The news of another devastating earthquake in Nepal on May 12 seems to have had a sobering effect even on the media, sections of which had gone over-the-top in their coverage of the April 25 quake. Insensitive and in-your-face coverage, particularly by television, has rightly been taken to task by many thoughtful commentators.
Indian policymakers and citizens have to be conscious of Nepal and its people's genuine sensitivities. It cannot be denied that the self-congratulatory coverage by sections of the Indian media and misplaced zeal of some Indian Airforce pilots to indulge in public relations, has sullied the genuinely selfless work done by Indian rescue and relief teams.
Big Brother
As someone familiar with Nepali politics pre and post monarchy, and the way urban Nepalis think, it is important to point out that the phenomenon of anti-India sentiment arises ostensibly from what is perceived as New Delhi's Big Brother attitude. The reality is that Nepal prides its independence and uniqueness not being colonised – albeit at a price – and zealously guards its sovereign space, sandwiched as it is between two giant neighbours, China and India.
That the spontaneous and overwhelming response by India and its military, especially the Army, has been misconstrued as undermining Nepal's sovereignty in some circles should alert us to the urgent need to take corrective measures and, above all, to keep a sense of proportion in our analysis. There are lessons in it not only for the need for a sensitive and informed media discourse but also to appreciate that the alacrity of the Indian response needs to be treated not as an occasion for chest-thumping but as an expression of empathy.
For contrast, we should also remember that a totally different picture of Big Brother (Daju-Bhai) is to be found in the rural areas where resides the pro-India constituency consisting of families of Indian Army Gorkha soldiers, ex-servicemen and ordinary Nepalis. There you hear “hamro Bharat sarkar” “Bharat ko Lahure (soldier)” and “India ko Bhu Pu (ex serviceman)”. I have even heard remarks like “Nepal cannot exist without help from India”. These comments are not patronising but reflect the age-old political, economic and development disparities and inequities between Kathmandu and the periphery. Thomas Bell, the author of Kathmandu, has written: “The earthquake spared the rich and tortured the poor. It is likely the recovery, such as it is, may be equally unfair”.
Tiny Nepal's overwhelming dependence on giant India and historical, cultural and religious affinities make for it a Catch 22. The beloved Gurung durban or the Thapa helper or Tamang aaya in our homes have not always been fairly treated. Madanlal Khurana, former chief Minister of Dehi, while on a visit to Kathmandu, rhapsodised about how he loved Nepal: “My servant is from Nepal,” he said. In her heyday, Madhuri Dixit created a diplomatic furore by publicly lauding the fact that India was so lucky to have Nepal as part of it. Hrithik Roshan's comment on Nepalis led to riots in Kathmandu and Terai.
Not surprisingly then, the cumulative sense of pride and nationalism manifests as anti-Indianness. Senior Nepali Congress leader and constitutional expert Daman Dhungana told me that India should ignore the whipped up unfriendly sentiments and added: “If India does something it is blamed; even if doesn't do anything, it is still blamed”.
Keeping Perspective
We cannot lose sight of the fact that Indian teams were in Kathmandu on April 25 within six hours, even before the first responder could swing into action. Having been sensitised by the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, Prime Minister Narendra Modi intuitively alerted the central Crisis Management Cell and Defence Crisis Management Group and had virtually given the executive orders before any formal request from Kathmandu had arrived. That is how, Indian reaction was able to take off in double quick time. There were two additional factors: One, excellent political , military and civic relations despite the static of dissent. Two, physical proximity and familiarity with terrain, language and host country's Standard Operating Procedures.
In early 2014, Nepal Army Chief, Gen Gadul Rana, had organised an international disaster management conference to which he invited then Indian Army Chief, Gen Bikram Singh to be the keynote speaker. Both Armies train together as do some police and civilian officials. Over years, the Indian Army has war-gamed contingencies – however remote today – of Chinese PLA intrusions in Nepal or through Nepal threatening the Siliguri corridor and/or the Indo-Gangetic plains.
The Indian military's secondary task is to assist civilian authority in natural and man-made disasters and calamities which included the recent Uttarakhand and Kashmir floods. Because the tragedy touched Nepali Gorkha soldiers and ex-servicemen of the Indian Army, Army Chief, Gen Dalbir Singh, a die-hard Gorkha officer took personal charge. The Indian military's variegated out of area experience in disaster and crisis scenarios – Iraq (1990, 2003, 2014), Lebanon (2006), Egypt, Libya and Yemen (2011) Ukraine, Syria , Iraq (2014) and Tsunami (2004) – also obviously helped.
