Upset with the government’s passivity to hold discussion with India to resolve the claim on the disputed region of Kalapani, supporters of the Nepali Congress party damaged the border pillar set by officials from Kathmandu
New Delhi: Upset over Kathmandu’s reported passivity to resolve the border dispute with India, local supporters of the Nepali Congress party took matters in their own hands damaged an international border pillar.
The incident could trigger a fresh row of dispute within the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led government to settle the controversy over the Kalapani territory.
According to sources on 14 March, after having failed to revive the Nepalese government to establish diplomatic talks with New Delhi to discuss the border issue, supporters of the Nepali Congress party vandalized the border pillar.
A group of party workers and supporters targeted the international border pillar erected at Beldandi rural municipality of Kanchanpur district.
“They used tools to damage the pillar which marked the Nepalese territory. The pillar was installed by the Nepalese government after surveying the area which borders alongside Indian territory,” a senior government official said. He added that the supporting pillar 783/4 was recently installed by the Nepal-India Joint Border Survey (NIJBS) team.
Defending their action, the party supporters claimed that the border pillar was erected inside the Nepalese territory.
In response to the vandalization, government officials have reportedly called for a meeting with the NIJBS team to manage the reconstruction and management of border pillars alongside Indian territory.
Damage to border pillar as Government removes discussion on border issue from agenda
In a bid to draw the government’s attention towards the border dispute with its Himalayan neighbor – India, the Opposition party front led by Nepal’s Communist Party had demanded a discussion on the topic.
However, PM Oli-led government refused to discuss the resolution proposed for the withdrawal of Indian troops from the Kalapani region.
According to the agenda, the House was set to witness a discussion on the issue last week. However, Nepalese Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali asked for additional time to prepare the government’s report on the issue.
While Members of Parliament waited for the time slot for discussion, the government allegedly removed the issue from the House agenda. This left the Opposition cadres fuming.
“Resulting in possibly triggering the vandalization act at the Kanchanpur district. The government not only removed the issue from the agenda but also did not table any reason for omitting it,” an official said.
India wants to turn Nepal into Sikkim: Nepalese MP Poudel
As per Nepalese media reports, Member of Parliament Durga Poudel from the Rastriya Jana Morcha [National People’s Front] attacked Indian government.
While pressing the demand that the government must publish a new political map of the country, he accused India of trying to capture Nepal like New Delhi annexed Sikkim in 1975.
He was reported saying that India is in the form of turning Nepal into a Sikkim. To prevent such a step, a new political map of Nepal depicting territories such as Limpiyadhura should be immediately made public.
