National security threats

The recent goodwill visits of president and prime minister to India and China have been constructive to bridge the growing gaps in the relationship between Nepal and her big neighbors. However, the issues of 1950 security treaty, Bhutanese refugee problems, Indo-Nepal border encroachment, and Tibetan refugee issues are still the bone-of-contention. These issues are potential threats to internal security and national security. 

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Personal safety and security

Personal safety and security is very important for anyone individual. The Community Development Centre (CDC) organized two-day capacity building orientation training for the youths of local area.

Counter Insurgency Strategy

From: G.P. Thapa

To: Narayan Chand Thakur

Sun, 16 Apr 2000

Dear Narayan,

As you know, it is needless to explain the situation about the terrorist activities in Nepal and the strategy taken by HMG/N to address it. There are two options open in such circumstances. One is offensive and the other preventive. The best method of managing insurgency is preventive and worst one is offensive. Unfortunately, we have chosen the worst one. Even in the context of offensive strategy, the operations are not carried oout with sound operational planning and preparations. And the end result of it is sure to be worst one.

I think we must understand the causes behind the insurgency. It is not the people who are our enemies. It is the rampant exploitation, abusse, discrimination, extreme poverty, the big gap between have and have nots—that is breeding the insurgency. Unless we understand it we can not design and deliver anything to the citizen. We are not treating at the root cause of this issue rather we are cutting through the branches and twigs, which ultimately is sure to grow with more branches.

At this juncture I would like to quote statement made by present COAS Genral Prabal Shumsher JBR, at the closing ceremony of International Terrorism on 17 Magh 2053 (30 Jan 1997) at Shivapuri. “It is now our responsibility to further enhance our studies, formulate practical and workable plans to counter terrorism. The Royal Nepalese Army would not be able to conduct operations alone, therefore, to make actions effective and purposeful, cooperation and coordination with other organs of His Majesty’s Governemtn is extremely vital”.

I would also like to bring forward the message of General Dharam Pal bar Singh Thapa, Army Chief in the opening of the same seminar. Some of them were;

1. Understand the nature of the problem

2. Clearly define terrorism in our context

3. Should individual’s right be curbed?

4. What is the future of terrorism in Nepal?

5. What should be our responses to terrorism?

And finally, there were some recommendations made by the seminar. One of the recommendations was to form a national counter terrorism committee in future.

Govind P. Thapa

From: Narayan Chand Thakur

To: Govind Prasad Thapa

Monday, Apr 17, 2000

Dear Govind,

Although, prevention strategy hs always been neglected, its importance can not be undermined and excluded from any strategy developed for countering terrorism. Rather, prevention strategy is the best and everlasting strategy we can ever think of.

However, I would like to deal with the following few points.

1. Commitment: Unless the government is fully determined to solve the problem of (Maoist) terrorism, there is no way that any form of committee or strategy can solve the problem, because you will need man, money and material, and of course the information which are so vital for any strategy you are going to manage. Till now I don’t see such an effort on the part of the government. And again, every party is competing by hook or crook, to gain the so called revolving chair, and nobody wants to displease the terrorist group or the supporters.
2. Formulation of Anti-terrorist Act: You can not counter the terrorism unless you have a strict law governing the terrorist activities. But it, too, has two aspects: a strict law will certainly act as a deterrent but there is the danger of abuse of power as well. Unless otherwise, there is a distinct and rigid way of monitoring and implementing punishment for the abuse of the authority, it is less likely that majority of the people will support the formulation of such an Act. So there is a need for some sort of committee to monitor such an action, because the issue of human right, eventually, will come up, and which is, of course, vital in a democratic country.
3. Management: The recent recommendation for a special task force numbering 15000 sounds cool but what about the use of modern technology such as infra-red for night vision, motion sensing equipment and electronic equipment for gathering information. The key to prevention of a terrorist event is ‘intelligence’ and one of the FBI agent Robert Heibel has right said, “law enforcement agency don’t understand intelligence”.

I don’t want to dwell on the prevention side because everybody knows that the crux of the problem is the socio-economic condition of the deprived people and nothing is being done so far.

Finally I would like to say that it is not the problem of Nepal Police alone, every aspect of the government, whether military or civilian, even the political parties must be coordinated together to solve the problem.

Narayan C. Thakur

In response too my letter to Army Chief, General Dharam Pal Bar Singh Thapa sent me a letter in which he mentioned  that 'winning the heart and mind' was vital in the fight against insurgency.  

