Nepal: PM Modi Misses Attending Wedding of Divine Couple

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi missed attending the annul wedding ceremony of the divine couple: Ram and Sita in Janakpur, Nepal before going to attend the Eighteenth SAARC Summit in Kathmandu on November 26 and 27, 2014. Some people had politicized the purely religious itinerary of PM Modi visiting Janaki Mandir in Janakpur, and other two religious sites in Nepal. Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has clearly publicly demonstrated his inability to mange even the visit of foreign dignitary allowing his deputy Bamdev Gautam to go against the public meetings PM Modi wanted to address in Janakpur, and not bringing the opposition party on board the management of the visit of so important neighboring dignitary. I really wonder how PM Koirala would explain to PM Modi the failure in making proper arrangement for the visit of PM Modi to Janakpur when they would meet in Kathmandu during the SAARC Summit.

For the devout Hindu like PM Narendra Modi missing the annual divine wedding of Ram and Sita was unthinkable. However, according to the media report, cancellation of the highly hyped and controversial visit of PM Modi to Janakpur at the time of the annual wedding ceremony of the divine couple came from the spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. The political leaders squabbling over holding the mass meeting for PM Modi to address must have upset PM Modi. So, PM Modi must have thought it was better to scrape the original plan on visiting religious sites in Nepal than letting the political cadres fight for the venue for his public address. PM Modi must have thought how weak the Nepalese prime minister must have been even the purely religious visit could not happen.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Nepalese and Indian Hindus congregate at Janakpur to watch the wedding ceremony. The band of musicians leads the bridal procession from Ayodhaya in India to Janakpur in Nepal. Thousands of people follow the wedding procession. It is an annual epic wedding. Ram and Sita are the main characters in the Hindu epic called Ramayan. Ram earned the hands of Sita breaking up the Hindu epic bow called Shiva dhanu. Ram was the crown prince of Ayodhaya, and Sita was the princess of Janakpur kingdom. Every devout Hindu wishes to attend such a wedding ceremony at least once in a lifetime.

Why PM Modi unexpectedly called off such an important visit to Janaki Mandir in Janakpur. After witnessing the divine wedding ceremony, PM Modi wanted to address the public rally in Janakpur. A leader of Modi’s stature really wants to address a large mass. PM Modi addressed a large mass at Time Square in New York in the last week of September 2014 after attending the 69th UN General Assembly meeting. In Nepal, a large number of Nepalese also wanted to listen to him but Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and his minister Bimalendra Nidhi wanted him to speak to a smaller number of people on the Janaki temple campus. The campus could accommodate not more than 400 people at a maximum at a time. Obviously, the reason the government of PM Koirala gave for holding the public mass meeting on the campus for PM Modi was the security.

The opposition political parties including the UCPN-Maoist and the Mdheshi parties have demanded to include them on the preparatory committee on managing the PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur. They also have demanded to hold the mass meeting for PM Modi at the Barhabigha Maidan that could hold a large number of people than the temple campus that could hold only a few hundred people. The opposition wanted to have a fair share in arranging the visit of PM Modi to Janakpur. For the reasons known to the Koirala administration only, the Koirala-appointed chief of the preparatory committee also minister Bimalendra Nidhi ignored the opposition’s concern. So, the opposition political leaders have been critical of the Koirala administration for not listening to them. They went to the regional counselor’s office of the Indian embassy in Birgunj to complain about it.

A challenge to PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur has come from within the Koirala administration, too. Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam had publicly said that PM Modi would not address a rally in Janakpur. His voice went unheeded. PM Koirala and his minister Nidhi went on preparing for the visit of PM Modi. Apparently, the opposition to the PM Modi’s public appearance was so strong in the administration, too. Later on, DPM Gautam corrected his statement but it was too late to save the visit of PM Modi to Janaki Mandir in Janakpur.

A small group of so-called Nepalese intellectuals also has opposed the PM Modi’s public address in Janakpur. Those intellectuals even went so far to say that the PM Modi’s public speech in Janakpur would blatantly undermine the sovereignty of Nepal. These guys went on the social media to oppose the PM Modi’s public speech in Janakpur. It was really pity that some so-called intellectuals had so poor knowledge of sovereignty.

