RSS COMMENTARY: Clamouring international support against nascent Nepali constitution

2016-04-09 20:00:30.0

(By Manoj Karki)
            KATHMANDU: After drawing widespread criticism at home and abroad for inflicting misery on the Nepali people, who were just trying to get back to their feet following the devastating April 25 Gorkha earthquake, with a border blockade, the present Government of India led by the charismatic Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now busy garnering international support against Nepal's now six-months-old constitution.
            The latest effort by the Indian establishment came in the form of the joint EU-India statement during the Indian Prime Minister's visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels recently. The statement came in for some serious objections of the government of Nepal, with the Foreign Ministry calling it a violation of the United Nation's Charter and interference on Nepal's internal matters.
            Nothing to do with either India or the European Union, the joint statement touched upon an issue that was entirely an internal affairs of a sovereign state. “India and the EU have agreed on the need for a lasting and inclusive constitutional settlement in Nepal that will address the remaining constitutional issues in a time-bound manner, and promote political stability and economic growth”, read the joint statement issued on March 30.
            The real intent behind insertion of such an 'inappropriate' statement was evident in the fact that the resident Ambassador of the EU delegation in Nepal made it clear to the Government of Nepal that the EU's position vis-à-vis Nepal's new constitution had not changed. It may be noted that the EU had welcomed Nepal's new statute soon after it had been promulgated in September 2015.  Hence, there was no point commenting on it again after a gap of six months, when two significant amendments to the statute had already been made to accommodate some dissenting voices on it.
            Furthermore, a group of German Members of Parliament visiting Nepal just when the joint-statement was released in Brussels was also quoted in the Nepali press of having expressed surprise at the statement.
            The visit by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to neighbouring China and the landmark signing of a first-ever trade and transit bilateral agreement between the two countries also seems to have laid the ground for India to come hard against its age-old next-door neighbour right from the heart of Europe.
            This is, however, not the first time that India has used a third party or an international forum to raise objections to Nepal's statute adopted by an overwhelming majority of the Nepali Constituent Assembly.
            Earlier, in November 2015, a similar point had been raised in the joint statement issued after Indian PM Modi’s visit to the UK. The reference made was almost similar to what was raised in the joint statement with EU about the need for a  'lasting and inclusive constitutional settlement'. Nepal was in fact then reeling under the border blockade imposed by India, which also led to significant protests by non-resident Nepalis in the UK against the Indian Prime Minister's visit. UK joining hands with India to raise fingers at a statute drafted and promulgated by the Nepali people on their own had hurt Nepali sentiments, also given the fact that preparations were being made to celebrate the 200 years of very close diplomatic relationship between the two countries.
            India then made another push in mid-March by raising the same issue at the UN Human Rights Council’s meeting in Geneva. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa, leader of the Nepali delegation, however put it in very strong words to make it clear about the statue drafting being an internal matter of Nepal and that it was as progressive as it could be in the given context of time. The UN HRC platform had never ever been used by India against Nepal even though the previous constitutions or governments in the past were comparatively less progressive than what is present today.
            The use of international visits and forums by the Indian Prime Minister comes after failed attempts to have a say on the Nepali constitution making process and Nepali state of affairs through other channels like high-level visits and an almost five-months-long border blockade. The Nepali people at large were hopeful that Prime Minister Oli's maiden foreign visit to India would bring some respite to their daily lives hit by the border blockade imposed in the name of the new statute. They were however equally apprehensive about facing further misery with Nepal signing a bilateral trade and transit agreement with neighbouring China.
Apprehensions continue as Madhesh-based political parties are now warning to take to the streets again and the supply of fuel including cooking gas is yet to normalize in the country. In the meantime, the government on Friday set up two high level committees--High-level Federalism Implementation and Restructuring Committee and the Federalism Implementation and Administration restructuring Committee. The issue of federal restructuring is still one of the major differing issue, also raised by the Madhesh-based parties that have drawn sympathy from the Indian establishment.
Like the issue of inclusivity and electoral constituencies, the matter concerning federalism too will be dealt with probably through another round of amendments to the new constitution. It will however take some time as the matter is very complex, new to Nepal and something that is going to have a lasting impact on the governance of the country.
As Nepali leaders continue to grapple with the contentious issues of the new constitution while also starting to implement it, the only hope that Nepal and the Nepalis would have is for their age-old neighbour to extend a helping hand to resolve the issue as it has done so many times in the past, and not make things worse by imposing a blockade or joining hands with world leaders to point fingers at a nascent statute of a sovereign state. RSS

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