सीमाक्षेत्रमा सुस्ताको सुस्केरा

सुस्ताको सुस्केरा

छाप्रो भए पनि घर, थोरै भए पनि जग्गा आफ्नो हो तर न घर न त जग्गाको नै धनी प्रमाणपत्र छ । उनीहरू नेपाली नागरकि हुन् तर नागरकिता छैन । नेपाली भूमिमा बस्छन् तर भारतीय पक्षको ज्यादतीबाट आक्रान्त छन् । खेत आफ्नो हो तर खेती गर्छन् छिमेकी भारतीयहरू । यो व्यथा सुरु हुन्छ, भारतको विहार राज्यसँग सीमा जोडिएको नवलपरासीको एउटा सानो गाउँ सुस्ताबाट । अभावैअभाव र आफ्नो भूमिमाथि अतिक्रमणको दोहोरो पीडा नै सुस्ताबासीको जीवनशैली बन्न पुगेको छ ।

टाउको दुख्दा सिटामोलसमेत पाउँदैनन् सुस्ताबासी । उपचार र किनमेलका लागि नजिकैको भारतीय बजारमा जाने गरेका सुस्ताबासीलाई सीमा विवाद चर्किएका बेला बजार आउन दिँदैनन्, भारतका सीमा प्रहरीहरू । स्वदेश अर्थात् परासी, बुटवल वा चितवन आएर उपचार गराउन एकदिनमा पनि भ्याइँदैन । जसले गर्दा कैयौँले अकालमै ज्यान गुमाउनुपरेको छ । गतवर्ष स्वास्थ्यमन्त्री सुस्ता पुग्दा तत्काल उपस्वास्थ्यचौकी स्थापना गर्ने आश्वासन दिए तर ती आश्वासनमै सीमित रहे ।

उपचार मात्र होइन, दैनिक उपभोग्य वस्तु किन्न पनि भारतीय बजार पुग्नुपर्छ । नजिकैको नेपाली बजार त्रिवेणी वा परासी पुग्नका लागि नारायणी नदी पार गर्न डुंगा एक मात्र साधन हो । त्यसमाथि पनि भनेको बेला डुंगा नपाइने र घन्टौँ कुर्नुपर्ने बाध्यता छँदैछ । वषर्ायाममा त ज्यानको बाजी नै थापेर डंुगा चढ्नुपर्ने बाध्यता छ सुस्ताबासीलाई । यति मात्र होइन, सुस्ताबासी शिक्षाबाट समेत वञ्चित छन् । न त राम्रो विद्यालय छ, न त शिक्षकको दरबन्दी नै । त्यसमाथि टापुजस्तो सुस्ताका विद्यार्थीका लागि नारायणी नदी पार गरेर विद्यालय धाउनुपर्ने बाध्यता । यही बाध्यताका कारण पनि धेरै विद्यार्थीले बीचमै अध्ययन छाड्ने गरेका छन् ।

सुस्ताबासीलाई अझै पनि टुकी नियतिले छाडेको छैन । हरेक रात अन्धकारझैँ लाग्छ उनीहरूलाई । रात टुकीको भरमा बिताउनुपर्छ तर मट्टीतेलको जोहोचाहिँ कसरी गर्ने, उनीहरूलाई थाहा छैन । उनीहरूका लागि नारायणी नदी अभिशाप बनेको छ । किनभने, उनीहरू मुख्य भूमि आउने सवारी भनेकै डुंगा हो र उनीहरू दैनिक उपभोग्य सामग्री खरदि गर्न त्रिवेणी बजार आउनुपर्छ । वषर्ायाममा त पाँच घन्टा लाग्छ, त्रिवेणी पुग्न । नदी पार गरेपछि पनि त्रिवेणी बजार आउन मात्रै तीन घन्टा पैदल यात्रा गर्नुपर्छ । नारायणी नदीमा पुल नहुँदा भारतीय अतिक्रमणकारीहरूबाट जोगाएको केही खेतमा उब्जिएको उत्पादन उखु, काउली, मूला, गोलभेडा, बन्दा, तोरी, केराजस्ता उत्पादनले बजार पाउन सकेका छैनन् । मिलसम्म उखु निर्यात गर्न नसक्दा चल्तीको भाउको आधारमा बिक्री गर्नु सुस्ताबासीका लागि कुनै नयाँ समस्या होइन । यसैले पनि स्थानीय बासिन्दाले पटक-पटक नारायणी नदीमा झोलुंगे पुल निर्माण गर्न आग्रह गर्दै आइरहेका छन् । यदि उक्त नदीमा पुल निर्माण हुने हो भने सुस्ताबासीलाई आफ्नो देश आउन भारतले विसं १९९२ यता पटक-पटक गरेर सुस्ताको १४ हजार हेक्टर जमिन अतिक्रमण गरसिकेको सीमाविद् बुद्धिनारायण श्रेष्ठको भनाइ छ । नवलपरासीको त्रिवेणी सुस्ता गाउँ विकास समितिमा परे पनि वास्तविक सुस्ता वडा नम्बर ४ मा पर्ने नारायणीपारकिो सुस्ता गाउँको हो, जसको कुल भू-भाग २१ हजार हेक्टर छ । नारायणी नदीपारकिो सुस्ता डुवानपूर्व छुट्टै गाविस थियो । नारायणीको बाढीले सुस्ता डुबाएपछि सुस्ताबासीलाई त्रिवेणीमा स्थानान्तरण गरयिो । केही वर्षपछि तिनै सुस्तावासी पुनः गाउँ फर्के । त्यही सुस्ता गाविस अहिले त्रिवेणी गाविसको एक वडाका रूपमा परण्िात भएको छ ।

