If you have a happy and peaceful neighbour, it is bound to
make a positive impact on your life but if you have a neighbour who is unhappy and in trouble, it
sure to create problem for you too. It applies to ongoing Madheshi agitation in
our neighbour Nepal also and its cascading effects on the lives of the people
in India, particularly in bordering areas. Considering the fact that India has
long and open border with its small neighbour, the quantum of effects has
multiplied.
People around the long
open border between these two countries are battling to lead even normal
life. Their relationship doesn’t end
with just being neighbours. Relationship between Madheshi population of Nepal
and bordering population of India is very complex. It is not like any other
border areas of the India. Border between India and Nepal is open. There is
free movement of the people across the border sans passport and visa. Nepali
people come to India for their daily needs and Indian people often go to Nepal
to buy some foreign cheap items available in Nepal.
There won’t be a single family on either side of the border,
which will not have a relative on the other side. Marriage across the border is
very common. I have just one sister and she is married in Nepal. Not only that
my three buas, father’s sisters, are married in Nepal. And this is not the case
of my family, but every second family on the either side of the border. And it
has been continued for several generations. So this agitation is creating
problem not only for the people of terai region of Nepal but also people of
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
This agitation, which certainly is for a good cause, has
created a complete chaos in Terai (plain) areas of Nepal. Items of daily needs
are not easily available and whatever are available, their prices are skyrocketing.
I would like to give an example. The most acute problem
people of trai or Madhesh is facing is that of petroleum products. There is no
petrol and diesel available in Nepal. Though agitators don’t let run any
vehicle on the road, they cannot stop motorcycles. But there is no petrol even
for that. So what motorcyclists do is that they cross the border, for which
there is no barrier, and fill their tanks in bordering areas of India. Result,
long queue at petrol pumps at border areas in India. In the beginning local Indian
people supported their Nepali neighbours but later it started creating problem
for them. Due to long queue at Indian petrol pumps, local Indian people were
unable to get the petrol and diesel. And they protested. After weeks of chaos
at petrol pumps, local authorities have now placed barriers at petrol pumps
forming two separate queues-one for Indian and other for Nepali vehicles.
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| Above Picture published in The Hindu is just an example. |
What has intensified these problems more is smuggling of
petroleum products. During my recent visit to home town, which is exactly on
the border, I witnessed cycles and motorcycles with huge cans every morning. In
the beginning again, Indian police handled it sympathetically but later they
found system being misused, so they increased their strictness, which has
resulted in some scuffles too. Last month there was an incident in Lalpur/Haripur
village of Supaul district in Bihar, in which SSB jawans had to fire in the air
to control the smugglers, which later created huge upror particularly by Nepal
as the smugglers were Nepali citizens. After the firing local citizens had assmebled
in huge numbers and attacked SSB jawans, in which some jawans as well locals
sustained some injuries.
In nutshell, it is not a good sign for India. The peaceful
border can turn into a hostile territory. So the longer Madheshi agitation
continues more problems for India and sooner it ends better it is for India.
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