This Nepali discipline; lesson for Indian officials

N.P.Upadhyaya

The other day one of the FM Radio Stations in Kathmandu aired hair-raising news.

The news could have been ignored but my conscience did not allow to me to act as an irresponsible media man of this nation.

The said news, if properly taken into account, does reveal that how the Indian authorities more so the Indian police force treats Nepal. The fact is that the Indian policemen treat Nepal as an extension either of Bihar or that of Uttar Pradesh-which it is not. But how to make them know is a difficult task indeed.

I would suggest the South Block mandarins to send a circular to their own education ministry stating that henceforth the latter should teach their innocent boys at the schools that Nepal is a different but a sovereign country. They must also teach their boys that Nepal never have had to endure the pain of being a British colony which India have had to.

The radio aired that one Indian policeman entered almost the suburban area of Kathmandu with Pistol.

Later he was taken into Nepal’s police custody. Thanks that the comparatively “disciplined Nepali police” handed the naughty Indian policeman over to the Indian embassy. What happened later is not known.

This reminds me of a small but significant event of which I am the witness together with Indian Ambassador K.V.Rajan.

It should have been at the fag end of 1998 that Ambassador Rajan was in Biratnagar. I was accompanying him as the chairman of the Nepal-SAARC Journalists Forum.

It so happened that the local media men had arranged a small trip to Jogbani-the bordering Indian town some four kilometers from Biratnagar.

For the Ambassador’s security, the local administration had deputed one DSP rank of high police official. Ambassador Rajan and Mrs. Rajan occupied the prestigious seat at the back and myself together with the said DSP were seated in the front.

As the car drove from Biratnagar towards Jogbani, the police official whispered some thing in my ear. I got the point. Within minutes when we arrived closer to a Nepali police stations-Rani area-I instructed the driver to wait for a minute.

The Ambassador naturally was surprised to see the sudden halt of the car and asked me Upadhyaya what has happened?

I said, look the police official was having a small pistol in his possession and that he did not wish to enter a sovereign nation-India-equipped with lethal weapon.

The Ambassador was taken aback at the manner the Nepali police official exhibited his Nepali discipline and a sense of respect for India. The DSP in effect knew the conduct of bilateral relations. He said later to me that how India behaved with Nepal is a different matter, but we must ever respect the international laws governing the conduct in between two sovereign nations.

Rajan must have praised the discipline and the respect exhibited by the Nepal’s police official towards his country without expecting what his country’s police officials treat more often than not this country.

The British officials taught their Indian subjects so many things. However, they forgot to teach the Indian police men the discipline. The South Block is thus advised to teach their police men some lessons on International Laws and relations.

Upon return from Jogbani-where the Indian Ambassador was greeted no less than the Indian President-we stooped at the Nepali police post. The DSP ran and took back his pistol. This Nepali discipline. India could learn from this episode.

Needless to say the Indian Ambassador enjoyed the trip to his own home land.

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