The Vulnerable Sovereign
Nepal as a country came into existence as a result of series of treaties. Both China and India have recognised Nepal’s independence and sovereignty through treaties and no residual claim can be made to the territory based on historical connections. Howeve
- PDF / 124,963 Bytes
- 11 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 11 Downloads / 224 Views
The Vulnerable Sovereign
“Geography is the most fundamental factor in the foreign policy of states because it is the most permanent. Minister come and go, even dictators die, but mountain ranges stand unperturbed” (Spykman, 1944, p. 41). Modern Nepal has been the product of the synthesis of often contradictory cultures that flowed from across the borders. The interesting dimension here is how this cultural flow has shaped the idea of Nepali identity as well as, the political trajectory of Nepal over a period of time. As globalisation and modern idea of identity flourished, the idea of Nepal has also been subject to redefinition. The politics of survival for Nepal has been a struggle against the two largest economies striving for power. The porous Himalayan and Tarai borders have led to migration of people from both ends which largely formed the cultural diversity that Nepal hosts today. The fear of absorption has also seeped in along with the migration of people. The greatest fear for Nepal has always been protection of its unique identity against that of both its gigantic neighbours both in terms of territory and culture. Madhes as a region and its culture has always been perceived as a threat to this identity because of its closer affinity with the Indian culture and tradition. Moreover, majority of the population is Indo-Aryan, sharing marital ties across the border in India including the ruling class. Therefore, there is greater fear with the northern border as opposed to the south given the closer cultural affinity. As Appadurai (1990) explains, for smaller polities there is always a fear of cultural absorption by polities of larger scale, especially by those nearby like in the cases of, Japanisation for Koreans and Indianisation for Sri Lankans. In reference to this, Indianisation has been a greater threat to the Nepalis as it is known that Nepal shares an open-border with India and is almost totally dependent on it for trade and economy. The cultural and religious exchange is also much profound, to the extent that boundaries between the nations become invisible at times. The language spoken and the ancient religious ties across the border, especially in the plains of Nepal and North India blurs the boundaries. This has been the major reason for
© The Author(s) 2017 K. Jha, The Madhesi Upsurge and the Contested Idea of Nepal, SpringerBriefs in Anthropology, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2926-4_5
65
66
5 The Vulnerable Sovereign
aversion towards India rather than a facilitator for stronger political relation. Moreover, this ambiguous attitude is the result of vulnerability beyond the countries’ own control. Before the treaties were signed with China and India the boundaries were not concrete and were drawn through cultural exchange and marital relation or at the might of sword. The consolidation of national borders in the post-colonial era has invented new forms of identity (Pfaff-Czarnecka, Rajasingham, Gomez, 1999). Nepal was no exception. The Nepali identity evolved as the mechanism of discernment from the dom
Data Loading...
