India and the US have agreed to support Nepal against the European Union and Switzerland’s decision to castigate Kathmandu’s record of human rights against Maoist rebels in that country, especially when it introduces a resolution on this issue during the ongoing Commission for Human Rights in Geneva.Nepalese Foreign Minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa met External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha when he passed through New Delhi some ten days ago en route to Geneva and Brussels, and was assured of India’s support in this regard.The EU and Switzerland are said to be overly keen on asking the Human Rights Commission to open an office in Kathmandu and ‘‘monitor’’ violations conducted by the Nepalese army and security forces in their crackdown against Maoist rebels in Nepal.Interestingly, the US has come out in support of the Indian and Nepalese positions, which argues that it is the Maoists who are ‘‘violating the human rights of innocent people’’ and not the other way round.The Swiss, who are likely to introduce the anti-Nepalese resolution under Agenda 19 at the CHR, which deals with ‘‘technical cooperation in the field of human rights,’’ have indicated that they will henceforth monitor aid flows to Nepal.According to a statement issued by the Swiss embassy in New Delhi, which also oversees Nepal, ‘‘The main objective of this initiative is to improve the internal supervision of the Human Rights situation. (with) the aim of establishing a constructive dialogue between the Nepalese authorities and the international community in order to put an end to the grave violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in that country.’’ Sources here pointed out that the EU and Switzerland’s intention to open an office under the veil of human rights ‘‘violates the sovereignty of independent nations like Nepal’’ and would have unprecedented consequences in the battle against terrorism. Sources from Kathmandu, who admitted the seriousness of the situation, also seemed nervous that the western nations in question would either reduce aid on heavily aid-dependent Nepal or tie it down much more tightly than what exists so far. Nepal’s Bhekh Thapa, who has been in Geneva for the last ten days and is currently in Brussels, has been meeting his counterparts and European parliamentarians to try and explain the complex nature of the problem. New Delhi, which has for years battled international allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir, is grateful for US support on the Nepalese issue. Interestingly, India and the US — despite Washington’s recent attachment to Pakistan — look at the Maoist problem in Nepal as much more of a‘‘terrorism’’ issue than a ‘‘human rights’’ one as do the Europeans. The Nepal component of the Indo-US regional dialogue, between US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca and the Indian Foreign Secretary, has grown over the last couple of years as the Maoist problem has mounted. Both India and the US have sent weapons and ammunition, including helicopters and night-vision devices, to assist the badly hamstrung Nepalese army in its operations. India is already believed to have sent Rs 200 crores worth of arms, even as it regularly hands over Maoist rebels who cross over into India.The EU, on the other hand, has largely looked at the Maoist issue as a human rights one. Traditionally strong on human rights, the EU’s ideological position is to accuse only the ‘‘state’’ of such violations. ‘‘Terrorists’’ and ‘‘militants’’, even when they kill, cannot approximate the power of the state, the Europeans believe.