Gorkha connection
Let us also remember that the entire exercise was labelled Operation Maitri, which translates to Operation Friendship. Following the swift strategic outreach provided by the IAF, the Army's rapid response teams were rushed for rescue, medical care and relief in coordination with the Nepal Army. Two task force headquarters under Maj Gen JS Sandhu and Brig J Gamlin, both Gorkha officers, were set up at Kathmandu and the epicentre, 8000 feet high Barpak. A Relief Operation Centre was established at the Indian Pension Camp at Pokhara. All three had the following tasks: facilitate and support Nepalese authorities in coordinating rescue and relief; ascertain requirements from Nepalese; coordinate Army's rescue and relief operations. Opening the road network from India to Kathmandu by Army engineers required repairing the Pokhara-Kathmandu stretch, followed by establishing a movement control organisation in coordination with Nepal Army in Kathmandu to direct relief convoys. Hotlines were installed between Indian and Nepal Armies and helplines for our Gorkha soldiers at Army Headquarters, New Delhi.
Army foot patrols sent by its seven Gorkha regiments on leave reached inaccessible areas and worked with ex-servicemen. Light helicopters were able to evacuate personnel and provide life-saving medical aid. Substantive medical effort consisted of 18 medical teams and mobile teams for the mountainous regions. Satellite communications enabled contact between different relief efforts. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Gen Gaurav Rana were briefed at Barpak on May 5 by Engineer Task Force Commander, Lt Col Nikhil Sankaran.
The Army Everest Expedition did yeoman service rescuing 19 foreign mountaineers and clearing the base camp after the avalanche. Luckily the Indian team was training at Khumbu icefall, except eight members at base camp who miraculously survived because of their training in counter-avalanche drills. On return to base camp, team leader Maj RS Jamwal organised the evacuation of 19 bodies and the 19 mountaineers rescued at the base camp. The Medical Officer, Maj Ritesh Goyal, helped stabilise over 70 casualties at the base camp for over 16 hours before they were evacuated. The Army team recovered all their equipment after the avalanche.
Road columns were moved from Gorakhpur and Raxaul carrying relief materials. Thousands of blankets, tents, tarpaulins and plastic sheets and water purifying equipment were provided and more are underway. Rescue work was stopped on May 3, and focus shifted to rubble removal and relief. On May 7, the 13thday of the tragedy, pujas were held seeking blessings of Lord Pashupatinath for recovery and reconstruction.
Army to army
The Indian Army's rescue and relief efforts was facilitated by the history of strong and durable army to army relations beginning 1952 when India was made responsible for maintaining and equipping the Nepal Army culminating in 2003 with the establishment of the Bilateral Group on Security Cooperation India-Nepal. The recruitment of Gorkhas, resulting in 38 infantry battalions and 150,000 ex-servicemen, is India's biggest strategic asset. In the late 1970s, an Indian Foreign Ministry proposal to discontinue recruitment of Gorkhas – a demand periodically made by Left parties and Maoists in Nepal – was shot down by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who had the foresight and vision to recognise the diplomatic and political binding and bonding the Gorkhas would provide. In an interview given to NDTV on Day 8 of the earthquake, Gen Gadul Rana described as 'superb' government to government relations, 'special and 'unparalleled' the bonhomie between the two armies and 'simply tremendous and outstanding' the contribution of India and Operation Maitri. This needs to be considered in conjunction with #IndianMediaGoHome.
We also cannot lose sight of the fact that among India's two and a half worries in Nepal, two are China and Pakistan which successive governments have used to create sovereign and strategic space to balance India. During the earthquake – and in the past – China acknowledged and yielded to India's predominant stakes in Nepal but has never let go any opportunity to outdo India, especially during the Maoist rule. Pakistan too, had unsuccessfully tried to subvert the Gorkhas through Operation Tufail in 1993 when Maj – now Maj Gen – Asim Saleem Bajwa of Inter-Services Public Relations was posted in Nepal and later at the height of the Maoist insurgency. The half worry is the Maoists and hardliners in the Communist Party. Some of them have objected to Indian Army's Operation Maitri as they have in the past about Gorkha recruitment.
It is difficult for any country to dislodge India from its favoured status as it was not for nothing that the US had informed India: "You lead in Nepal, we will follow you". New Delhi will have to commit a monumental folly to forfeit its special relations with Nepal. Despite the media coverage and hype, Operation Maitri has reinforced the goodwill, trust and popularity that India enjoys in Nepal.
