Nepal loses independence the next day monarchy is gone: Balkrishna Neupane

ImageLegal expert and advocate Balkrishna Neupane is a noted patriotic personality, who has pleaded many cases related to nation’s sovereignty, independence and interests as well. BN Dahal interviewed to Neupane on contemporary political issues. Excerpts; Q. The present political situation is chaotic, how does this situation come up? A. It is not only the political situation that is chaotic, the country’s sovereignty and integrity is in danger. The culprits are the eight political parties and they are being handled from behind the curtain by India. India’s gross interference in the internal affairs of Nepal is clearly evident. Take for example the 12-point agreement among the eight parties. One of those who signed the agreement has even accepted that the agreement was in Hindi. That time, the Maoists were taken as a terrorist group in India. When India mediated or involved itself in bringing the Maoist it had declared as terrorist with the seven parties, it was the first interference to create this anarchy. Then after the frequent visit of Indian politicians and the game plans of the Indian embassy was against the internationally accepted principle of non-interference on one another’s internal affairs. It is not India’s concern when there will be election in Nepal or who is talking what with the Maoists. But our Prime Minister takes the advice of the Indian ambassador on every internal issue. It is for everyone to see the Indian Ambassador meets the prime minister before every, no matter how small, decision is made and the Prime Minister follows the Indian advice. To say it frankly, it is India which is ruling over Nepal and India is taking Nepal as its colony. The eight parties claim that they are making Nepal a sovereign country, but they are making Nepal more dependent. None of the decision about the country is taken from here. So, it is the eight parties and India which have created this situation. Q. Is it our weakness or outside interference? A. Firstly, it is our weakness. What our political leaders said is, elevate us to power and we will do everything you say. This is because these political leaders are only for power and not for the country. If not, they should have sought consensus within the country. Our leaders believe that their road to power is impossible without the blessing of India. This has put our nationalism at great risk. India’s interest is in our water resource not the well being of Nepal, and our political leaders are serving the interest of India. The extent of India’s interference can be gauzed after the Maoist chairman Prachanda openly said that their armed conflict would not have succeeded without the support and help of India. The result of that support is that 15,000 Nepalese died and thousands others injured. This support for terrorism is also totally against international law. So, India has the primary role for this situation of Nepal. Q. Nepalese communists in the past looked like they were against Indian expansionism, but, those in the present play to the tune of India. It was the communists who shouted the hoarsest on nationalism but they are keeping mum now, why? A. All the parties harboured the wrong concept that they need the blessing and support of India to reach to power. That is why they talk about opposing Indian to expand their organization because many people are against India’s wrong policies towards Nepal. So outwardly, they shout slogans against India to get support of the people and then seek India’s support to gain to power. This is what is seen with the Maoists and earlier it was the same with the UML and congress. The Nepalese politics takes a tremble when the Indian foreign secretary came and leaders of all political parties wait in queue for his ‘darshan’. When the Prime Minister himself reaches Indian Foreign Secretary to the gate, where has our nationalism reached? Nepal is an independent country and we are also a member of the United Nations. But now, Nepal is like a colony of India. Their leaders of various hues come and give different instructions. There are two main interest of India. One is the citizenship. More than four million Indians have already taken Nepalese citizenship. In no country around the world, citizenship is given for living in the country. But this happened in Nepal. India wants to make Nepal another Fiji by increasing its population here and another by increasing the stake of about less than 20 per cent area to 48 per cent in national politics. The result is here too, person like Mahendra Narayan can become prime minister. So, the policy is to obliterate Nepal both in terms of population and secondly politically and to take control of everything in Nepal. Now, the headquarters of all political parties of Nepal is Delhi and here they only have branch offices. All leaders of the political parties are Indians; none of them have the iota of claim that they are leaders of a sovereign country. None of the political leaders could fulfill the role of independent leaders of an independent country. Q. Then why are the nationalists keeping when the country’s nationalism is in such a grave danger? A. It is like the old saying when there is a flood, one should cling on to a big tree and one should look for one’s land and property only after the flood is over. This is the situation now. Q. We might already become Indian citizens, like you said, by that time? A. It is not like that. The fact is if there were no China, Nepal would have ceased to exist by now. This country will remain because we are between China and India. If China wants to take over, India will stop it and if India wants to take over China will stop it. And India will ultimately suffer from its interference in Nepal. More and more Nepalese will be anti-Indian. Can Nepalese leaders say when they want election in Kashmir and how to establish peace in Kashmir? Q. What should be done to stop the blatant interference by India? A. First, all Nepalese should be united and then Nepal should be able to tell the world that ours is a small country and a bigger neighbour is interfering in our affairs. Q. Now, the Maoists have withdrawn from the government, what will be its effect on Nepalese politics? A. Now, the Maoists have raised the issue of King. It is only the king which can stop Nepal from becoming another Sikkim. Sikkim was an independent country until there was king. India must remove the king first if it wants Nepal to become its province. This country will lose its independence the next day monarchy is removed from here. But it will not become a Sikkim and India is trying to make it another Bhutan. Q. What does India want from Nepal? A. It wants total control over Nepal’s vast water resources. The way the Iraqis are suffering because they have oil, we, Nepalese will also suffer because of our water resources. Q. India has already taken almost all our water resources, what is there for it to take? A. There are still a lot. The leaders say all our water flows into water, but what is important is the space. If India can build dams at or near Nepal’s border, it can irrigate its land and produce electricity, or have water for drinking. These things are not possible if it is far from Nepal’s border. We still have vast water resources which are not in the hands of India but India has already cast eyes on them. We had never thought that one day we will have to buy water. There will be a day when we can sell water the way Arabs are selling oil. We have water like Arabs have oil and we can earn a lot by selling water and India is all out to get that resources. Otherwise, if India really wanted Nepal’s interest it should not have abolished the constitution of 2047. Nepal had gained democracy in 2047. This proves that India does not want democracy in Nepal rather it wants Nepal to become its pawn. India had wanted to do that when Birendra was king. It had proposed that it would end the agitation in 2046 if the king complied with its conditions. Q. Will all of the problems be solved by the constituent assembly elections like the eight parties are saying? A. There will be no election of the constituent assembly. If the election were possible why would the Maoist that had raised the issue of the constituent assembly back off from it? So, the constituent assembly is only the teeth to show off. India organized a three-day conference where our big leaders and human rights activists went. That means, here the constitution made by the people would not apply here. Only that made by India is applied. It is even said that the original draft of the interim constitution was in Hindi. This was proved by Narayan Man Bijukchhe, the NWPP leader, who was present at the Delhi agreement. I have even heard that the parliamentary announcement after the April movement was the brought by Indian communist leader Sitaram Yichuri and here the leaders only read it out. That means, our leaders degrade Nepal lower than the states in India. There the state governments do not obey everything the central government says, but our leaders follow without question what India says. Q. It is said people in Nepal blame India to hide their mistakes. For example, you always speak against India, what is the reason? A. There are 20, 30 ambassadors of foreign countries. Not every ambassador meets our prime minister every week. But the Indian ambassador meets our prime minister every week. Every decision in Nepal takes place after consultation with the Indian ambassador. Is the Indian ambassador our ruler that Nepalese people should go to him for advice every time? What is the use of UN Mission here if India is to do everything? So, I am speaking against India for nothing, it is because of what India is doing to Nepal.
(Courtesy: People's Review)

