Senior Political analyst, Nepal

TGQ1: Are you satisfied with the current political situation? It is said that Nepal suffering got worse from the day when the Nepali leaders signed the 12 point agreement in Delhi which afterwards was also endorsed by China? Yet how to come out of this perennial quagmire? Have you any formula?

Mr. Regmi:   No genuine Nepali can be satisfied with the present state of affairs. What is happening is betrayal of the nation. These politicians in the helms and in opposition seem to be non-Nepali or to put in other words they are acting as the enemy of the nation which gave them the life and foster them.

The 12 point accord was indeed an Indian design framed in the name of the Nepalese people and democracy. But after the implementation of the said agreement the Nepalese people were compelled to realize that the so called 12 point agreement was meant for the ultimate interest of India i.e.  to disintegrate and destroy Nepal’s identity. Accords signed in Delhi among the Nepalese parties have never been in Nepal’s national interest. 

The 1950 accord brokered by New Delhi may give the impression that Delhi helped to bring down the Rana Regime but in reality Delhi’s objective was to establish its rule in Nepal and it succeeded. Thus, India’s absolute gain minimized the great sacrifice of the Nepalese people, the parties and the King who played supreme role to bring down the autocratic Rana regime rather it led to the entry of the Indian military mission, posting of the Indian intelligence personnel in several parts of Northern hill adjoining China. It was the beginning of the direct occupation of Nepal by India which even India’s creator Imperial Britain never dared to perpetrate but the Nepali political parties were so servile to the Indian rule that the leaders of the ‘Nepalese revolution’ of 1950 even were compelled to accept the humiliation of being subordinate to the last Rana Prime Minister and his brothers in the first cabinet of ‘democratic Nepal’ .Thus the first Indian Prime Minister Nehru-a blue-eyed boy of Victoria’s grandson Lord Mount Batten and his wife Pamilla had all the three warring parties - the King, the ruling Ranas  and the Nepali Congress in their pockets.

 

Let us put it in few words, almost all the cataclysmic changes introduced in Nepal from Delhi in the name of revolution has been entirely in the interest of Indian imperialism which was perennially supported and guided by London which not only created this artificial nation-India-by bulldozing several nations but all the time backed Delhi’s expansion bid. And if you look at the size of today’s India , it is more than double than its initial size allocated by Britain.    The argument of this British made India is that King Bharat ruled Bharat Varsa in ancient times and conquered entire Asia.  But it is a sheer lie. King Bharat, the great grandfather of Rama-the legendary incarnation of Lord Vishnu was though of a divine character had his rule over a very small village called Ayodhya.  And Rama was married to the princess of Janakpur which is one of the holy places in Nepal’s Terai and there is no historical evidence as those legendary days that there was any country like Bharat Barsa.  

You have raised the question of China supporting to 12 point accord. This question should be well mediated by we Nepalese and also by our Northern neighbor-China. Here I would like to dwell on the limitation of Chinese policy in Nepal. The first is, China has never officially supported the 12 point accord, second is China’s policy of non interference and strictly abiding to Panchsheel and the third, is its policy of accepting whatever change takes place in Nepal and finally its inadequate information of Nepal political scenario.  But don’t forget China wanted for a peaceful settlement between the warring parties and the then State Councilor Tang  came to Nepal as the envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao to settle the dispute.   But Delhi thwarted China’s bid through the courtiers and the “Maoists”. But I too sometimes fail to understand why China has to act in Nepal by considering the imperialistic and expansionist sensitivity of a third country and retreat from even the normal affairs, whenever Delhi raises its eyebrow.

I don’t think that China meant to harm Nepal but the results have shown something very different. So very often I am cornered and blamed to be too pro-China. Even today I am more than confident that China-a great nation of the world will never betray a friendly nation like Nepal.

Your question has prodded a very sensitive part that is the solutions to come out of the quagmire. I don’t think the answer is handy. However, I will try to make it in points. First, we Nepalese have to strengthen ourselves by rendering great sacrifices in consonance with our glorious history of compassion, valor and creation. 

