think of the political situation as to how
it could have been?
I told you earlier that after the Treaty of
Sugauli, the rulers of Nepal
since then, save Jung Bahadur, could not remain loyal and honest towards the
national interests and pride. For instance, if, for example, any particular
leader is 10 to 20 percent honest for the cause of the nation then yet he is
excessively serving the interests of the Expansionists and the Imperialists. In
the long and chequered Nepali history, many nationalists did turn up to rule
this country but have had to quit the power structure simply because they have
had little of support from the population because of the dearth of the presence
of the nationalists.
Even as of today, I can’t take the Nepali
leaders ruling the country as the real Nepalese. I am forced to take them all,
save a few, as the brokers of the foreigners or say alien powers. That is why
there is no room or space for the Nepalese to expect something substantial from
them to the country and its population.
If anything is to be done and could be done
then it is only ‘by the people’. It is also the prime job of the nationalists
housed in various parties. Today’s main job for us all is to free this nation
from foreign dependence and to restore the lost pride, glory, and the integrity
of the nation in order to make Nepal
a completely sovereign and independent nation-state. This demands that a
sizeable chunk of the nationalists must sacrifice for the accomplishment of
this national cause. We must in effect fight a people’s war with the Indian
expansionism. Or else, we will be
destroyed. However, we have two options left with us either to remain as a
second class citizen-slave in our own motherland under the umbrella of the
imperialists and the expansionists or save the country by defeating the
enemies-the expansionists and the imperialists. This is the time that we must
come to a conclusion. Earlier the better.
TGQ2:
You talked of expansionism and imperialism, however, there have been talks also
now in prevalence for restoring our territories lost after the treaty of Sugauli
and the idea of a Greater Nepal is also under discussion which is gaining
momentum of late? What say you of these talks?
Madan
Regmi: I would prefer to
use the word ‘geographical’ in place of ‘greater’ because it would be a fitting
expression. When you talk of greater Nepal, it at times may give a
message that we want to encroach upon other’s land by extending our
territories. All that we have been longing for is the restoration of the lost
Nepali territories, for example, Darjeeling, Kumau, Garhwal, Dehradun and the
territories around the bank of river Ganges which we lost after signing the
treaty of Sugauli. This means that we want to have our land which is in the
Indian occupation currently, for example, SIWAN district, the border in between
the Ganges and Dehradun, and beginning Gorakhpur
to the South of Chiswanghat. And also in addition, the border of then Awadh
state which was up to Gomati
River is our territory.
We just want to have our territories back with us. This could be done as
accomplished by China while
restoring Hongkong and Macau only recently. We
deserve this right even as of today to restore our lost land.
I now tell you a very interesting story
based on historical facts.
During the rule of Mahendra Malla, he once
traveled to the South of his territory; he constructed a huge Lord Shiva temple
near the village of Mehedar which is just five kilometers ahead of
Chiswanghat, close to the banks of the river Ganges.
He named this Temple
as Mahendra Nath and also constructed one huge pond. Each year, people throng
to this temple even as of today. It has already become a pilgrim site. In this
area, the Nepalese still remain in good strength which is inhabited by the
Rais, Limbus, Brahmins, Chettris and also Newars. All these lands in effect belong
to Nepal.
Question thus again remains as to whether we want to regain our lost lands
exhibiting our bravery or sit idle like a coward? Today we have just become
like a corpse which is alive only to inhale air. How long should we live with such indignation, foreign dependence
and insult? Mind it the Koreans and the Vietnamese chased the Americans
from their soil. Cuba
is yet another example which stands tall with profound pride and glory. Cuba challenged the United States. They all shed blood
in order to preserve the independence and glory of their respective nations.
TGQ3:
Comparatively speaking, India
is a mighty power. With this in background, how could Nepal fight a war with India to regain
our lost territories?
Madan
Regmi: To tell you honestly, the country called India is a
bogus one. It is just a structure which
is the inheritor of the British Imperialism handed over to them by the British.
At present, many smaller South Asian which are under the Indian grip were all
in an annoyed mood. Some even are
protesting against the Indian hegemony. For
example, much ahead of the British invasion of South Asia,
there were independent States in existence, for example, the Marhattas, the
Sikhs, the Tamils, Oddisa, Nagas, Muslims and Bodo. You may have already noticed that it is the
single country in the world with two names: India and Bharat. No where
one could find this strange phenomenon. They don’t have any common language.
The so called Hindi speaking population in India has a very negligible
percentage. To recall, the Maha
Rastra which is in itself a big country with great strength doesn’t even allow
to hang the sign/display boards in Hindi language. If you happen to visit Bengal, Oddisa and Tamilnadu, you will discover that the
local population there even do not take themselves as Indian nationals. Nor do they speak the Hindi language. If you
go to Andman, Nicobar Island and Goa, the local citizens openly claim that
one fine morning they will free themselves from India and become an independent
state.
The movement for Sikh Independence is still alive and kicking. Recall, how the Indira Gandhi regime
pounced upon the holy shrine of the Sikhs, the Golden temple, and caused damage
to the temple and hurt the sentiments of Sikh population which resulted in her
own death ultimately.
TGQ4:
If it is so then how the Indian nation is still surviving?