PM Modi’s plan was to drive to Janakpur following the route of the divine bridal wedding procession, watch the wedding ceremony on the temple campus in Janakpur, pay homage to the demigods Ram and Sita, and then speak to the people, and then fly to Kathmandu to attend the SAARC summit. Could the Nepalese intellectual understand that such a simple plan of PM Modi would infringe on the Nepalese sovereignty? It was unfortunate that some people had the habit of opposing anything Indian.

Security management for the dignitary of PM Modi’s stature was certainly challenging but it could be managed. Prime Minister Koirala appointed Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bimalendra Nidhi as the main person of the preparatory committee on managing the PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur. However, Minister Nidhi was so adamant that he did not want the opposition’s help in making arrangement for the PM Modi’s visit. So, he did not bring on board the members of the opposition political parties. The presence of opposition-party members on his preparatory committee would never undermine his status of the main person in managing the PM Modi’s visit. Naturally, the opposition parties protested it. They believed that the governing political parties made a monopoly on the management of PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur. Minister Nidhi might be a wonderful minister with very poor public relations.

Another mistake Nidhi made was to decide holding a public reception on the temple campus. It has a very limited capacity of holding a public rally. It was easier to manage the security in such a small campus than on the open field. There is no doubt about that. However, Minister Nidhi could not think that PM Modi would rather risk having a larger mass meeting on the open field than on a cramped small temple campus. PM Modi must have thought to speak to the virtually handpicked few hundred people was worthless; so, it was better not to do so. Probably, limiting to such a small number of people to speak to must be even insulting to PM Modi.

Minister Nidhi was sad to learn the abandonment of the plan of PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur. Certainly, it was insulting to him, too. He did not realize the insult he had inflicted on PM Modi limiting his public speech to a few hundred people only. Now, he felt it hard when it came to the cancellation. It was a total disaster to Minister Nidhi. Any other person in his position would have immediately quit the office for not being able to manage the visit of PM Modi. Minister Nidhi must have thought that he was doing a wonderful job in Janakpur even ignoring the offer of the opposition parties to help him. The consequences of his wonderful work had been disaster not only to him but also to his boss PM Koirala.

Without thinking a bit, Prime Minister Koirala needed to fire Minister Nidhi for his failure to manage the opposition for making preparation for the visit of PM Modi to Janakpur. Failure to make the PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur brought shame on the Koirala administration. It was not only the failure of the concerned minister for the management but also of the entire administration. The Koirala administration became a laughingstock for not being able to manage even the visit of the most important neighboring dignitary. Ultimately, it was shame on the nation, too.

The Indian government had provided Nepal with a large number of bulletproof vehicles for transporting the VIPs during the SAARC summit [1]. Surely, Indian security would provide necessary security to PM Modi. However, Nepalese Minister Nidhi even could not manage the opposition protest against not including them on the preparatory committee and against holding a rally on the temple campus. Anybody could guess how such a Minister could handle other state businesses when he could not manage even such an apparently small task of welcoming PM Modi.

The Indian embassy in Kathmandu must have felt that the Koirala administration appointing Minister Nidhi to receive PM Modi in Janakpur, and proposing to hold the public meeting on the temple campus were devaluing the status of PM Modi. Following the standard protocol, Prime Minister Koirala needed to be in Janakpur to welcome PM Modi and accompany him to the public rally on the open field rather than on a small temple campus. However, Prime Minister Koirala overlooked even such a trivial but vital matter and proved himself ‘a good for nothing prime minister’.

Ignoring all thee facts, Minister Nidhi was very smart to promptly and publicly blame the UCPN-Maoist and the Madheshi political parties for calling off the PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur. "The Unified CPN-Maoist and some Madheshi parties were not only staging rallies to oppose the preparations made by the organizing committee, but they have also threatened to form a parallel preparation committee in connection with Modi's visit to Janakpur," Nidhi confirmed saying, according to theZeenews.india.com news of November 20, 2014.

According to the news on Nepalnews.com on November 20, 2014, Nidhi says, “I decry the irresponsible act, of UCPN (M) and Madheshi parties, of submitting a memorandum to the office of the Consulate-General of India in Birgunj; and their act of staging protests at the District Administration Office.” In the statement released on Thursday, November 20, 2014, Minister Nidhi had been very critical of the UCPN-Maoist and the Madheshi parties for demanding the venue for the Modi’s public address to be Barhabigha not the Janaki Temple.