***
The author is a General Officer from the 5th Gorkha Regiment and has trekked widely in Nepal since 1959.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Indian policymakers and citizens have to be conscious of Nepal and its people's genuine sensitivities. It cannot be denied that the self-congratulatory coverage by sections of the Indian media and misplaced zeal of some Indian Airforce pilots to indulge in public relations, has sullied the genuinely selfless work done by Indian rescue and relief teams.
Big Brother
As someone familiar with Nepali politics pre and post monarchy, and the way urban Nepalis think, it is important to point out that the phenomenon of anti-India sentiment arises ostensibly from what is perceived as New Delhi's Big Brother attitude. The reality is that Nepal prides its independence and uniqueness not being colonised – albeit at a price – and zealously guards its sovereign space, sandwiched as it is between two giant neighbours, China and India.
That the spontaneous and overwhelming response by India and its military, especially the Army, has been misconstrued as undermining Nepal's sovereignty in some circles should alert us to the urgent need to take corrective measures and, above all, to keep a sense of proportion in our analysis. There are lessons in it not only for the need for a sensitive and informed media discourse but also to appreciate that the alacrity of the Indian response needs to be treated not as an occasion for chest-thumping but as an expression of empathy.
For contrast, we should also remember that a totally different picture of Big Brother (Daju-Bhai) is to be found in the rural areas where resides the pro-India constituency consisting of families of Indian Army Gorkha soldiers, ex-servicemen and ordinary Nepalis. There you hear “hamro Bharat sarkar” “Bharat ko Lahure (soldier)” and “India ko Bhu Pu (ex serviceman)”. I have even heard remarks like “Nepal cannot exist without help from India”. These comments are not patronising but reflect the age-old political, economic and development disparities and inequities between Kathmandu and the periphery. Thomas Bell, the author of Kathmandu, has written: “The earthquake spared the rich and tortured the poor. It is likely the recovery, such as it is, may be equally unfair”.
Tiny Nepal's overwhelming dependence on giant India and historical, cultural and religious affinities make for it a Catch 22. The beloved Gurung durban or the Thapa helper or Tamang aaya in our homes have not always been fairly treated. Madanlal Khurana, former chief Minister of Dehi, while on a visit to Kathmandu, rhapsodised about how he loved Nepal: “My servant is from Nepal,” he said. In her heyday, Madhuri Dixit created a diplomatic furore by publicly lauding the fact that India was so lucky to have Nepal as part of it. Hrithik Roshan's comment on Nepalis led to riots in Kathmandu and Terai.
Not surprisingly then, the cumulative sense of pride and nationalism manifests as anti-Indianness. Senior Nepali Congress leader and constitutional expert Daman Dhungana told me that India should ignore the whipped up unfriendly sentiments and added: “If India does something it is blamed; even if doesn't do anything, it is still blamed”.
Keeping Perspective
We cannot lose sight of the fact that Indian teams were in Kathmandu on April 25 within six hours, even before the first responder could swing into action. Having been sensitised by the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, Prime Minister Narendra Modi intuitively alerted the central Crisis Management Cell and Defence Crisis Management Group and had virtually given the executive orders before any formal request from Kathmandu had arrived. That is how, Indian reaction was able to take off in double quick time. There were two additional factors: One, excellent political , military and civic relations despite the static of dissent. Two, physical proximity and familiarity with terrain, language and host country's Standard Operating Procedures.
In early 2014, Nepal Army Chief, Gen Gadul Rana, had organised an international disaster management conference to which he invited then Indian Army Chief, Gen Bikram Singh to be the keynote speaker. Both Armies train together as do some police and civilian officials. Over years, the Indian Army has war-gamed contingencies – however remote today – of Chinese PLA intrusions in Nepal or through Nepal threatening the Siliguri corridor and/or the Indo-Gangetic plains.
The Indian military's secondary task is to assist civilian authority in natural and man-made disasters and calamities which included the recent Uttarakhand and Kashmir floods. Because the tragedy touched Nepali Gorkha soldiers and ex-servicemen of the Indian Army, Army Chief, Gen Dalbir Singh, a die-hard Gorkha officer took personal charge. The Indian military's variegated out of area experience in disaster and crisis scenarios – Iraq (1990, 2003, 2014), Lebanon (2006), Egypt, Libya and Yemen (2011) Ukraine, Syria , Iraq (2014) and Tsunami (2004) – also obviously helped.
