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Nepalese Maoists stake claim to disputed Kalapani and Lipulek
Security forces in Uttarakhand are keeping a close watch along the Indo-Nepal border after a students’ wing of a Nepali Maoist party laid claims to a disputed territory on the far-western part of the state.
Security forces in Uttarakhand are keeping a close watch along the Indo-Nepal border after a students’ wing of a Nepali Maoist party laid claims to a disputed territory on the far-western part of the state, police said on Wednesday.
Border police and intelligence agencies are keeping a close watch on the activities the Akhil Nepal Krantikari Sangthan (ANKS) — the students’ wing of a Nepali Maoist party— after the students held a demonstration on the Nepal side of the border on Tuesday, said Pithoragarh district police chief Roshan Sharma.
“The Sashastra Seema Bal guards the Indo-Nepal are on alert and… we are extending our support and inputs,” Sharma told Hindustan Times by phone.
According to reports, more than 1500 students associated with Akhil Nepal Krantikari Sangthan gathered from the different cities of the Himalayan nation and held a demonstration at Darchula town which borders Uttarakhand’s Dharchula claiming that Nepal had territorial sovereignty over the disputed stretch.
India has wrongly occupied the territories tri-country border at Kalapani — where India, Nepal and China borders meet — and Lipulekh pass, vernacular dailies quoted the student’s body president Ratan Dattal as saying.
Kalapani is a strategic military position has been held by Indian border forces since the 1962 war with China. The Mahakali River defines the border in Kalapani, but India and Nepal each claim the river originates in different places, thus the conflict.
India should return the area to Nepal without any further delay, Dattal was quoted as saying.
Sharma said four student wearing ‘red caps’ were detained by security forces at Jhulapul on the Indian side for questioning.
“The students were interrogated by the security agencies and later released as nothing objectionable was found on the,” he said.
The main bone of contention between the two countries is a 35 sqkm disputed territory at Kalapani, which is presently under India’s control, SS Pangti, an expert on India-Nepal border affairs said.
The Kalapani stretch is considered important from strategic military point of view for India, he said.
“The Segauli Treaty of 1816 between the British and Nepal noted that the Kali River would mark the western border between India and Nepal.
“The Mansarovar yatra passes through Kalapani which is on river’s bank at east. Nepal for long has been staking a claim over it.”