According to the news posted on Ekantipur.com on November 20, 2014, UCPN-Maoist seriously objected to the government blaming it for the cancellation of PM Modi’s scheduled visit to Janakpur. UCPN-Maoist leader Ramchandra Jha said that the government’s claim was a total lie. “Accusing us for the cancellation of Modi ji’s scheduled visit has come with an ill-intention and a total lie,” said leader Jha, talking to eKantipur, “We condemn such false accusations.”

Minister Nidhi needed to apologize to the Indian diplomatic mission in Kathmandu for not being able to manage the opposition parties for a well-coordinated management of the PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur. He needed to plead the Indian mission for keeping the visit of PM Modi intact promising to bring on board the opposition and make the PM Modi’s visit as smooth as possible.

Surely, PM Modi as a devout Hindu must get upset very much for missing such an annual divine wedding ceremony. The denial of PM Modi visiting Janakpur and attending the divine wedding ceremony was unbelievably unfortunate to the devout Hindu. This regrettable situation overshadowed the reputation of the Koirala administration in the international arena. PM Koirala needed to dissolve the administration immediately after the SAARC summit and put a new administration in place for better management of the country.

Locals have waited eagerly for the visit of high-profile dignitary such as PM Modi to Janakpur. They were anxious to listen to PM Modi. The sudden cancellation of the PM Modi’s visit was a great disappointment to the locals. They protested against the cancellation. That was exactly what they could do, nothing more. The impotent Koirala administration has caused such frustration to the local people not to mention the great embarrassment to itself. The chance of local people watching and listening to PM Modi has been wasted because of the inept PM Koirala and his minister Nidhi. Probably, local people would never forgive Koirala and his minister for such a stupendous failure.

Probably, PM Modi’s planned visit to Muktinath and Lumbini was not changed, yet. Muktinath is one of the holiest places for Hindus. It is behind the Annapurna Himalayan range. It is at 14,000 ft from the sea level. Previously, devotees needed to walk from Pokhara for eight days for a round trip to Muktinath. Currently, people could fly to Jomsom and from there they take a pony ride to Muktinath. PM Modi would have a helicopter ride. Muktinath is Lord Vishnu not Lord Shiva as the name sounds and some people erroneously think Muktinath is Lord Shiva. Lumbini is the birthplace of Lord Buddha. PM Modi wants to visit Lumbini, too.

The incompetent Koirala administration planned to spend two billion rupees on renovating and refurbishing State buildings, according to the Nepalese media. The administration has even provided some people living nearby the official residence of prime minister at Baluwater in Kathmandu with paints to clean up and paint the private houses. Following the Nepalese administrative standard of doing business, half of the money goes to the pockets of the concerned minister including the prime minister and other concerned officials. Such occasions were more than good opportunities for making money for the State elected-and-appointed officials. Even though they were incompetent for managing the PM Modi’s visit to Janakpur they were very smart to make money.

[1] Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was bringing his own bulletproof car.

Annex

The following news clippings contradicting each other appeared on the Nepalese news websites:

1. Nepalnews.com has the following news on November 21, 2014:

On Thursday, November 20, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bimalendra Nidhi through a statement had said that Modi’s Janakpur trip had been called off.

Speaking at a press-meet held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, November 21, 2014, Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Pandey said that he has not received any information on the visit being called off. Minister Pandey said neither he nor the government has any official information on the press statement released by Minister Nidhi on Thursday on this issue.

Meanwhile, on Friday morning, secretary to Ministry of Home Affairs Surya Silwal, at a press meet in Janakpur, also said that the Ministry had not received any information on the cancellation of Modi’s Janakpur trip.

2. Thehimalayantimes.com has the following news on November 21, 2014:

The Nepali government today requested India not to call off Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit to Janakpur and other holy places outside the Kathmandu Valley.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bamdev Gautam made the request during his meeting with Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae. Gautam also assured Rae that the government was even ready to arrange civic felicitation of Modi at Barhabigha instead of Janaki temple premises as planned previously, if Modi wishes so.

Ambassador Rae assured the Nepali side that they would confirm whether PM Modi would visit Janakpur and other places or not by Saturday, foreign ministry officials said.

“The government today requested Indian PM not to cancel his programmes in Janakpur,” Minister Nidhi, who was assigned to arrange Modi’s civil felicitation in Janakpur, told THT. “We are awaiting a positive response from the Indian side.”

ENDS

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