The Resident Idiot is back. His conspicuous, but revealing silence when the neighbourhood tyrant visited us recently is all the more obvious when he brands King Gyanendra a despot. But such self-righteousness is not new to this propaganda-peddler. Nor is his blatant lying new.

First, there is the hyped-up fear in New Delhi that Nepali Maoists would infiltrate into India, aggravating the Naxalite problem.

The fear is real, not hyped-up. For a man of Bidwai’s erudition, I find it hard to believe that he hasn’t seen this excellent resource that on an almost daily basis monitors terrorist activities in South Asia. That includes Bidwai’s Maoist pals.

Precisely for this reason, Bidwai comes to their rescue. For in the world of armed revolutionaries, there are no boundaries; all are comrades.

Fears about the ‘Maoist factor’ are, to put it mildly, exaggerated. The Naxalite movement is indigenous. Less than a fifth of the 175 districts affected by it are anywhere near Nepal. Indian arms are likely to be used by the RNA to grossly repressive ends. Between February 17 and 23, the RNA conducted a massacre in Kapilavastu district and then flogged the dead bodies in front of television cameras in the presence of Nepali ministers.

But Arun Shourie had clearly demonstrated back in December 2004 that there’s a slow but steady encirclement of India by Maoists/revolutionaries/whatchamacallit. What does Bidwai say about that? Exaggeration, obviously. He’s providing the intellectual defense for his more nasty comrades so they can work their way behind the scenes. When I verified the Resident Idiot’s claims of exaggeration, I found

As for Left-wing extremism, one of the foremost experts in India on terrorism, Ajai Sahani, reminds me that according to official figures in October 2003, 55 districts in nine states were affected by Naxalite activity. The same figures reveal that by November 2004, 156 districts spread across 13 states are affected. That is, every week Naxalite operations have come to cover two more districts.

This is happening in India. On Nepal, I dug this up (note that I only referred back to the Arun Shourie article I have cited above):

Nepal provides a warning in more ways than one. First the pace at which such insurrections spread. The Dang assault took place in December 2001 - just three years ago. At that time, only four districts in Western Nepal were affected. Today, each of the 75 districts right across the country is in the grip of Maoist violence.

Source: Listening to Sufi music as thousands are murdered, Indian Express

And the SATP clearly calls the Communist Party of Nepal–Maoist as a terrorist group. And has an impressive write up backed with an assessment (for the year 2003) where it says

The Emergency, imposed in November 2001 after the first attacks by the Maoists on the Army following the breakdown of peace talks, had to be renewed every three months by the Parliament… After the Emergency ended, the Maoists stepped up their activities and began to concentrate on Kathmandu. The capital appeared increasingly vulnerable, with frequent bombing incidents, as well as a large number of attempts that were foiled by the security forces.

The Government concluded that the Maoists had been emboldened by the lifting of the Emergency and began dropping hints that the Emergency could be clamped again. The Opposition parties, however, disagreed with the Government’s assessment, although they remained committed to elections in November 2002. Things, however, changed dramatically in the first week of September 2002. The Maoists blew up a police post in East Nepal on September 8, and overran a district headquarters in western Nepal the very next day…. The attacks sent a clear message to the Government that the strength of the Maoists was not to be underestimated.

And much to the Resident Idiot’s frustration, Gyanendra put an end to their bloody run.

The same website also documents 43 major–not all–terror attacks between 1999 and 2004. To the Resident Liar, these are exaggerated reports, of course. So he uses twisted logic.

The Naxalite movement is indigenous. Less than a fifth of the 175 districts affected by it are anywhere near Nepal.

Now this kind of reasoning may go unnoticed at first. Look how beautifully Bidwai puts frames his case. Two things: the numbers first. 1/5 of 175 equals 35. Less than 35 Indian districts are near Nepal. Second, does this prevent them from contacting their Indian comrades? Does this prevent them from supplying arms to their Indian counterparts? I need to turn to Arun Shourie’s article again.

At the meeting of a committee of Parliament, I asked one of the senior-most officials who was testifying, ”Have we received evidence that the Maoists are getting arms and other aid from China?” ”Some arms may have come in from China through smuggling,” he replied, ”but there is no evidence that China is helping the Maoists.” The implication? The arms and ammunition that they are wielding have come from, at the least they have reached them through India, and from and through Indian groups. What does that say about the reach, the resources, the sway of these groups in India itself?

