Author: TNN
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 28, 2011
URL: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-28/south-asia/29824578_1_lumbini-madhav-kumar-nepal-nepal-government
Less than a fortnight after a Chinese nongovernmental
organisation announced its plan for what amounted to a virtual takeover of
Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in Nepal, Nepal's government on Thursday
unceremoniously rejected it, saying it would not entertain any deal struck
in a third country without the participation of the actual stakeholders.
"Nepal is the actual stakeholder,"
said Modraj Dottel, spokesperson of Nepal's culture ministry that governs
Lumbini, the town in southern Nepal that is the destination of thousands of
pilgrims and Buddhist scholars worldwide, and a Unesco-declared World Heritage
Site. "How can we own a deal struck in a third country without the formal
consent of the actual stakeholder?"
The unambiguous official rejection came after
reports in the Chinese media earlier this month that a Hong Kong based NGO,
the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, had signed a memorandum
of understanding with the UN Industrial Development Organisation for a $3
billion project to develop Lumbini into a "Buddhist Mecca", complete
with hotels, an international airport and other tourism-related infrastructure.
"We had no formal intimation of the MoU
and read about it in the media," Dottel told TNN. "If UNIDO and
the Foundation come to Nepal to implement their plan, we will not entertain
it." Alarmed by the reports, Nepal's foreign ministry held a meeting
Wednesday to discuss the MoU and rejected it as a groundless plan that ignored
the host country.
Since the announcement of the MoU, the Foundation
has been under media glare in Nepal, which has been less than flattering.
The Nepali media has specially highlighted the fact that the Foundation's
members include Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and his b?te noir,
ousted crown prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah.
The Chinese interest in Lumbini has been
growing. The Foundation plan virtually tried to hijack an earlier, and more
modest, scheme proposed last year by the Beijing Zhongtai Jinghu Investment
Company headed by former Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Li Debiao. The more
upfront Beijing company held talks with the Nepal government for a Rs 8 billion
construction project in Lumbini and was given the goa-head to proceed with
some of its components.
The new Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Yang
Houlan, who assumed office last month, has already visited Lumbini and broached
the subject of Chinese assistance for developing Lumbini in a series of meetings
with Nepal's ministers and politicians. Even on Thursday, when the envoy met
former Nepal prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Lumbini was discussed, according
to the statement issued by Nepal's media advisor.
The growing Chinese interest comes at a time
Beijing is trying to bring religious institutions under its control. After
appointing a Panchen Lama of its own, it has since then said that all reincarnations
of Tibetan Buddhist leaders would have to be approved by the state, raising
fears that the dragon means to choose a successor to the current Dalai Lama
as well.
Besides keeping Buddhist monasteries under
tight surveillance, China is also seeking to control the church on its soil.
While independent Christian leaders face persecution, arrest and being sentenced
to labour camps, the state is, on the other hand, also appointing bishops,
a move that has been rejected by the Vatican.
