Big Trouble in Little Nepal

Big Trouble in Little Nepal
It’s the dry season now in Nepal, stretching from the end of the monsoon in early September until the humid and moisture-laden clouds start pushing into the country from the south in late spring. In between, little to no snow or rainfall disturbs this land-locked mountainous country. But something has been ruffling the political climate in the country, creeping through the Himalayas, that impassible physical barrier that forms a giant barrier along the northern edge of the country. The clumsy hand of Chinese politics, like a puppeteer working the instruments of Nepalese domestic policy, has manipulated Nepal’s treatment of its Tibetan residents – legal and refugees – in the country to the point where the message is clear to the Tibetans, and to others: do not criticize China or you will be dealt with harshly. Beatings and imprisonment have become common, often carried out not only by the Nepalese police, but by agents of the Chinese government working inside Nepal. This, despite a UN “gentleman’s agreement” that allows Tibetan refugees to pass through Nepal on their way to India (China Brief Volume: 11 Issue: 11; J. Vijay Sakhuja; “China’s Strategic Advantage in Nepal”).
This, among other topics, was discussed at an Executive Annual Meeting of the International Campaign for Tibet in San Francisco on Wednesday December 8th, at the Urban Center on Mission Street. The Special Envoy to his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Lodi Gyari, spoke, along with ICT Vice President Mary Beth Markey, and others, to a group of ICT members. Ms. Markey, in detailing ICT’s activities around the world, especially in light of the recent spate of immolations by Tibetans in Tibet, Western China and Nepal, addressed the extreme pressure being put on the Nepalese government to silence Tibetans in their country, and to deny Tibetan refugees entrance. Nepal, situated as it is between the two Asian giants of India and China, now more than ever before, finds itself caught in a vice between the two countries, both attempting to secure Nepal within their respective domains of influence. Historically, due to its Hindu and Buddhist populations (the former around 80% of the total population, the latter at least 8%), the plain fact that Nepali, the national language, derives from Hindi and ultimately Sanskrit, economic, cultural and social ties, India has played the role of the mother ship, from which all things emanate (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asia-oceania/nepal/). China, walled off by the Himalayas, has historically been relegated to the sidelines. But this all started to change dramatically about five years ago.
With the ascendancy of the Nepalese Maoist Party, now the largest of Nepal’s over 20 political parties, China saw an opportunity to get their foot in the door. The dragon has been generous in economic support, but as usual with China, there is a price. That price is toeing the line on the “One China Policy” dogma espoused by the CCP, which states that Tibet never existed – it was always China – and that anything that the Chinese Politburo deems as being against this policy cannot be tolerated. The crackdowns on pro-Tibet protests in Kathmandu and its sister city of Lalitpur have been numerous, and ongoing since before the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Maoist’s eagerness to follow Beijing’s dictates has led them to abandon the 2008 “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” as detailed in the April 15, 2011 issue of the Indian Defense Review, in the article “Nepal Deporting Tibetans to China Secretly” by Nidhi Bardwaj:
But the political ascendancy of Nepalese Maoist and Communist parties and their assertion of “One-China” policy, Kathmandu dumped the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” in 2008. The government stopped giving refugee status to Tibetans and with this they lost their right to safe passage through Nepal. In fact, Nepalese police and Maoist cadres were ordered to spot and arrest Tibetan refugees escaping into Northern Nepal, and hand them over to the immigration authorities.
Nepal, formerly an independent country, is now becoming a puppet state controlled by the Chinese, turning their backs on their historic partners in South Asia, namely India, and in the process also rejecting basic human rights agreements that they have signed on to.
This brings us to the case of Tibetans burning themselves as an act of protest against Chinese occupation of their homeland, acts that testify to the Tibetan spirit in the face of 60 years of oppression. These should be read rightfully as acts of desperation, but also as symbols of an unshakeable belief in Tibetan rights to self-determination, freedom and basic human rights. Demonstrations have been held in Kathmandu by Tibetan refugees and residents, mainly in Jawlakhel, Lalitpur, and demonstrators showing their solidarity with pro-Tibetan freedom sympathizers were beaten and jailed. Ms. Markey, at the meeting, also detailed how one of their support teams was corralled by a group of Chinese political operatives, dragged into a van and beaten. And this is only the latest example of Chinese pressure on Nepal to toe the party line.
I lived in Nepal during 2008 and 2009, and had spent time in the country before then, back to the time of the People’s Revolution toppling King Gyanendra in the spring of 2006. A similar situation played out during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics of 2008, when pro-Tibet demonstrations – which the Chinese government depicts as the emanations of “splittist” anti-China agitators – were also attacked by government police in Nepal, with demonstrators beaten and jailed. In fact, in the past few years, the Maoist led government in Nepal has reacted in lock-step to Chinese pressure, and whenever an upwelling of pro-Tibetan activities have occurred, the red faction of the Nepalese government applies force without regard to freedom of speech or human rights. At least 20,000 Tibetan refugees live in Nepal, most of them without the right to work, and own land, farm or other basic rights – rights which are guaranteed by the Nepalese Constitution. Additionally, historically, virtually all of the northern half of the country – north of the Himalayas and to the south as well – are areas where the indigenous populations – the Sherpas, Bon-po, Tamangs and others – are of Tibetan descent. But under the current government, you wouldn’t know this. As Chinese money and influence pours into the country, Nepalese government oppression of the Tibetans within their own country becomes more openly draconian. With a wretched national economy, depleted by years of civil war, and one of the most corrupt governments in the world – whether ruled by a King, the Maoists, the UPN-CML or Nepali Congress, it’s the same “pocket” economy – perhaps it is understandable that the government would cave in to any foreign power willing to devote large amounts of aid. That this aid comes with such a heavy ideological, and human price, is something that clearly matters little to Prachanda and his fellow Maoists.
It is high time for the US government to step up and do something. The US government decries oppression and genocide in Sudan, in the Balkans, in Burma, in many countries around the world, and moves to pressure governments to cease such policies. It’s time for the US government to apply such pressure on Nepal, before the situation grows direr. For to ignore such developments, wherever they might occur, in the long run, only validates them, and makes it easier for oppressive governments to continue their atrocious actions. We should make it clear that aid to Nepal, and visas for students and workers seeking to come to the US, will be severely curtailed, until the Nepalese government allows Tibetan refugees Tibetan citizens of Nepal the full rights to demonstrate for their beliefs – as is allowed to all other citizens in Nepal – and give them full residential rights, transit rights, employment and land ownership rights. Unless pressurized, the Nepalese leadership will continue their drift towards becoming a willing satellite of Chinese foreign policy.



