Posted on 04/22/2006 11:26:16 AM PDT by minus_273
A little update for freepers tracking events in Nepal. It now appears that the state might collapse. Two things are currently happening. First, my contacts in Kathmandu valley report that the political parties and Maoist alliance are pushing for a republic and second, waves of (yes, uniformed) Maoist fighters have now entered the capital from the outlying hills and are now controlling parts of the valley outside the city's beltway. Fighting is confirmed in the following areas of the city Thapathali, Maitighar and Bhotaity.
From a strictly historical perspective, this looks very very bad. We've seen all of this before. It appears that the seven political party alliance which goes by SPA has been manipulated as predicted. In all likelihood, there will be much more combat in the city soon. If the Royal Army loses, the result will not be the democratic republic the SPA wanted but a communist one.
The King is close to China and the SPA/Maoist alliance operates out of India. .
My connections in the Indian military (yes, I have a few) say there are plans for an invasion. This would be in the event of a Maoist takeover. Indians have their own problems with Maoists and whatever their reasons for supporting the SPA/Maoist alliance, the outcome will be pretty bad for them. Nepal is close to some parts of India with Maoist violence (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand. Maharashtra and Bihar). A Maoist victory in Nepal will not only embolden those India but create a training an staging area in Nepal.
The Indians have changed sides. Previous governments of the nationalist BJP supported crushing the Maoists however, the socialist Congress party which now runs the country moved the other way. It was probably a gamble intended to put pressure on a hostile king and seems to have gone horribly wrong.
I expect an invasion and unfortunately, that seems the best possible outcome.
Indians are not a race. The Mongoloid race is not alien to India.
Losar is also celebrated in Ladak, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and in Himachal Pradesh in India.
BTW there are 4 million Tibetans all over India not just in Darjeeling, Siliguri and Dharmashala but also in all the major metro cities. Plus we have Buddhist of Tibetan descent in Ladak, Sikkim, HP, Uttranchal, and Arunachal Pradesh (Remember Tawang monastry?).
for what is is worth nor are chinese a race. Han chinese is a very diverse group who look very different lumped into one category.
There is a perception of what chinese is and there is a perception of what an indian is and the two are not the same.
Look if you want to believe that the architectural styles resembles China more than India, its totally up to you, but the fact is we have much more temples (with exactly the same architectural style) on the Indian side as compared to Nepal.
You can find similar architectural features in temples all over India, and on awider area, in Thailand, Cambodia and much of the rest of SE Asia.
For what it's worth, China isn't exactly anywhere near as diverse as India or the United States, or even Europe, for that matter.
"For what it's worth, China isn't exactly anywhere near as diverse as India or the United States, or even Europe, for that matter."
agreed. i think our discussion of temple styles in india easily establishes that.
But the contact from India has been far greater than the contact from Tibet.
Buddhist Temples at Bodhgaya
Tawang monastry Arunachal Pradesh
The pagoda architecture went from Nepal to Tibet and finally to China. Remember Arniko.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arniko
"Nepal is traditionally in the chinese sphere of influence. "
Nepal is NOT in the chinese sphere of influence. Chinese influence on India is ZERO. Nil. Nada. There is Tibetan influence. And Tibetan culture is influenced by Nepali culture, which is derived from Indian culture whether we like India or not.
Thiksey monastery, Ladakh
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Norbulingka Monastery Dharmashala
Hemis monastry, Ladakh
Buddhist monastry south india.
Phyang Monastry (Ladak) India
Thiksey Monastry, India
yeah i linked to an article about him earlier.
especially in Kathmandu valley where the local population (newari) is directly descendent from tibetans
That Tibetan writing looks a lot like that from India too.
Oh, and antoher note to all; the BBC have been reporting on this, lead story on their website about every day lately.
Newaris are not directly descendents of Tibetans. People like Sherpas and Bhotiyas are. Newars have far more complex history, since they have lived in Kathmandu(a crossroad) for thousands of years.
I was there for a while in 92' and they were having problems then. This is a Chinese takeover for sure. The commies are threatening Bhutan too.
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