After facing border disputes with China and Pakistan India may now face similar problem from Nepal where the Maoists have recently rejoined the Girija Prasad Koirala government. Around 400 Maoists from Nepal recently crossed over the porous Indo-Nepal border touching Uttarakhand to lay claim on some of the portions falling in the ?No man'sland?. They tried to hoist their red flag at these spots, which are close to Banbasa town in the border district of Champavat.
These spots once had border pillars 3 and 3-A respectively, which no longer exist there, said Shri M.S. Bangyal, the Superintendent of Police of District Champavat. He added a move had been going on for sometime to conduct a survey jointly by India and Nepal of the nearly 300 km. Indo-Nepal border stretch to identify such spots so all the border pillars that had been wiped out could be restored.
Shri Bangyal said the Nepali Maoist ultras belonged to the Young Communist League, a wing of the Nepal Communist Party. ?Although the Nepali Maoist ultras? bid was foiled by the security forces they had a design behind that,? he said. ?They tried their best to provoke the security forces to open fire on them so causalities occurred and the whole issue is internationalised,? he added.
Security forces refused to be provoked and sent the Maoists back in a calm manner, the SSP said, and added they (the ultras) tried to enter into ?no man'sland? from Gadda Chowki area near Banbasa town. ?Originally, as per their programme conveyed to us through Nepali authorities they were to take the route through Brahamadev town of Nepal,? Shri Bangyal said. Police personnel and the Border Security Force personnel manning the border managed to avert a crisis, as security had been beefed up in advance in the Gadda Chowki area as well, said the SSP. Nepali Maoists ultras consider as many as 64 areas dotting the Indo-Nepal border from Uttarakhand right up to Sikkim as a part of the Himalayan state, he said.
?Besides, the Nepali government had also made a similar claim on the border area of Kalapani in Kumaon'sPithoragarh district around four years ago,? informed the SSP.
Expressing concern over the delay in the survey of the Indo-Nepal border, he said it was high time work was expedited so all the border pillars that had been wiped out could be restored at the earliest. ?That would deny the Nepali Maoist ultras an opportunity to make an issue out of nothing,? he told.
The Uttarakhand police had recently arrested a former correspondent of The Statesman, Prashant Rahi, who is alleged to be a zonal secretary of CPI (Maoist) from Udham Singh Nagar district and recovered several incriminating documents from him, including the organisation'splans to target specific areas in the state.
Rajendra Bhandari, state general secretary of the Hindu Jagaran Manch talking to Organiser revealed that the Hindu Jagaran Manch along with its thousand workers would start a campaign to travel toward the place of the incident. The activities of Maoists are a threat to the security of Hindustan. He told that the Manch has already warned the state and the Centre against the anti-Hindustan activities of the Nepali Maoists. He said that the Manch will hoist Indian flag on ?no man'sland?, The Manch will reply to the Maoists in the strict manner and will not endure any anti-India activity of the Maoists. Shri Bhandari accused the administration of being careless on this important and sensitive issue, which has encouraged the anti-Hindustan activities of the Maoists, Bhandari said that the Manch would train its workers so that they can keep an eye on the activities of the Maoists. These workers would be given the name of ?Gram Rakshak?. He demanded that the border land should be declared ?High Security Zone?. The Manch will remain in contact with the incidents and the activities of the Maoists and keep on informing the government and the administration about them. ?R.S.
