Nepal: Strategically of the West

KATHMANDU, Nepal – In the wake of Maoist rebels killing 141 people in terrorist strikes here last weekend, this remote Himalayan kingdom is getting more attention on the international stage, gaining prominence in the area as a strategic ally of the West.

A woman spoons out dye for creating colorful fabric in Bhaktapur, the
ancient capital of Nepal.

Indeed, Nepal, home to Mt. Everest, is no longer just some dot on a map like Tierra del Fuego or Djibouti. It is an important buffer between Chinese-controlled Tibet and India. The Himalayas of the nation run westward towards Kashmir, an area of controversy between India and Pakistan for decades. U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell paid a visit to Kathmandu recently, promising Western aid in the hopes of staving off the Maoist rebellion – an uprising that has the nation in a "state of emergency."

"The Maoists receive arms and training from Kashmir and communist China," a French worker with a non-governmental organization in Kathmandu told WorldNetDaily.

"There is so much corruption in the government of Nepal. The communists in China are digging wells and providing infrastructure to the poorest Nepalese in the rural areas of the nation. I say, 'more power to them.'"

Roger du Monde, a military trainer with the Legion Entrangere currently working with the Nepal army said that the Maoists are "winning the hearts and minds of the rural poor. This is what Powell told the Nepalese elites. It's not enough to crush the Maoists. The youth of the nation must see some kind of future for themselves.

A Young girl looks out the window in her home near Bhaktapur.

"China has moved nuclear missiles into Tibet. They are aimed at many cities in India. This is common knowledge. Neither the West nor India wants to see China gain influence in Nepal, for obvious geo-strategic reasons."

Nepal, which made international headlines last year with the bloody slaying of the royal family, is an extremely poor Hindu nation. It has no natural resources, and its primary source of income is providing the West with tourism and mercenaries.

From 1816 through the early 1950s, Nepal's borders were virtually closed to the outside world. As a British colony, the nation's primary export consisted of human beings – namely the Gurkhas, elite mercenary soldiers who fought for the British Crown.

With the Gurkhas serving overseas in the British army in places like the Falkland Islands and the Balkans, the Maoists inside Nepal are having a field day attacking the police and setting up Maoist cells in the rural regions.

Maoists and poverty

A morning walk around Kathmandu provides the interloper with a personal view of Nepal's poverty.

A Nepalese woman loads bricks into a basket.

The scene is almost medieval. The sun tries to break out, like a flashlight submerged in a bowl of thick soup, but it seems less than successful battling the clouds and smog in the valley beneath the Himalayas. On this winter day, the people wake and begin building outdoor fires with scarce wood. The chilly air is thick and smoky, like Phoenix in the midst of a winter temperature inversion. The glory of the Himalayas remains hidden.

A cow wanders aimlessly along a pothole-ridden road. Horns blare away, like annoying trumpets.

"There's my god," an old Nepalese man points out to WorldNetDaily with great sincerity. He then asks, "Where's your god?"

Families wash themselves and their clothes and dishes in small tubs of water. Men receive haircuts and shaves out in the open, sitting on a barber's chair on the side of the city's main highway. Striking women huddle together in teams of three, wrapped in colorful shawls and trying to negotiate the teeming traffic on foot. Tiny cyclo taxis ferry workers about; the signs on the outside of these miniature vehicles promote products like Close Up toothpaste and Coca Cola. Young school girls with their hair in braids head for class, sporting red sweaters and gray skirts, while unemployed men eye them along the narrow, winding streets.

A potter spins his clay in the Nepalese countryside.

Visiting the Tibetan border near Pokhara, WND found that the Maoists had gained significant inroads into the psyche of the people. The Nepal army, minus their Gurkhas special operations forces, is armed with World War II-era rifles, lacking mobility and counter-insurgency expertise.

An assistant to the European Union's military attach? in Bangkok commented, "The Maoists in Nepal cannot overthrow the monarchy in Kathmandu, but they can create a significant nuisance by hurting tourism."

Tourism in Nepal has declined since the December 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines Airbus by suspected Kashmiri militants. The ensuing Maoist rebellion points to collaboration between the Maoists and radical Islamist movement in the region.

Said Du Monde, "The Maoists practice the tactics endorsed by Sun Tzu in The Art of War. If your enemy is superior, evade and agitate him."

Last weekend's attack was the Maoists' most significant accomplishment in recent months. They have killed a number of Nepal's policemen and forced the army to mobilize against them. Also, they have cut into tourism and forced Western trekkers to provide "protection money."

Steven Knoble, a Western medical assistant based in Nepal told WND, "The Maoists have not, so far, killed any Western tourists. The local people depend on foreign tourism dollars."

Few Western visitors to Nepal seem to have any fear of the Maoist rebellion. Sylvia Kuipers, a Dutch English teacher, said, "The 'Ms,' as I call them, well, I don't worry about things I can't control." Kuipers is a part of a dedicated corps of Western volunteers braving harsh elements to help Nepal and its people.

"We live without hot showers, and we teach in circumstances that are less than ideal. I was a child minder in Holland, and sometimes people look down on my job. But I think it is an important job. The children of Nepal are the future of the nation," she said.

The most intriguing question in Nepal remains: Can the ideals of the Maoists be confined to the past, or will their propensity to pester the kingdom's rulers continue to inhibit the nation's development?