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Nepal-India border issue: Let’s not rely on ‘coward king’

KP Sharma Oli

There was a jungle ruled for centuries by a lion as the king. Once, the animals thought of changing their ruler and elected a monkey as the new king. After sometimes, a lion caught a fawn and took it inside a den where he used to live. The mother doe was a witness of the entire incident. She went to beg help to the newly elected king.

The king monkey followed the doe to the entrance of the cave assuring her that he would do anything to protect the life of the fawn because he had promised it at the time of the election. When he reached the cave, he stopped and shouted, “Hey lion! You are no more the king and you have to obey my order. Let the fawn be free, otherwise…”

The king got no response from the den till the evening. He became very angry with the lion but did not dare to enter inside the den. Instead, he consoled the doe, “Don’t worry, I will be with you till you do not get the fawn back.” And, he climbed a tree and started to jump from one branch to another. It continued for three days.

The doe lost her patience and asked the king, “Maharaj, when could I get my child back?” The king replied resentfully, “Haven’t you seen my efforts to release your kid? I am continuously doing the things what I could.” He added, “I am with you and doing it just for you.”

As this poor doe, we should not be worried about the land encroachment by the expansionist neighbour, India, because our elected king is doing his best to reclaim.

King needs courage

The most significant treaty that defines the territory of Nepal is the Sugauli Treaty. It was held between British’s India and Government of Nepal in 1815 AD.

After India’s independence, the relations were cemented by the Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950. But, there have been frictions over the same. Both governments established an Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) in 2016 because they wanted a revision to the treaties, not only the Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty but others as well. But, because of the ‘big brother’ mindset of Indian political establishment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not accepted the final report prepared by the EPG.

India always put forwards security concerns in terms of its relations with its neighbours. But, Nepal also has security threats from India because we have experienced many incidents in which the Indian security forces entered in Nepal and killed the civilians without any reason. They are taking advantage of the porous border with Nepal to conduct illicit activities. To hide and keep their activities in a shadow, Indians accuse Nepal of protecting anti-India activists, raise security concerns.

In 2015, just after the earthquake, India imposed a border blockade. We did nothing to oppose this injustice. At last, India moved back just because that has not worked in the favour of India and it seemed suicidal for them. Our leadership did not have enough courage to present this issue in international forums. But, just because of the Indian move, the then prime minister KP Sharma Oli got a chance to present him as a patriotic leader. In fact, he was not a real hero but just seemed to be a hero by chance.

Oli is not a hero. If he was, he would respond effectively to the Indian this time (after India opening a road via the Nepali territory) also. He cannot do it because he is a coward. Though he thinks he is a king, he is not—because he does not have the courage to take actions against the lion.

Our strength: Nepal Army

Though the ‘king’ has been proved coward, the Nepal Army exists. We have a brave army and it is ready to do anything to protect its motherland.

An army is basically established to fight against foreign encroachment and attacks on our sovereignty. Hence, Nepal has to mobilise its army to safeguard its borders.

When Nepal has asked to go back from Kalapani and the newly constructed road, India has clearly replied that the road is in its own land. It means it is not ready to be back. In this case, it needs to be chased away. And, only the army can play its role in this case. If the army also cannot, it means it is not needed anymore.

We Nepalis are with a strong belief ‘Kayar hunu bhanda marnu jati’ (better to die than to be a coward). We will prove our strength to defeat the bad neighbour.

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