"Education May Be Expensive But It Is Expensive Not to Be Educated at All"

Roshee Lamichhane


The significance of education is undisputed because life without education is unimaginable in this modern world. Education is viewed as an investment in human capital that has both direct payoffs to the educated individual as well as external benefit for society as a whole. What if this education becomes exclusive privilege of the elite masses while the rest teeming thousands can't get through good colleges and universities or even forced to discontinue their studies just because they can't afford to pay for their studies?

Is it not unfair that students with strong academic background fail to attend good schools and colleges just because they are unable to pay for their tuition fees? Do they not have the right to education?

Many students in abroad countries are working more hours at part-time jobs and becoming mired in debt to pay for their colleges and high schools. The rising cost of education is making it ever more difficult for people who do not have sound financial backing to support their education on their own.

Rising education costs certainly aren't a problem for the wealthiest families who can afford to send their children to expensive schools and colleges. But for the poor it takes up the largest proportion of their earnings. Life can be very bleak for those families who have spent every spare penny on sending their child to a decent school and have nothing left for their own comforts.

Many students in abroad countries are working more hours at part-time jobs and becoming mired in debt to pay for their colleges and high schools. The rising cost of education is making it ever more difficult for people who do not have sound financial backing to support their education on their own.

And this is the reason why exactly the gulf between those studying in private schools and students in public schools in developing countries is increasing. The reason is self- evident. It is true that private schools/colleges have done much to eradicate the defects of public schools. They highly raised the standard of teaching and with good management produced excellent results. A large number of students were sent annually to different countries in quest of quality education investing a huge amount of money. Private schools/colleges put a stop to this tremendous national loss by providing equally good or in many ways better schooling to children right inside the country.

The only problem with the private schools/colleges has been that they are not affordable and accessible to every sect of our society. There are so many students who'd like to go to schools/colleges but aren't going not because of their abilities, but because of a lack of financial resources.

High price has indeed proved a major hurdle in acquiring education. High cost of education is daunting. College fees are surging and climbing to the moon. With this heavy price tag many foreign students in abroad countries are already in debt. And it is not just tuition fees that is rising but the increasing cost of textbooks, living cost and so on. A lot many students in developing countries want to go abroad for study. This trend of abroad education not only creates problem of brain-drain but also the capital flight is immense which is not beneficial to the country. Every child should have the access of education, no matter whether his/ her parents are rich or poor, or whether the cost of education is high or low.

Last but not the least, education should be under the reach of the common masses. Poor people should not be denied of the equal chances of education and schooling. If it happens then we might have to pay a heavy price for that. Regulations must be made to stop schools/colleges from charging excessive fees in the name of quality education in developing countries. Government should make an effort to provide equal and quality education to the poor all over the country.