As the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal struggles to fashion a new identity as a democratic and inclusive state, profound and often-competing external influences are coming into sharper focus. In a new book, Nepali journalist Sanjay Upadhya surveys the preponderance of India – and its British colonial forerunner – in Nepalese power politics ever since the state emerged in the mid-18^th century. History, geography, religion and culture have locked Nepal and India in an embrace of estrangement, Upadhya writes in “The Raj Lives” (Vitasta Publishing, New Delhi: 2008).

While many Nepalis actively participated in India’s Independence movement, New Delhi remains an important player in the political evolution of its landlocked northern neighbour. These same elements of affinity, exacerbated by asymmetries in area and population, are also responsible for the rancour underlying the relationship. As Nepal, painted red with the incessant battering of the Maoist rebels, remains bifurcated between monarchy and republicanism, New Delhi’s ‘big brother act’ has been stifling for many Nepalis. Many Indians, for their part, are exasperated by the resentment proximity has produced. Preconceived notions and outright prejudices have only tightened this embrace of estrangement.

This book takes an unconventional approach to India-Nepal relations. Devoid of the abstractions of the academic tomes that fill up bookshelves, this volume also steers clear of the detachment of a historical account. The author, drawing from a plethora of documents in the public record, brings out a nation’s perspective firmly rooted in his personal experience.

The provocative title encapsulates his crisp message: how independent India has virtually adopted British colonial policies towards Nepal. By elucidating the misgivings and follies that have long constrained the relationship, he sets out to explore the inherent possibilities.

• New Delhi retains all the cards in Kathmandu, perhaps more so in Nepalis’ perceptions than in reality. But the distinction does not matter. Nepalis are convinced that India, like imperial Britain, recognizes the advantages of a perpetually insecure and unstable buffer state.
• India dismissed King Birendra’s 1975 proposal to declare Nepal a Zone of Peace without considering Kathmandu’s perceived vulnerabilities—rebellions inspired by the Naxalite movement in West Bengal, India’s continued support of Nepali Congress exiles, the absorption of Sikkim, and New Delhi’s first nuclear explosion.
• Nepalis’ distrust of India’s motives in ensuring the triumph of democracy has grown as New Delhi has become involved, directly or indirectly, in the kingdom’s political activities.
• During a public speech in 1951, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru rejected suggestions that India wished to interfere in Nepal’s affairs. For many in the audience, however, much of his remarks confirmed their grievances; Nehru offered an extended lesson on how Nepalis should chart their course ahead.
• The Kosi project primarily benefited India, which received 97 per cent of the water. India irrigated millions of hectares of land, resulting in tens of billions of dollars’ worth of annual production. Nepal ended up with vast tracts of land under water.
• From New Delhi’s perspective, aid to Nepal was based on the consideration that economic interdependence between neighbours should form part of the greater scheme of South-South cooperation. Yet India’s dominant political role in Nepal served to obscure this reality.
• From Kathmandu, the boundaries between India’s domestic and foreign policies sometime simply become invisible. Any assertion of the Nepali aspiration is automatically interpreted in New Delhi as anti-Indianism.
• New Delhi and Kathmandu need to make rational choices that could give continuity to their historical ties as well as configure new areas of cooperation.

Author: Sanjay Upadhya

ISBN: 81-89766-73-2

Pages: 350; Hardbound

Edition: 2008, Price: Indian Rs. 645

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