The second, we need to awaken our people and make them stand and prepare for self-defense.

The third, change of leadership in every organ and institution of the State. Remove them through a true revolution and instantly punish them .

The fourth, tell the people of the entire world how we are being routed in our own motherland and also about our life of perennial suffering , humiliation and shame and seek the support of all the peace loving people of all over the world for our liberation from the Indian  occupation.

TGQ2: It is talked that Nepal has no foreign policy at all.  If at all it exists then it is tilted towards India. Can’t we frame a foreign and domestic policy that takes care of Nepal’s genuine national interests?

Mr. Regmi: We have foreign policy but it is constantly under Indian pressure. So there is dichotomy in the principle and the implementation of our foreign policy. Our so called leaders in the helms and in the opposition are too ignorant, insincere or foreign cronies. Look at the first and the second CA of 601 crowd which is nothing but a design of Delhi to destabilize and finally disintegrate Nepal-our country.  This is what is happening now. Both the government and Opposition are working against National interest to the extent that they may one by one sell out everything which this country possesses. 

Well we can have our own foreign policy if you remember in 17/18^th century A.D we were at war with British Empire  that ruled half of the world and also with China-a civilization by itself which was never aggressive towards us. But it is the tryst of destiny we had a war with China but settled the dispute in an honorable way. The Chinese Emperor Chenlung  was a wise person and so were our warriors. We made a good treaty for respecting each other’s sovereignty. We fought a long war with Britain. In 1767, they invaded us however, we routed their army of two thousand except its Commander Kinlok who escaped and survived. In 1815, the British again invaded us with a army of 150, 000 from four fronts. We defeated them in three fronts and established that we were far braver than them. But they resorted to deceit as one historian wrote only resorting to Kautilya- Machiavelli stratagem, they apparently won the war and tricked Nepal to sign the treaty of Sugauli in 1816. And they didn’t go for another war but continued to avenge us by supporting a century long family rule which kept the people impoverished and uneducated so that the British can have as many strong and young people they want to maintain their far-flung colonies.  We can see even today, the British are avenging us by imposing imperial legacy on sovereign Nepal. 

I am telling this part of our history just to illustrate that we survived fighting with the two great powers of the then world because of our mature and typical foreign policy. Even during the British backed Rana period, Nepal maintained some sort of link with China despite British objection. If you go back to the Nepalese role during the first and the second World wars we were everywhere in the battlefield whether in Africa, Europe, Asia or in the land of Arabs, we fought very well under the allied power but our valor and sacrifices were robbed by Britain. Very few people may know an important event of World War-II when Nepalese Army was one of the parties of the allied force and our brave soldiers managed to stop invading Japanese troops in Kohima of Nagas Kingdom. If we really stand up and fight, I don’t think India can win us. India is wedging a demographic invasion and resorting to tactics of wolf. This is where the Nepali people are misled and victimized. As for this artificial nation, it is now a horror and horrible. Who is safe there? Rape, crime, murder, segregation, religious exploitation and conflict are the pillar of Indian empire and we are exposed for it. The Westerners have confined democracy in balloting but in a country where no woman can come out from their houses in daylight , inter-cast, dowry , acid killing is common, vote comes through intimidation and threat of rape and villages after villages, settlements after settlements cast their franchise to save their daughters and belongings, how democracy can exist and flourish?

India has imposed open border on Nepal and this open border is giving entry to the evils and sins of the other side. And our youths are learning it.

I wish this India  creates a human society and make itself a manageable genuine nation or fall so that manageable nations that existed not very long back will reemerge and provide security to their citizens. 

TGQ3: Chinese interest in Nepali affairs appears to have increased of late. Is this to balance India’s heavy presence?

Mr. Regmi: Chinese interest is increasing because of its growing economic power. You must know that China led AIIB-the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is attracting even the European Countries. The reason of it is China’s rise is peaceful in every sphere, and is the second largest economy of the world which is becoming increasingly a credible and reliable economic power. Besides, in the Chinese foreign policy, President Xi Jingping has declared special priority to the neighboring countries and he has been working assiduously on it. Never before Chinese foreign and economic policy has been so active and effective. There are some problems. The difference between China and the United States in some major issues is obvious but it is on the way to be resolved. It is most likely that during the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s forthcoming State visit to the US in September 2015, China-US relations will be far better.