०१६ सालमा नेपाल र भारत सरकारबीच भएको गण्डक सम्झौता अनुरूप गण्डक ब्यारेज निर्माणमा लागेका कामदार तथा भारतीय श्रमिकहरू निर्माण पूरा भएपछि सुस्तामा बसोबास गर्नुलाई यस विवादको जड मान्छन् जानकारहरू । सुस्ता समस्या सुल्झाउन पटकपटक नेपाल र भारतबीच छलफल भए पनि कुनै निष्कर्ष निस्कन सकेको छैन । सुस्ताको विवाद सुल्झाउन विसं १९८६ मा संयुक्त सीमा कमिसन बन्यो । यसपछि पनि सन् १९९४, २००४ र २०१० मा पटकपटक सुस्ताको अतिक्रमण विवाद सुल्झाउन बैठक बसे । तर, कुनै सहमति निस्कन सकेन । विसं ०१९ मा केन्द्रीयस्तरबाट समिति गठन गरयिो, छानबिन भयो तर विवाद समाधान गर्न दुवै पक्षलाई मान्य हुने आधार निस्कन सकेन र सुस्ता भूमि झन् विवादित बन्दै गयो । सुस्ता बचाउन स्थानीयबासीले आन्दोलन गर्दै गएपछि ०६४ साउनमा भारतीय अधिकारीहरूले भूमि अतिक्रमण रोक्ने सहमति गरे । तर, त्यो सहमति धेरै दिन टिकेन । ०६४ मंसिर ६ गते पुनः सुस्ताको भूमि अतिक्रमणमा पर्‍यो । सुस्ता बचाउ अभियानकी लैला बेगम भन्छिन्, "हामीहरू मिचिएको जमिन लिन भारतीय नागरकि हुन जाउ“m कि लालपुर्जाको खोस्टो समातेर सुकुमबासी भएर बसौँ ?" सुस्ताको रक्षा गर्ने भनेर सुस्ताबासी कहिले सदरमुकाम परासी त कहिले काठमाडौँ नपुगेका पनि होइनन् ।

सुस्तामा सीमा मिचिँदा काठमाडौँबाट पनि दर्जनौँ अवलोकन टोलीहरू त पुग्छन् तर उनीहरूले सस्तो आश्वासनभन्दा बढ्ता केही दिन नसकेको गुनासो स्थानीयहरूको छ । अब त सुस्ताबासीलाई आफ्नै सरकारमाथि पनि भरोसा टुट्न थालिसक्यो । स्थानीय रोज मियाँ भन्छन्, "अब त हामीले भोग्दै आएको समस्या समाधानका लागि कसैले केही गरदिेला भन्ने झीनो आशा पनि मर्न थालिसक्यो ।"

 केबी राना, कान्तिपुर

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Plight of Susta villagers

Susta ko bedana
Nawalparasi jillako susta ko betha ahile badhera gayeko chha. Ekatir narayani nadi ko badhiko prakop chha ta arko tira bharatiya haruko prakop. Barseni badhile jamin katan gari Nepali haru lai bisthapit gardai chha. Pul ko abhaw ma nepali le afno jamin ko dekhbhal garna na sakda bharatiya haru le susta ko 14000 hectare jamin ma kabja jamayeka chhan. Susta chichyaeko chichyayekai chha…..dherai barsa bhayo. Rajya moun chha. Susta jhain nepalko dherai sthan haruma bhartiya haruko atikraman badhera gayeko chha. Afno desko sima ra astitwo ko rakchhya garna baseko police ko office ra barrack ko awastha herda jhan birakta lagchha. rastriyeta ko mamla ma hami kati sanbedanshil chhaun bhanne kura yinle spasta parchhan.
Hami nepali haru apasma jat, jati, dharma, sanskriti, chhetra, adi jhina masina kura ma aljhiraheka chhaun. Uta Nepal lai nildai chha ajingarle.
Lau na kehi garaun…hami sabai milera….rastara ra rastriyaeta jogaun.

