NEPAL…AFTER THE MODI VISIT

Nepal is a truly remarkable country. Not only in its natural beauty and cultural profusion but also in its escalating levels of hypocrisy. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently came on a two-day state visit to Nepal at the cordial invitation of Prime Minister KP Oli. This two-day visit showed us that if we wanted development to happen, it’s possible and it’s possible to do it overnight.

The polluted streets that had been suffocating people for so long were suddenly cleaned and adorned with new flags; all for someone else. Not that anyone’s complaining about the repairs but the question everyone wants to ask is when the government clearly had the capacity to get the work done and that too in such a short time, why was it not done before?

Do the citizens not deserve good roads?  Is it just these roads that have been tainted or is it the sovereignty of the nation?

Though the visit has already concluded, the speculations are clearly not over yet. The indignance is not unreasonable and ranges from the common people to lawmakers representing different parties who have reportedly sought the government’s clarification on numerous issues regarding the visit. The first of these being the presence of Indian security personnel in Nepal. Seeing over 300 Indian security forces for Mr. Modi’s security has raised questions about the government’s ability to provide security to the guests they invited.

Is this a severe case of inferiority complex or some clever political strategy we’ll never know but the Indian media on numerous occasions has been overshadowing the Nepali media on their home turf. Not only were the dates of the official visits of PM KP Sharma Oli to India and his Counterpart’s visit to Nepal, announced by Indian Media but they’re also gaining access to areas where they’d been traditionally prohibited. Meanwhile, Nepali media was kept from covering the reception organized for Mr. Modi by the Kathmandu Metropolis.

With the trauma that the embargo brought upon our country still fresh in our minds, people had mixed feelings about this visit from the start. But much to our dismay the controversies have been created by one of our own and for all the wrong reasons. Province 2 Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut gave a speech at a civic felicitation at Rangabhumi grounds at Janakpur to welcome the Indian PM. Speaking in Hindi he argued that the constitution promulgated in 2015 was discriminatory against the Madhesi people and that they were still denied the rights of a provincial government as enshrined in the constitution.

Leaders of different political parties have criticized the CM for his speech claiming that his speech was “childish and immature” and that he has offended the country by making such a speech. Furthermore, it has also been said that his speech could threaten the country’s integrity and sovereignty for he has shown disrespect towards the very constitution which made federalism possible, under which he is leading the Province 2 government.

As Published in the Himalayan times NC lawmaker Amaresh Kumar Singh raised the issue regarding institutional memory gap in relation to one-on-one meetings held between PM Oli and Modi over the past few months. ”Who did PM Oli meet in Bangkok?” he questioned, “This government has destroyed institutional memory and transparency.” Indian lawmaker Kirti Azad’s tweet demanding ‘return’ of Janakpur into India is equally disturbing. And adding to the heat is the deduction by Indian opposition leaders that Modi’s Nepal visit was nothing but an election strategy.
They say when the times are tough the weak bail and the tough get creative. So we have yet to see what the outcome of this shall be. If our Leaders come together and work with the welfare of the entire country in mind we can turn this around. So here’s Hoping for the Best.