To: His Excellency Ronen Sen
The Indian Embassy, Washington, DC
CC: Secretary General Kofi A. Anan, The United Nations
Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher, Department of State
His Excellency Kedar Bhakta Shrestha, (Nepalese Ambassador to the US);
His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong (Chinese Ambassador to the US)
His Excellency Jehangir Karamat ( Pakistani Ambassodor to the US)
His Excellency Bernard Goonetilleke ( Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US)
His Excellency Shamsher Chowdhury (Bangladeshi Ambassador to the US)
Dear Ambassador Sen:
We are professionals and students from Nepal residing in the United States and we are not affiliated with any political parties or groups. We are alarmed and concerned at the recent turn of events in Nepal and we hereby write to your Excellency to ask India to take immediate steps in diffusing and restraining the current political turmoil and preventing the escalation of Maoist insurgency in Nepal for the long-term best interest of Nepal.
Recognizing the importance of peace between neighboring countries, reaffirming also that States have sovereign rights over their own territory, we the concerned citizens of Nepal from the Himalayan kingdom, request India to take a more balanced role in negotiating with the Nepal party leaders to stop intensifying and prolonging the demonstrations. We believe that extreme concessions are not fair to all the Nepalese people.
Aware that the King has given away his executive power to the parties, we believe that the parties should take the King’s offer and form an interim government, and thereafter undertake general elections. While the international community saw the thousands of people demonstrating against the King, we believe that the current mob of demonstrators in Nepal is not representative of the views of the majority of Nepalese both in Nepal and abroad. Contrary to the prevailing view, reliable information indicates that the Maoists have infiltrated the mob and have fueled and funded the demonstrators for their own political advantage.
We believe that the King is working for the best interest of the nation and the King is historically, traditionally and religiously a symbol of unity for the various multi-ethnic groups of people. We believe that the Maoists insurgency was one of the main destabilizing forces in Nepal that has contributed to the current political chaos. Recognizing the importance of peace and stability in Nepal, we are anguished and appalled at India for sheltering, abetting, and harboring the Nepali Maoist guerilla leaders in Indian soil when they are branded as terrorists by the international community and are wanted by Nepal government for treason and high crimes.
Noting further that while officially, New Delhi brands Nepali Maoists as terrorists, we fail to understand why India in recent times is taking the Maoists with open arms and giving a “soft corner†to their obsolete, despicable and regressive cause. It appears that the Leftist parties in India are also influencing current misplaced Indian policies towards Nepal for their own vested reasons. Just recently, the senior BJP figure and former Indian Home Minister L. K. Advani claimed that the UPA government of India has a “soft corner†for Maoists in Nepal and warned that extending support to their insurgency could prove harmful to both India and Nepal. Referring to that meeting, Advani declared, “I am disappointed by the PM’s failure to mention the well-known link between Maoist insurgents in Nepal and the Naxal outfits in India. I suspect that this is because of the UPA’s soft corner for Maoists in Nepal. This is a dangerous policy.†Thus, even the Indian party leaders are calling for the Indian government not to shelter the Maoists of Nepal.
As you are aware, the Maoists problem has wreaked havoc in this small land-locked nation. More than 13 thousand people have lost their lives and several thousands have become displaced. The Maoist insurgency in Nepal has devastated Nepal’s fledgling economy and thwarted development. Historically, the Maoists announced a ‘People's War’ on February 13, 1996 and it is believed that the idea of starting this war may have been hatched following a meeting that took place on July 1, 1995 between the Indian Communist Party (People's War) and the Nepal Maoists. Also, available information indicates that the Maoists of Nepal have well-established linkages with Indian left-wing extremist organizations, primarily with the pro-Naxalites revolutionary bodies, People’s War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). Thus, there is no reason as to why the international community should not take cognizance of Indian nexus with Maoists insurgents in Nepal and her nefarious design to destabilize a smaller neighbouring country.
In 2001, India along with the international community branded the Nepalese Maoists terrorists and pledged mutual co-operation to crush them. India supplied Nepal not only weapons and shared vital intelligence, but also had a policy of deporting Maoist rebels arrested in India. Despite that, there were reports that many senior rebel leaders were receiving sanctuary in India including the Maoist supreme leader- Pushpa Kamal Dahal (referred to as comrade Prachanda), his political second in command Baburam Bhattarai and other senior politburo members.
However, contrary to its stated “twin pillar policy†towards Nepal-that of constitutional monarchy and multi-party parliamentary democracy-India has newfound affection for the Maoists and has openly given sanctuary to the Maoists since King Gyanendra took power in February 1, 2005. Thus, we fail to understand why India is leveraging the Maoists and providing safe haven for their terrorist activities. If India continues to abet the Maoists of Nepal then India also is doomed to go the way of Nepal. Only the King can prevent that eventuality and India needs to support him.
We ask that India also proactively talk with the Seven Party Alliance and take concessions from the Maoists. Traditionally, India has been exercising its muscle to influence the internal politics of its neighboring countries and we are also concerned about India’s role in Nepali politics and its ultimate goal. We ask that India send an envoy to negotiate with the party leaders to form an interim government so that the situation is under control and prevent anarchy.
We Nepalese are proud of our heritage and unique cultural, societal and glorious history. We deplore the violence caused by the Maoists and the current mob in Nepal, and we ask urgently for the government of India to:
1) Pressure the political parties to take the King’s offer and form an interim government to bring the situation under control
2) Stop sheltering and harboring the Nepali Maoist leaders in Indian soil and send them out of India
3) Demand the Maoist leaders to opt for a ceasefire and to renounce violence and armed struggle
4) Preserve peace and stability in Nepal and the South Asian region
Therefore, in the interest of Nepal’s sovereignty, sustenance and security we respectfully ask that the government of India not help the Maoists overtly or covertly to come into power and pressure the political party members to take the King’s offer to form an interim government.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