Note the bolded words. Compare them with Bidwai’s stupendous claims of geographic proximity. If that is not enough, Shourie has more

A vast swathe of a corridor has already been carved out - from Nepal to Andhra.

UP is next in line - the Naxalites having just left their calling card in Chandauli through a brutal massacre.

Over vast stretches, these terrorists and insurgent groups are the government. They collect taxes. They decree ”justice”. They dictate who shall get what contract; in this way, ”development outlays” - which Governments in Delhi project as proof of what they are doing for a region - have in fact become the principal source of funds for insurgencies.

The recoveries that are made from the terrorist groups would shock anyone: lakhs at a time, the most modern weapons. As are the discoveries: in Jharkhand, officials tell me, ”bunkers” consisting of two to three storey high concrete structures have been found dug into hillsides.

Yet, these are dismissed as exaggeration, as hyperbole. But now it is time to move on to the Resident Liar’s next pack of lies. About Pakistan’s influence in Nepal. Saith the Liar:

Pakistan is playing a small game, and has no major influence in Kathmandu.

Arun Shourie’s article to the rescue again.

The Task Force proceeded to provide specific figures of madrasas and mosques that had suddenly sprung up along our borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. It reported, [...] Turning to the Indo-Nepal border, the Task Force found developments that were equally ominous:

”On the Indo-Nepal border, madrasas and mosques have sprung up on both sides in the Terai region, accompanied by four-fold increase in the population of the minority community in the region. There are 343 mosques, 300 madrasas and 17 mosques-cum-madrasas within 10 kms of the border in the Indian side. On the Nepal side, there are 282 mosques, 181 madrasas and eight mosques-cum-madrasas. These mosques and madrasas receive huge funds from Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Managers of various madrasas and ulema maintain close links with the embassy officials of those countries located at Kathmandu. Financial assistance is also channelised through the Islamic Development Bank (Jeddah), Habib Bank of Pakistan and also through some Indian Muslims living in Gulf countries. Pakistan’s Habib Bank, after becoming a partner in Nepal’s Himalayan Bank, has expanded its network in the border areas including Biratnagar and Krishna Nagar. It is suspected that foreign currency is converted into Indian currency in Nepal and then brought to India clandestinely.”

A little aside is in order here. Readers know how vulnerable the Siliguri corridor is. Known as the ”chicken’s neck”, barely 30 miles wide, it is our only land link to the Northeast. The district in Nepal that adjoins this slender corridor is Jhapa. There is no great concentration of Muslims in that district. Yet, in just three years, 33 new madrasas sprung up.

But to continue with what the Task Force had to say in this regard:

”Madrasas and mosques on the Indo-Nepal border are frequently visited by prominent Muslim leaders, Tabligh Jamaats and pro-Pak Nepali leaders. Officials of Pak Embassy have come to notice visiting Terai area of Nepal to strengthen Islamic institutions and to disburse funds to them. Pro-Pak elements in Nepal also help in demographic subversion of the Terai belt.”

Source: The ticking bomb inside mosque and madrasa, Indian Express.

This is probably the reason that despite Pakistan’s rogue General offering a helping hand, Gyanendra has apart from one instance, refused to take it forward seriously. If he plays directly into the Rogue’s hands, there’s little chance to stop Nepal’s complete destruction. Despite the current standoff with India, Gyanendra knows that India is any day a safe harbinger than the world’s Terror Factory.

The Resident Liar’s real grouse against the king is not so much his suppression of the citizenry, but because he has effectively muzzled Bidwai’s terrorist friends. He calls their methods crude but their ends noble (sic).

The Maoists’ methods can be criticised, but not their political platform — a representative, radicalised, democracy. Their violence fades into insignificance beside the excesses of the RNA, which is responsible for a majority of the 11,000 people killed since 1996.

Right. So Gyanendra’s violence is not okay, but the Maoist killing spree is. Now we know why the Resident Liar calls him a despot. What are the chances that Bidwai would churn out something like this if Gyanendra had sided with the Maoists?

For the record, I do not support Gyanendra’s imposing the Emergency, curtailing freedoms. But I surely do give it to him for containing the Maoist terrorists. Moreover, if you really want to ask Gyanendra to behave, there are better ways than what the Resident Liar advocates: Rule of the Red.

So, what do you prefer: a suddenly-turned-crazy King who’s trying his best to act like a despot, or full-fledged Communist Despotism?