Gorkha connection
Let us also remember that the entire exercise was labelled Operation Maitri, which translates to Operation Friendship. Following the swift strategic outreach provided by the IAF, the Army's rapid response teams were rushed for rescue, medical care and relief in coordination with the Nepal Army. Two task force headquarters under Maj Gen JS Sandhu and Brig J Gamlin, both Gorkha officers, were set up at Kathmandu and the epicentre, 8000 feet high Barpak. A Relief Operation Centre was established at the Indian Pension Camp at Pokhara. All three had the following tasks: facilitate and support Nepalese authorities in coordinating rescue and relief; ascertain requirements from Nepalese; coordinate Army's rescue and relief operations. Opening the road network from India to Kathmandu by Army engineers required repairing the Pokhara-Kathmandu stretch, followed by establishing a movement control organisation in coordination with Nepal Army in Kathmandu to direct relief convoys. Hotlines were installed between Indian and Nepal Armies and helplines for our Gorkha soldiers at Army Headquarters, New Delhi.
Army foot patrols sent by its seven Gorkha regiments on leave reached inaccessible areas and worked with ex-servicemen. Light helicopters were able to evacuate personnel and provide life-saving medical aid. Substantive medical effort consisted of 18 medical teams and mobile teams for the mountainous regions. Satellite communications enabled contact between different relief efforts. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Gen Gaurav Rana were briefed at Barpak on May 5 by Engineer Task Force Commander, Lt Col Nikhil Sankaran.
The Army Everest Expedition did yeoman service rescuing 19 foreign mountaineers and clearing the base camp after the avalanche. Luckily the Indian team was training at Khumbu icefall, except eight members at base camp who miraculously survived because of their training in counter-avalanche drills. On return to base camp, team leader Maj RS Jamwal organised the evacuation of 19 bodies and the 19 mountaineers rescued at the base camp. The Medical Officer, Maj Ritesh Goyal, helped stabilise over 70 casualties at the base camp for over 16 hours before they were evacuated. The Army team recovered all their equipment after the avalanche.
Road columns were moved from Gorakhpur and Raxaul carrying relief materials. Thousands of blankets, tents, tarpaulins and plastic sheets and water purifying equipment were provided and more are underway. Rescue work was stopped on May 3, and focus shifted to rubble removal and relief. On May 7, the 13thday of the tragedy, pujas were held seeking blessings of Lord Pashupatinath for recovery and reconstruction.
Army to army
The Indian Army's rescue and relief efforts was facilitated by the history of strong and durable army to army relations beginning 1952 when India was made responsible for maintaining and equipping the Nepal Army culminating in 2003 with the establishment of the Bilateral Group on Security Cooperation India-Nepal. The recruitment of Gorkhas, resulting in 38 infantry battalions and 150,000 ex-servicemen, is India's biggest strategic asset. In the late 1970s, an Indian Foreign Ministry proposal to discontinue recruitment of Gorkhas – a demand periodically made by Left parties and Maoists in Nepal – was shot down by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who had the foresight and vision to recognise the diplomatic and political binding and bonding the Gorkhas would provide. In an interview given to NDTV on Day 8 of the earthquake, Gen Gadul Rana described as 'superb' government to government relations, 'special and 'unparalleled' the bonhomie between the two armies and 'simply tremendous and outstanding' the contribution of India and Operation Maitri. This needs to be considered in conjunction with #IndianMediaGoHome.
We also cannot lose sight of the fact that among India's two and a half worries in Nepal, two are China and Pakistan which successive governments have used to create sovereign and strategic space to balance India. During the earthquake – and in the past – China acknowledged and yielded to India's predominant stakes in Nepal but has never let go any opportunity to outdo India, especially during the Maoist rule. Pakistan too, had unsuccessfully tried to subvert the Gorkhas through Operation Tufail in 1993 when Maj – now Maj Gen – Asim Saleem Bajwa of Inter-Services Public Relations was posted in Nepal and later at the height of the Maoist insurgency. The half worry is the Maoists and hardliners in the Communist Party. Some of them have objected to Indian Army's Operation Maitri as they have in the past about Gorkha recruitment.
It is difficult for any country to dislodge India from its favoured status as it was not for nothing that the US had informed India: "You lead in Nepal, we will follow you". New Delhi will have to commit a monumental folly to forfeit its special relations with Nepal. Despite the media coverage and hype, Operation Maitri has reinforced the goodwill, trust and popularity that India enjoys in Nepal.
***
The author is a General Officer from the 5th Gorkha Regiment and has trekked widely in Nepal since 1959.
