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- The End of Nepal's Own "Gorkhayani" From: Rajiv Rawat
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The End of Nepal's Own "Gorkhayani"
Posted by: "Rajiv Rawat" rajiv@yorku.ca rajiv_rawat
Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:05 am (PDT)
*The End of Nepal's Own "Gorkhayani"*
By Rajiv Rawat
With Nepal all set to become a democratic republic, Indians may be
looking on with trepidation as a radical force comes to power in the
Himalayan kingdom. They should not, as India played a central role in
bringing the parliamentary parties and Maoists together in a successful
peace process that has restored democratic rule. If India plays it cool
and reaches out to the Maoists with which it has some ties, India will
be able to maintain a respectful friendship with a newly assertive Nepal.
Garhwalis in particular, including any remaining monarchists, should
welcome the end of the Shah Dynasty and the Peacock Throne. In many
ways, Uttarakhand was spared the forced backwardness and upheavals of
Nepal due to Indian integration, but more importantly, because it
escaped the dreadfully corrupt absolutist rule to its East. However,
through the twists of history, Garhwal and Kumaon could have easily
suffered the fate of Nepal's far western districts whose poverty is
amongst the most extreme in the world.
It was almost two hundred and fourty years ago when the rulers of the
Gorkha principality exploded outwards, captured Kathmandu, and
established the Nepal Kingdom. The unification of this stretch of the
Himalayas was no peaceful affair as King Prithvi Narayan Shah's
conquests, especially in the early years, were marked by bloodshed and
terror. In one particular case, the Kathmandu Valley township of
Kirtipur suffered all types of exquisite tortures for its prolonged
defiance that had twice defeated the Gorkhas. Memory of these hardships
may have been on the minds of demonstrators in 2006 as they rose up
against their historic oppressor, this time meeting with far more success.
Eventually, the Shah Dynasty's expansionism would cross the banks of the
Mahakali, quickly overcoming a weakened Almora and reaching Fort
Langurghari near modern day Lansdowne in 1790. There, the Garhwalis made
their memorable stand, however it was only the Gorkhas' ill-advised
foray into Tibet and the wrath of the Chinese that broke the siege and
saved Garhwal from annexation. However, because of this timely
salvation, the Gorkhas would nurture a vendetta against Garhwal like the
one they fostered against Kirtipur. In 1803 they would return again,
successfully overrunning the kingdom, and almost ending the Parmar dynasty.
Despite their Hindu pieties that led General Amar Singh Thapa to
construct the Gangotri temple, the Gorkha forces were brutal occupiers,
despoiling the land and carrying off a third of the population into
bondage. Their depredations were so severe that history records this
twelve year period as the "Gorkhayani" and the darkest days of the land.
While British accounts may have exaggerated Gorkha cruelty to build the
case for their own annexation of Garhwal and Kumaon, oral accounts
passed down in families testify to the disastrous nature of the
occupation. This terrible truth should be impressed upon those who still
look reverently on Nepal as the "last Hindu Kingdom." In reality, and as
the Garhwalis remember, this so-called Hindu kingdom was a brutal
nightmarish regime that lent its own soldiers to the British to crush
the Indian independence struggle.
In the twentieth century, as the rest of the subcontinent advanced out
of colonialism and despotism, Nepal clung desperately to the past.
Indeed, the self perpetuating autocracy of ruling nobles and the royal
family would continue to engage in medieval barbarisms by repressing the
peasantry, monopolizing power, and alienating the increasingly restive
Janjati population. This stood in sharp contrast to the churning taking
place in both India and China, as democratic and revolutionary power
respectively upended centuries-old feudal relations. However, because of
Cold War rivalries, the monarchy would successfully play the two Asian
giants against each other, prolonging its rule while amassing even
greater wealth from siphoning off development aid. This corruption has
always been more evident with King Gyanendra than his late brother
Bhirendra, a key fact in the monarchy's further fall from grace.
Given all this, India should welcome the belated transformation of Nepal
even if it comes in Maoist garb. The overthrow of the monarchy can in
many ways be compared to India's own purging of the princely states as a
necessary step towards modern democratic rule. Moreover, despite what
many Nepalis think, India has largely played a positive role in Nepal's
political development. While naturally occupying the space of big
brother which would cause any smaller nations to chafe, India has also
encouraged more progressive forces in Nepal. Even Dr. Baburam Bhattarai,
chief ideologue and prospective prime minister, studied at JNU and lived
underground among Nepali student communities in India for many years.
Much of the Maoist leadership has also spent their youth in India. One
can even go so far as to say that Maoism came to Nepal from India not
China! Ironically, it has been China and even Pakistan who have
encouraged the King in their attempt to peddle influence and gain favour
through the established feudal order. The Maoists should remember this
when setting their policies.
India however, also has to revise its schizophrenic policy regarding the
Maoists in Nepal and those that rule in pockets in the Indian
hinterlands. Rather than adopt a paramilitary solution which will soak
India further in blood as it has done to countries like Colombia, the
government needs to grapple with the root causes of the insurgency,
otherwise the unrest will spread as the gap between rich and poor
continues to grow. The Khanduri administration's penchant for flogging
the invented Maoist threat has been the most troubling aspect of the
current Uttarakhand government's dispensation and must also end
forthwith. The fearmongering and persecution of dissidents can make no
sense now with a legitimate Maoist government ready to take the helm in
Nepal, unless the government militarizes the border to meet the phantom
menace. Such a precipitous action would be disastrous, sealing off
Uttarakhand further from its neighbours and crippling the economic
prospects that would otherwise arise from renewed cross-border trade and
travel. Uttarakhand would also be plunged into backwardness, falling
prey to the same repressive and brazenly corrupt forces that have just
been dismissed from Kathmandu. A new Gorkhayani is entirely possible,
this time foisted upon the people by their own brethren. Let's not make
it reality. Let's accept the verdict in Nepal, and move on from there.
Our ancestors would do the same.
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