We have to consider our relations with China in the context of overall geo-political situation. China is our neighbor and a very friendly country. It has its own course but we shouldn’t forget that Nepal should be able to take advantage of the great power relation. I do believe that improvement in China and US relation will make Nepal safe and secured. I don’t think that China has to be active in Nepal to countervail the Indian presence. China’s relation with India is improving and there is no question of competition between China and India in Nepal. Nepal has her own type of relation with China. This of course is bound to be strengthened in coming days. How China can afford to accept the marginalization of her presence in Nepal? 

TGQ4: Of late the China Study center may have taken a sigh of relief when the Indian government stated that there were no anti-India activities being conducted by CSC. Why was such allegation initially and now why they pulled out the blame on their own?

Mr. Regmi: I think now Delhi is talking sense and telling the truth. In fact officially they never charged us for conducting anti-Indian activities. The accusers are Indian media and their so called intelligence agencies. Their charges were very serious and has no iota of truth. Of course we had some branches of China Study center  in Terai but Delhi sleuths, as I was told, threatening even the house owners of CSC office and as a result of this even the sign boards of our office had to be withdrawn. Now Government of India must stop its notorious intelligence agencies to keep away from our noble academic efforts and tell their media not to publish such malicious and doctored news.

TGQ5:   Nepal and China are celebrating the diamond jubilee of the establishment of their diplomatic relation. So what the China Study center is planning to commemorate this auspicious occasion?

Mr. Regmi: Because of my health problems these days I am on leave and now Vice President Mr. SN Bhattarai is acting Chairman. I will be happy if CSC upcoming general body will select a new Chairman of young blood. I am worn out and in an advances age. I am criticized by even some of my close friends for being lifelong Chairman of CSC but my friends appreciate my sense of self-respect and know very well that that I neither run after perk nor have obtained any personal; benefit for me or for my family members from any foreign embassy. In fact, to tell you frankly, I wanted to quit long back. But in the context of the virulent attack by the Indian media and threat of their sleuth organization our responsible friends were not prepared to replace me.  Besides we have difficulty even to publish our news in the Nepali media. We all know that most of the Nepali media are supported by Indian embassy and they don’t even hesitate to write against their own motherland. When I speak something to the Press mostly it is either distorted or misrepresented. So I don’t go to the TV channels and speak very seldom to the press. Some people even charge

CSC plans to observe some programs to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the establishment of Nepal-China diplomatic relations. This is indeed a great year for us. Even Chinese President Xi Jinping in his meeting with Nepal President Dr. Yadav in Hinan, China, on 28^th March has said to make the 60^th anniversary of Nepal-China diplomatic relations a memorable event. Besides President Xi has stressed on to make Nepal-China relations more comprehensive and coordinate even the bilateral security mechanism.

I do believe the CSC will definitely like to celebrate the event with lot of programs in different part of the country but it is beyond our capacity as CSC is not an affluent institution. As I know, in the past in many occasions we were about to close our office as we couldn’t afford to pay the house rent and salaries to our handful staffs which are now just three. Once a ‘popular’ Indian media, the Indian Express, reported that we get seventy million rupees grant every year from the Chinese embassy and the Chinese diplomats participate in our General Body meet. This reporting was a brazen lie and was meant to defame the Chinese embassy and our CSC. Well let me not talk much about slanders made against the CSC by the Indian media since the inception of CSC. It is better to forget since the Indian government has itself contradicted the reporting’s of their own media published within a decade time regarding the CSC. Let’s hope, the Indian media will learn to be responsible.

Some Indian media have termed me as being anti-India. This is not true. I am opposed to India’s expansionist policy. Well, if India respects our sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, abide by the Panchsheel and return us our sovereign territories which it has been occupying since its creation, we will always be and remain a best friend of India.   

@telegraph