Notes and sources

Religion(s): Officially 80% Hindu, 8% Buddhist and 4% Muslim – but accurate figures are not available. Hinduism and Buddhism overlap considerably in Nepal. Estimates suggest that there are some 400,000 Christians in the country. United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asia-oceania/nepal/

In the past, the Nepalese police and government officials had worked closely with the UNHCR and agreed to abide by a ‘Gentlemen's Agreement,’ “an informal compact established in 1989 with the UNHCR thus ensuring a safe transit for Tibetan refugees through Nepal and onward to India” [7]. This arrangement had worked well before the Nepalese Maoist and Communist parties gained political ascendency in 2008. Since then, there has been a sharp decline in the number of Tibetan refugees registering at reception centers in Kathmandu. China’s Strategic Advantage in Nepal
Publication: China Brief Volume: 11 Issue: 11
June 17, 2011 06:19 PM
By: Vijay Sakhuja C:\Users\David\Desktop\Writing and Blog\The Jamestown Foundation China’s Strategic Advantage in Nepal.mht

A former Nepalese ambassador to China has noted that, “China's concerns over Nepal are growing” and that “the visit [of General Chen Bingde, chief of general staff of the PLA] shows that China wants the support of our army to control anti-Chinese activities following the resignation of the Dalai Lama” (Thetibetpost.com, March 28). It is also reported that China may be secretly giving financial incentives and paying Nepalese officials to arrest and deport Tibetans in Nepal (Indian Express, December 20, 2010). On March 10, the Nepalese police arrested 34 protesters after thousands of Tibetan refugees marched through the streets of Kathmandu to commemorate the Chinese invasion of Tibet of 1951 (Asia-news.us, March 18). The next day, Nepalese police prevented a prayer meeting at the Buddhist temple in Kathmandu, and two days later on February 13, the police stormed into polling stations and seized ballots and other electoral material for Tibetan community internal elections to vote for a new Tibetan Government in Exile (Thetibetpost.com, March 28). The Nepalese government has been under great pressure to control Tibetan refugees in Nepal, and the chief district officer of Sindhupalchowk was quoted as saying “They [the Chinese] urged us not to allow anti-Chinese activities [on] our soil' (TIME, March 29). It is quite evident that China has been able to prevail upon the Nepalese government to ensure that anti-China activities by the Tibetan refugees are sternly dealt with.
….
First, Beijing has obtained assurances from the Nepalese leadership that the territory would not be used by the Tibetan refugees living in Nepal for anti-China activities. This issue is particularly significant when there is a ‘Free Tibet’ movement spreading across the globe and China has been under international scrutiny over human rights issues, particularly against the Tibetans.
Same source as above

When Chen Bingde, the Chinese army chief, and his 15-member delegation landed in Kathmandu on March 23, 2011, he brought him a loyalty-trust proposal for the pro-China ruling coalition of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) aka CPN-UML and the Unified Communist Party (Maoist) under Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal.
Bingde laid down a clear cut proposal: Deport Tibetan refugees to China to prevent the rise of a militant Tibetan émigré force. Nepal deporting Tibetans to China secretly
By Nidhi Bhardwaj
Issue: Net Edition | Date: 15 April, 2011 http://www.indiandefencereview.com/