नेपाल भारत खुला सिमाना: सकारात्मक तथा नकारात्मक पक्ष हरु बिषयक गोष्ठि (२०५८ श्रावण १०) मा मेरा केही टिप्पणी हरु :

FES को सहयोगमा आयोजित गोष्ठिमा भाग लिने मौका पाएँ । महत्वपर्ण बिषयमा गोष्ठी आयोजना गरेकोमा आयोजक हरु लाइ धन्यवाद दिन चाहन्छु  । हामी नेपाली हरु कति राष्टवादि रहेछौं त भन्ने कुराको उदाहरण यहि गोष्ठिको आयोजना पनि बिना बिदेशी सहयोग हामी आफैले गर्न सकेनौ । के परराष्ट मन्त्रालय संग यति पनि बजेट रहेनछ ?

कार्य पत्र प्रस्तोता लाइ धेरै मिहिनेत गरी तयार गरेको कार्यपत्रका लागी धन्यवाद । उहाँ बाट आगामी दिन हरुमा केही गृह कार्य गर्नु पर्ने अनुभव  गरेको छु ।

सिमावर्ति अपराध हरु मध्य हाल देखा परेको माओवादि बिद्रोह को ब्यापकता देश भित्र र बाहिर कति छ ? र बाहिर बाट कति प्रायोजित छ भन्ने कुराको लेखा जोखा गर्न जरुरी छ । माओवादि बिद्रोह को बारेमा हामी सबैको कन्सेप्चुयल क्लारिटि हुनु, अप्शन हरुको लेखाजोखा हुनु, स्टाटेजिको छनौट गर्नु, नितिको निर्माण गर्नु, र तयारी गर्नु जस्ता महत्वपर्ण पक्षहरुमा हाम्रो ध्यान केन्द्रित हुन जरुरी छ ।

नेपाल भारत सिमाना बाट आउने ब्यक्ति हरुको निग्रानि र नियण्त्रण प्रणाली, एन्क्रोचमेन्टको लेखाजोखा तथा सीमा स्तम्भ हरुको बारेमा अपटुडेट रिकर्ड राखिनु आवश्यक छ । यसकालागी प्रहरी, भन्सार गस्ति प्रहरी र कतिपय स्थानहरुमा बन रक्षक गस्ति टोली लाइ राम्रो ओरियन्टेशन दिने (उनि हरुलाइ म्यानडेट दिने) र स्थानिय नागरिक हरुलाइ समेत यस तर्फ सचेत र संवेदनशील बनाउनु पर्ने देखिन्छ । यस क्षेत्रमा अहिले पार्टिसिपेटिभ एडमिनिस्टेशनको कमि देखिएको छ ।

एउटै भेष भुषा, भाषा, संस्कृतिकै कारण दुइवटा सार्वभौमसत्ता सम्पन्न राज्यका बिचमा अन्तर्राष्टिय सिमा खुला राखिनु पर्छ भन्ने कुरा गलत हो । सौहार्दपुर्ण सम्बन्ध राख्नु हाम्रो वैदेशिक निति हो तर यसको अर्थ खुला सिमाना राख्नु पर्छ भन्ने होइन । सौहार्दपुर्ण सम्बन्ध सिमाको प्रभावकारी ब्यवस्थापन बाट मात्र हुन सक्दछ भन्ने कुरा हामीले बिर्सन मिलदैन । त्यसर्थ दुइ देश बिच रहेको सीमा लाइ ब्यवस्थित गर्नु पर्ने देखिन्छ । सीमा ब्यवस्थापनको सवाल राष्टिय सुरक्षाको सवाल हो । यस्मा मतभेद हुनु हुदैन । यो पार्टीगत र ब्यक्तिगत स्वार्थ भन्दा माथि हुनु पर्छ । गोप्य सन्धि संझौता हुनु हुदैन ।

नेपाल भारत सिमामा हुने चोरी पैठारी रोक्नका लागी the custom mechanism should be based on sound economic policies rather than on army and police. भन्सार गस्ति प्रहरी तथा राजस्व प्रशासनिक संयन्त्र हरुलाइ प्रभावकारी बनाउन जरुरी छ । Other wise we will be only shifting responsibilities of failure from one agency to another. The attitude of fast-fix strategy would not work. We need to have a long term vision. Change without any investment and commitment is not possible. No one can bring a good result overnight. 

