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The Nepal’s terrorist rejection of the democratic process is analogous to the refusal by the “Shining Path” to accept Peru’s announcement of elections in 1980. Like the Peruvian incarnation, the Nepalese one also takes refuge in the hills, harass the poor, trash ancient cultures, customs, and ideas, inflict brutality on dissenters, starve all forms of capitalism, and commit
extra judicial killings all in the name of communism and respectable communist party names. The Nepal monarchy and politicians are committing the same mistakes of the Peruvian Government of ignoring the threat from the terrorists till it becomes a threat to the State, heavy-handed military operations, human rights violations, and protection of the identity of the violators.
Unlike the Peruvian precedent, the Nepalese movement also brings neighbors into the fore. Naxal terrorists in India range from Uttar Pradesh in the North to Andhra Pradesh in the South and West Bengal to the East and there is strong push to create a terror corridor from Nepal to Andhra. Besides, the terrorists are backed by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) elements from Pakistan whose only motivation is to foment much trouble for India through multiple avenues. If the terrorists are allowed to link Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) where most Kashmiri terrorist camps are located and Bangladesh, the new outsourced terrorist location of ISI, terrorists will have free range from Afghanistan to Bangladesh across the Indian heartland. Al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan’s Waziristan Province with links to Kashmiri terrorists in PoK will interface, train, fund, and arm terrorists in Nepal and Naxals in India to destabilize the region. Worse, if the terrorists link up to the insurgent groups of North East, there will be a free corridor for narco-terrorism. Poppy from Afghanistan will be sent to Pakistan for processing, sent to India for packaging and through lax South East Asian countries for distribution.
Analysts believe that the US views the Maoist rebels as mere terrorists that need to be dealt with a strong stick. The US has strong interests in Nepal. If it can influence a decision there, it can create a puppet regime close to China (the adversary-in-the-horizon), access to trainable Gurkha soldiers, hydro-electricity investment opportunities, and cheap labor that could be used in occupied territories such as Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
India has political compulsions to deal with. Its communist allies are forcing India policy to be more “understanding” and accepting of the terrorists in Nepal even if their brothers-in-ideology are creating havoc in over 175 districts. While it has to take strong positions to control terrorism at home, it is forced to preach moderation and inclusion of the terrorists in the political process in Nepal.
However, this approach may have some value as long as there is persistence in maintaining the bigger picture of eradicating Mao and Lenin inspired violence. India fought similar movements in the 60s and 70s. It beat the terrorists through a dual strategy of a strong police action against hardcore elements and inclusion of the political elements into the democracy.
Bu then, as shown, the present movement is qualitatively different from India’s past experience. Unlike the past when movements were localized or regionalized, the modern form has assumed extra-regional and extra-national dimensions. The “Shining Path” ideology that the Nepalese terrorists follow will bring doom to Nepal as their predecessors did in Peru during the 80s and their extra-regional aspirations will affect most of Asia as well. |
