- Basanta Bhujel
Knowledge makes man visionary. The visionaries can plan with a hundred or two hundred years to go, but the short-sighted plan for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. In the context of Nepal, Prithvi Narayan Shah is called a visionary king and BP Koirala is called a visionary politician. They had made plans thinking for hundreds of years later.
While Prithvi Narayan Shah was uniting Nepal, Britain was moving forward as a country where the sun never sets. Hundreds of years later, the British expanded their empire. The era of that time was imperialist. The countries of Europe including Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy were also expanding their empires. But in the British colonized countries, infrastructure such as education, health and railways were built. Democratic parties were also developed, but other countries kept their colonies in the dark. Today, the British colonized countries are far ahead in every respect, but the colonized countries of other countries are still devastated, in the grip of civil war. Why did this happen? Because Britain planned hundreds of years later, while other imperialist countries planned with immediate benefits in mind.
The main reason for mentioning the British context in this article is the ‘Kalapani issue that has arisen as a burning issue at this time.’ The Sugauli Treaty with the United Kingdom made our current border line. Almost all the countries of South Asia were swallowed by Britain but made a treaty with Nepal. The United Kingdom gave equal status to Nepal’s sovereignty.
Why did you give? Certainly not given to Nepal. The UK saw that it would benefit itself in the future by keeping friendship rather than swallowing Nepal. Needless to say, with the help of Nepalis, Britain expanded its imperialism to many other countries. After the Sugauli Treaty, some parts of the Terai were returned to Nepal by the British, but in the Limpiyadhura-Kalapani area, the British also brought the Mahakali East.
The rulers of Nepal did not pay much attention to the small barren lands of Limpiyadhura as the plains and fertile lands of the Terai were returned. Because what will be the strategic importance of this sector tomorrow? The rulers of Nepal did not know that, but the British understood it with fun. He said the region would be of special importance for future water resources, tourism and trade with China.
The British first set foot on Indian soil on August 14, 1616. At that time, there were 550 countries in the Indian subcontinent. Gradually the trade began to grow. Taking the local merchants with them, they took the local kings on their side. From 1658, India began to rule all the countries within the territory. In this process, they mapped both Nepal and India. This map is still official.
How is Kalapani?
It is a mountainous region with an altitude of over 3,000 meters. Which is called Lipulekh. There is not much living here. But since the four Bhanjyangs (Kuti, Lipu, Kalapani and Tinker) connecting to China fall in this area, India seems to be looking at it with strategic importance. Out of these four Bhanjyangs, the Bhanjyangs of Kuti area were completely included in the British rule while the Kalapani Bhanjyangs of Gunji area were included in the trilateral borders of Nepal, India and China. Lipu and Tinker Bhanjyang were sent to Nepal. But India has tried to establish a trilateral border with Tinker Bhanjyang Lake, about 60 km east of Gunji, by including Lipu and Kalapani Bhanjyang in its territory on the new map. This is the root of the new controversy.
There are six villages northwest of the Gunji area where India has set up a military camp in 2019 BS. Evidence that these villages are on Nepal’s side, that the administration of those villages is run by Nepal or evidence that Nepal has taken as land tax from those villages is safe with the government. Based on this, the government has issued a map. A few years ago, when the Kalapani controversy reached its climax, senior journalist Bhairav Risal had written a long article.
He had said in the article, “I went to the northern region of Darchula to take the census of 2018 BS. At that time, I conducted the census of six villages on the banks of the Mahakali River from Gunji to Kuti. The census records of that time had to be made public by the government.” But are the rulers of our country fallen asleep or are their intentions bad? The question has been raised. Such indifference to sensitive issues such as the country’s borders is a sign of danger.
There is no dispute that the river Mahakali is the border of Nepal and India to the west after the Sugauli Treaty. Before that, the border of Nepal was the Sutler river. After Nepal lost the war with the British, the Treaty of Sugauli was signed in 1816. The Mahakali River is mentioned as a border river in the Sugauli Treaty. But India has been quarreling over the source of the Mahakali River. After the war between India and China in 2019, India has been quarreling over the source of the Mahakali River. The Mahakali River originates from Lipulekh Limpiyadhura, north of Kuti, and flows southeast. After flowing 110 kilometres southeast, the Mahakali River joins a river that flows directly from the north. Then the Mahakali River flows directly south. The confluence of that river is Gunji Upatyaka. India had set up its military camp in the Gunji Valley at an altitude of about 3,000 meters during the war with China.