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Bank and Financial Institution Safety

Bank and Financial Institution Safety

Security threats to the banks and financial institutions have sharply increased over the last few years (Information leakage, security lapses to blame for bank heists, 13 Dec). But investing for enhancing security is often overlooked and even considered "necessary evil" in our country. This is troubling.

Security is an evolving process and it must be carefully planned from the very beginning. Security functions are integral to business systems. Thus, each responsible organization needs to have formally written policies and guidelines that include administrative, technical, and physical securities. Planning for security in advance of deployment will provide a more complete and cost effective solution. Advance security planning will ensure that security services are supportable and available when necessary.

A functioning security system is vital for banks and financial institutions. Banks have to transfer a large amount of cash to service centres in the morning and collect the deposits in the evening. They may sometimes have to compromise with security principles in practice, rendering the cash-in-transit even more vulnerable to looting and robbery. The repetitive modus operandi that staffs and guards follow creates fertile grounds for criminals. Criminals can often easily take the situation under their control.

There is no reliable security system in place even for transportation of cash from various customs offices of the country. Often vehicles ferrying cash are escorted by two unarmed guards—sometimes only one armed guard. Such vehicles are small but they have to accommodate large boxes, staffs, and guards. This increases the security risk even more. In case of highway robbery, the guards wont be able to open fire from their weapons because they are squeezed inside the tiny vehicle. Thus, even having guards may not be enough to contain the situation sometimes.

It's extremely necessary to improve the security system at banks and financial institutions. I suggest the following measures: First, banks need to inform the police and get police escort before they ferry cash from one place to another. Second, they need to increase the number of trained armed guards for escorting, and finally, they need to design a safe vault inside the vehicle itself to carry cash. If not, they need to procure armored vehicles for the purpose.

Govind P. Thapa, retired Additional Inspector General of Police, Lalitpur

Opinion published in Republica, Dec 15, 2013

Trafficking in Person Conclave 3

Meet raises concern over human traffickingSTAFF REPORTER
 GUWAHATI, Dec 6 – The need to overhaul the prosecution system and strengthen the anti-human trafficking units (AHTU) to tackle with the growing menace of illegal trade of human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation, bonded labour, slavery, etc., was highlighted by the stakeholders at the third edition of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Conclave held here on Friday.
The event hosted by the US Consulate, Kolkata in association with the Impulse NGO Network saw participants voicing concern over the unsatisfactory political commitment to deal with the crime.
Advocate and anti-human trafficking expert Bhuwan Ribhu, while regretting the lack of government support towards rehabilitation of the victims, said the victims from the marginalized section of the society hardly get any assistance from the government. He called for changes in the legal system to ensure the protection of the victims and witnesses, and fast track trial of the cases.
Addressing the meet, Mukesh Sahay, ADGP, CID said that apart from strengthening the AHTU, it is also important to synergize partnership with all the stakeholders. Mentioning that the law enforcing agency alone cannot deal with the issue, Sahay said that all stakeholders must come together to prevent and suppress human trafficking, while helping the authorities to punish the culprits.
Sahay said though the Assam Police has 14 anti-human trafficking units to deal with the menace, shortage of manpower has affected their efficient functioning.
It needs to be mentioned here that of late, Assam has witnessed a spate in human trafficking with women and children from natural calamities and conflict affected districts being lured with the promise of job to places such as Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The districts that have become vulnerable to human trafficking include Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Baksa, Nagaon and areas on the Bangladesh border.
It was pointed out by Mirandi Ingtipi, ASP, CID, Assam that most of the victims of Assam had been lured by the fake placement agencies.
The meet was attended by representatives of civil society organizations, government officials and media from the five participating countries – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. GP Thapa, Additional Inspector General of Police (retd), Nepal called for a professional approach to tackle human trafficking.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who was also present at the meet, called for sustained and continued efforts to create awareness on the issue and prevent the same. He expressed concern over the increasing crimes against women and children, and said that his government was taking steps to stop such crimes. He also stressed the need for dealing with the issue through economic empowerment of the marginalized section.
Assam Tribune, Dec 6, 2013