Madan
Regmi: Some 3 to 4 tactical
methods have been brought into practice in order to keep the survival of this
nation intact. Those are “exploitation”,
criminalization, suppression and corruption and creating divisions among
various communities. At the moment, some eighty percent of the Indian
population remain below the poverty line. Only 29% of the Indian population
gets a chance to have the meal once a day. Each year several hundred of
thousands Indian national become the victim of State led violence. The poorest
of all perhaps live in this country wherein in the last three decades; the acts
of Rape have gone up by 900 percent. Let me now quote one of the distinguished
Indian national who was once the Justice serving the Supreme Court of India and
who later became the Chairman of the Press Council of India. He was Markandey Katzu (Reuters November
10, 2011). Cutting a joke at the trend of the Indian national newspapers, Katzu
had said that the papers in India focus more on the lifestyle of the Indian
Cinema actors, write about fashion shows and disseminate news of Cricket plays
instead of concentrating their efforts in speaking/writing in favor of the
population whose 80% live in appalling poverty, rising unemployment, bearing
the brunt of price hike and lack of medical facilities. This does speak as to
how the Indian authorities and the papers were in India.
TGQ5:
Under the prevailing circumstance, tell us how to restore our lands from Indian
occupation?
Madan
Regmi: For that we should
remain in an alert state. We should then study the whole context.
Unfortunately, the attention of the population has got diverted from this
issue. We have been forced not to understand our problems and issues. The state
authorities in association with the information tools have been making us to
feel that we were the most inferior persons on earth. Add to this their cheating exercises. We have
some leaders who just would have to utter that Nepal has no existence at all. They
at times say that why small nations like Nepal need a military structure at
all which has been sandwiched in between two Asian giants? Can we afford war
with these giants? In my opinion, these
were slaves and fools of the highest order. They have no knowledge of Nepal’s
glorious historical past. I would remind you that we-read Nepal-fought wars
with these two great powers. We also fought a war with China but we
were not defeated by the Chinese. This war finally landed up in a truce and a
treaty was signed and the Chinese returned back to their lands. Later we fought
two years long war with the United Kingdom
which had by then invaded almost half the globe wherein it was stated then that
the Sun never sets in the British Empire. We
had won at three fronts in this war with the UK. There was no possibility of the
British winning over Nepal.
The UK
had lost its distinguished Generals like Gilespy who had to embrace death at
the Nalapani battle. And
interestingly, the British soldiers used to avoid meeting the brave Nepali
Gorkha soldiers when in small numbers fearing death. Many of their soldiers
fled from the battlegrounds. Even the English historians have put in
record and have said that “these Nepali Gorkha soldiers are no less brave than
our own soldiers. “We used to claim that we were the best soldiers in the
world, however, the fact is that these Nepali Gorkha soldiers were the bravest
of all in the world”, this is what they have put on record in history. But unfortunately,
the soldiers who had already taken over the three fronts miscalculated the
strength of the advancing battalion led by Colonel Ochtorlony which coincided
with the conspiracies hatched by some eight Royal courtiers which facilitated
Gajraj Mishra and Chandra Shekhar Upadhyaya-Dahal to seduce the then King and
Queen under a conspiracy which was to force the Nepali Royalty to yield to the
British. Even the bravest of all Bhimsen Thapa could not understand this
plot. This led even the world acclaimed
Nepali fighter, Amar Singh Thapa-the Hannibal of Asia, to sign the insulting
and humiliating Sugauli Treaty. This is
the first ever case in the history wherein an insulting treaty had to be signed
by the soldiers which had captured all the three war fronts and unfortunately
have had to be pushed back in a mere front. The English historians too have
written about this unfortunate incident which went not in favor of Nepal. Nepal still had
the valor and vigor to conquer several Nalapanis, Jaitak, Bharatpur and
Devantal and hence there was no need to sign the Treaty of Sugauli. The English
historians have written that the British war on Nepal
had to be waged simply because she had to exhibit its power influence in the
entire South Asia.
Had we the technical knowhow then we would
have become one of the major powers in Asia.
This is our live history. We are even today the same brave Nepalese who never
feared death. The blood remains the same. The only difference has been that the
foreign brokers have been making us dependent on others and injecting
inferiority complex in our brains.
You just said how to fight to regain our
lands. I ask you instead can you show me even a single example whether India has
fought any war without sending the Gorkha soldiers in the frontline of the war
front? This applies with the British as well. It is a matter of shame to fight
for others. This could never be a matter of pride for the Nepalese. We fought
several world wars and received victory medals. But those wars which were fought
by the Nepalese for others possess no meaning at all. Mind it that the
unification efforts made by Yalambar, Anshu Varma, Pratap Malla and Prithivi
Narayan Shah have its own kind of values. We belonging to various caste, tribes
and ethnicity with differing culture and traditions from across the nation
collectively made this nation-state. We thus created a Himali/Nepali culture
which was an advanced one. We all
remained glued together while forming and running the nation. In this
background, we should once again remain in a collective state in order to save
the nation. Let’s not talk of splitting the nation instead allowing it to
remain in a solid and united form. If we
collectively work together and save the nation then we can regain our past
glory brought into existence by our ancestors. Lord Buddha was son of this
soil. Thus we are committed to peace and concurrently preparing ourselves for a
war with the enemy though the effort remains in a dormant state. Mind it that a war is fought not with the
weapons but with the courage and valor.
Text courtesy: The Greater Nepal
Weekly dated May 18, 2012. Thanks.
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