It has been 204 years since the Sugauli Treaty was signed between the British and Nepal. Before the Treaty of Sugauli between Nepal and the British in 1816, the western border of Nepal was up to the Sutlej River. Due to the Sugauli Treaty, the Mahakali River was established about 500 km east of this border. The Sugauli Treaty clearly states that the western border of Nepal is the Mahakali River. But Nepal is still silent about the source of the Mahakali River.
India’s claim to the source of the Mahakali River has been raised again. In terms of water flow, the river flowing from Limpiyadhura is supposed to be the Mahakali River, but India had set up a military camp 57 years ago, calling the Mahakali River, a river that joins Gunji, 110 kilometers east of it. At this time, India released a new map saying that Tinker Bhanjyang border is 60 km east of Gunji. Now the road has been inaugurated.
India does not seem ready to leave this territory easily. India has strategically taken over the 370-square-kilometer area from Tinker to Limpiyadhura, as there are three transit routes connecting it with China. Therefore, under normal circumstances, India is not ready to give up this claim. So this issue of border crossing seems to be very complicated. Though not very important from the point of view of agriculture, it is very important from the point of view of strategic, tourism and trade with China.
At that time, the Government of Nepal was silent when the Indian Army set up camp in the Gunji Valley. King Mahendra was silent in order not to irritate India as the Panchayat system had just started. But India did not draw out its troops from the Gunji Valley. On the contrary, the river that flows into Gunji is the Mahakali river and the border is permanently established. This secret came out only after the dissolution of the Panchayat system. After the transformation of 2046 BS, Nepal started talking about the origin of the real Mahakali.
What we need to learn from the UK now is the topographic map that can be found even on the Google page. With its help, we can see the rivers and natural resources that we have. East West Highway Dharan Dhankuta Highway. Including many roads in Nepal have British support. It is commendable that the British government helped Valley bridge when the bridge over the Prithvi Highway was washed away in the floods and landslides of 2050 BS. Many of Nepal’s suspension bridges are built with British assistance.
Many drinking water projects in village houses have been constructed by VRITS Assistance Mission DFID. The Gorkha Welfare Trust has made a great contribution in this. Save the Children UK has a lot of support. But in recent days, the Nepali government has not been able to attract large investments. The fact that the UK, which is building the world, does not invest in Nepal is our own weakness. The government has failed to attract investment. We have to create a favorable environment for investment.
River drain is a diamond mine for our country. But only a few private traders and India are planning to take advantage of this. Large rivers are occupied by India and licenses for small rivers and streams are kept in the pockets of private sector traders. The government of Nepal should produce its own. Or work should be done through competition to the benefit of Nepal. Otherwise, there is no point in naming Nepal as a country rich in water resources. If this keeps on going, Nepal’s water resources will go to India forever. Tomorrow, the day will come when we will have to get permission from India to supply drinking water from our own rivers. I think India wants to occupy Nepal’s rivers for drinking water rather than hydro power. So they want to keep the keys of Nepal’s water in his hands.
Tourism is Nepal’s biggest possibility for earning foreign exchange. However, Nepal does not seem to have made much progress for the development of this region. Both China and India have a population of about 1.5 billion. Each year, about 16 percent of the population travels from these two countries. Attracting one percent of them to Nepal is also a significant achievement and about 300 million tourists visit China and India every year. Attracting only a few of them to Nepal is a great achievement. But Nepal’s policy makers never paid attention to this.
Is there a shortage of experts in Nepal? Around 2003, there was great economic instability in Britain. People lined up and started withdrawing their deposits from banks. Following the crisis, the Bank of England sought out an economist. The Governor of Canada, Marconi, was summoned. Even if he pulls the world’s third largest economy out of its current predicament, it does not mean that our country is not wise. There are many experts, but most of them are speech experts rather than work experts. In his speech, he talks about plotting on Mars to divide every Nepali. From place to place, people can speak fluently. But such knowledge does not fill the stomach of the poor. The country is not developing. The face of the country is not changing.
It is wrong to say that there is no other person in the world who has done a PhD as much as I did. Experts should help everyone. Even the behavior of so-called well-educated scholars sometimes seems crazy. Thus, is it better to choose an expert who understands the sentiments of Nepalis who are suitable for the geography of Nepal? Our economy is not very big. There are many private trading companies in the world with the largest economy in our country. But it is our country. As said, we can get experts. When looking for an expert, one should choose to love for the country and not for color and tribe.
(The author Bhujel is a retired engineer from the British Army)
(Translated by: Aakriti Pandey)
