NEPALI MPS FIND INDIAN GOVERNMENT SUPPORTIVE ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000582

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS SCUL ECON NP IN
SUBJECT: NEPALI MPS FIND INDIAN GOVERNMENT SUPPORTIVE ON
UNREST IN TERAI

REF: A. KATHMANDU 267

B. KATHMANDU 266

C. KATHMANDU 265

D. KATHMANDU 232

Classified By: PolCouns Ted Osius for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Nepali Congress - Democratic (NC-D) Members
of Parliament Prakash Mahat and Arjun Thapa told Poloff
February 1 that PM Singh had said one day earlier the
government of India was ready to support the government of
Nepal in addressing the unrest in Nepal's Terai region. In a
meeting the same day, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee
encouraged the Interim Nepali Parliament to address the
concerns of the Madhesis, according to Mahat. Mahat
acknowledged that Indian-based Hindu fundamentalists and
monarchists might be contributing to the unrest in Nepal, but
not the government of India. Mahat could not confirm rumors
that the Maoists were dumping good weapons in India and
buying poor ones to turn in to the UN. In a separate
meeting, Indian Nepal expert Gen. Ashok Mehta opined that the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindu fundamentalist
organizations such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
shared an interest in supporting the Madhesis in Nepal, and
might be contributing to the unrest. END SUMMARY.

Nepalis Party Leader Describes Terai Unrest to PM Singh
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Nepali Congress - Democratic (NC-D) Interim
Parliament Member and former Minister Prakash Mahat told
Embassy New Delhi PolOff Feb. 1 that, in a brief meeting the
day before, Prime Minister Singh had asked him to describe
the current unrest in the Terai region in southern Nepal.
Mahat said the Prime Minister had assured him that the
government of India (GOI) was ready to support the government
of Nepal (GON) in bringing the situation under control. In a
separate January 31 meeting, according to Mahat, Foreign
Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Mahat and Nepali Interim
Parliament Member Arjun Thapa (NC-D) that the Nepalese
Interim Parliament must address the concerns of the Madhesis.
"He said that the matter must not go out of the hands of the
political parties," reported Mahat, opining that by
"political parties," Mukherjee was actually referring to the
Nepali Congress and NC-D parties. Mukherjee said it was
imperative that the Interim Parliament address the unrest in
southern Nepal, according to Mahat, and stressed that the
Maoists should not be allowed to join the interim government
until arms management was complete. "There should be no
environment of fear" during the upcoming elections, Mahat
quoted the Foreign Minister as saying. Mahat was confident
that the new constitution drafted by the Constituent Assembly
would address the concerns of the Madhesis, but said the
problem was that they are demanding an immediate solution.
Madhesis wanted to have a voice in the elections of the
Constituent Assembly. They had legitimate complaints, he
acknowledged, including the fact that they were
underrepresented in the army, have endured obstacles to
becoming citizens, and that there is no federal structure to

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assure their representation in the government.

Monarchists and Hindu Fundamentalists
--------------


3. (C) Dismissing rumors that the Indian government was
somehow involved in stirring up tensions in the region, Mahat
said he thought the GOI had had no direct involvement in the
unrest in the Terai. "Some Indian monarchists and Hindu
fundamentalists might be involved, but there is no hidden
agenda from the Indian government," he asserted, theorizing
that he thought the monarchists were using the "Terai factor"
to advance their own agenda and prevent the elections from
taking place. "There are elements not looking for a
solution, but just trying to create problems," asserted
Mahat, adding, "The monarchists are deliberately stirring up
trouble, and are using the Madhesis for their own purposes."
He commented that he did not think the Madhesis had links
with Indian political parties in the provinces of Bihar or
Uttar Pradesh.

Pointing the Finger at India
--------------


4. (C) Senior Maoist leader and head of International
Affairs CP Gajurel (Note: Gajurel was released from a
three-year stint in an Indian prison for passport fraud in
December 2006. End note.) accused India's Hindu
fundamentalist organizations Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for stirring up
violence in the Terai, according to February 3 edition of
"The Indian Express." Gajurel claimed that Upendra Yadav,
leader of the Madhesis People's Rights Forum (MPRF),had
attended a convention of the RSS-VHP in Gorakhpur, India in
December, 2006 after which the MPRF's movement became
violent. (Note: Maoist Supremo Prachanda said at a press
conference February 1 in Kathmandu that Hindu fundamentalists
and monarchists are "linked to India's ruling parties." End
note.)


5. (C) Think-tank expert General Ashok Mehta suggested in a
January 31 meeting with Poloff that it would be in India's
interest to have a politically empowered diaspora.
"Therefore," he continued, "it makes sense that Indians might
be involved in supporting ethnic Indian Madhesis." There are
sympathies within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the
RSS for a Hindu Kingdom, added Mehta, "that won't die down
among the stalwarts of those parties." Mehta added that,
though they would never say so publicly, he thought India
would prefer that a figure-head King remain in power in Nepal.

No Evidence of Maoists Selling or Buying Weapons in India
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Asked if there was any truth to rumors that Maoists
are bringing their good weapons across the border to Bihar,
India, and turning in poor quality weapons to the UN instead,
Mahat said he had seen no evidence of that. However, in
light of the planned Nepali elections, "it is the small

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weapons we should be worried about," he remarked, noting that
Maoists would not use large weapons against the army or
police for fear of retaliation, and that they would use
smaller weapons to intimidate citizens.

Comment: All Politics Are Local
--------------


7. (C) While rumors abound that the Government of India is
directly involved with unrest in the Terai region of Nepal,
we have yet to see any support for this allegation.
Meanwhile, the BJP party and the RSS grassroots organization,
which are strong in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on Nepal's
southern border, may have an interest in creating unrest in
Nepal. By stirring up Hindu nationalism, and playing on the
very real possibility that the world's only Hindu kingdom is
on the brink of disappearing, these political parties can
garner support for themselves in India with an eye to
defeating the Indian Congress party in state polls in Uttar
Pradesh that would help their quest to regain power in New
Delhi. The central government, evidently supporting the
government of Nepal and its Interim Parliament's ability to
resolve its problems, has limited control over the regions
that border Nepal. This apparent lack of control over the
local government was exemplified recently when a Union
Minister, directed by PM Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia
Gandhi to visit the communal violence-ridden town of
Gorakhpur, was requested by the district administration not
to enter the city (which is near the Nepali border). PM
Singh may pledge his support to the government of Nepal, and
Mukherjee may offer advice, but neither has full control over
fundamentalist organizations such as the RSS and the VHP.
END COMMENT.

(Note: This message has been coordinated with EMBASSY
Kathmandu. End Note.)
MULFORD