[Reader-list] Does the murder of Jamim Shah in Kathmandu implyanything broader?

[Tara Prakash]

Hello Bibek. Thanks for adding to the information and your suggestions at 
the end of the mail are definitely worth considering.

Your opinion about Indian newspaper may be true but I am not too sure about 
it. I am not in India so hardly read newspapers. The only one I care about 
is The Hindu. I can bet that Hindu will never support such covert activities 
carried out by intelligence agencies.

I forgot to offer my condolence on death of a Nepali national and a human 
being. It was sad and bad.

Regards

I----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bibek Paudel" <eternalyouth at gmail.com>
To: "TaraPrakash" <taraprakash at gmail.com>
Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Does the murder of Jamim Shah in Kathmandu 
implyanything broader?


> On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 9:45 PM, TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>> Hello Bibek. Thanks for posting to this list. And yes I am sure your mail 
>> is
>> well received. And here are my comments, though by no means expert:
>
> Hi, thanks for the reply. Your mail certainly highlights some of the
> possible aspects of the mystery. I am also only guessing here, but
> here are my opinions:
>
>>
>> Thus far we have nothing but the conspiracy theories to go by. It's very
>> likely that RAW was involved in this killing. But it is also likely that
>> Maoists got him killed. Since this guy was known to be having anti-India
>> agenda, the suspicion for his murder will naturally go towards India. 
>> Andn
>> Maoists can rejuvenate their support by taking usual anti-India stand and
>> garner some more support. Again this is just another explanation.
>>
>
> Yes, this is possible. I don't know about the history of owning-up by
> indian underworld dons. But since someone claiming himself to belong
> to chhota-rajan gang has owned up for the killing, wouldn't they
> refute the claim if it were false? I don't know about this, because
> maybe by account of being an irresponsible gang, they wouldn't be
> caring much too.
>
>> We may know the answer in future, or we may not. In the meanwhile, can 
>> you
>> inform us about Shah's views about Chinese repression in the areas where
>> Muslims live in large numbers. China has recently browbeaten some 
>> countries
>> to hand the dissidents over to them, and many of them have already been
>> hanged.
>
> Shah wasn't a very intelligent person, so noone here cared much about
> his opinions. He didn't have (or offer) opinions on many things
> anyway. He used to say that he doesnt feel like a Muslim, since he
> grew up in a very old locality of Kathmandu surrounded all over by
> temples, having 99% hindu friends, and getting married to an ethnic
> Newar girl (traditionally either hindu or buddhist) from Kathmandu.
>
>>
>> It might be China, and since it takes no nonsense, the government will 
>> not
>> allow any public opinion develop that questions China's motives. You will
>> remember that any country that crushed Tibbetans in 2008 as brutally as
>> China did, it was Nepal.
>
> Yes, Nepalese authority crushed Tibetan protests in Kathmandu. Most of
> it was unnecessary, but for a country like Nepal, I think we need to
> look deeper. Nepal faces pressure from both India and China to control
> activities against their interests. Sadly, both anti-india and
> anti-china elements are active in Nepal, albeit without much public
> knowledge. For example, Nepal is a center for all sorts of free-tibet
> activists ranging from America to Dharmashala. Some decades ago, an
> armed rebellion for Free-Tibet run by the CIA for many years was
> unmasked only after a CIA plane landed in a district bordering Tibet.
> The rebellion was crushed by Nepal army later.
>
>>
>> Some gangs might have got him killed for ransom, and it is not foregn to
>> south Asian countries.
>
> This is possible. I hope the police will uncover the mystery. If such
> groups are involved, I think they should be uncovered pretty easily as
> opposed to the involvement of more powerful forces.
>
>> Thugs like Chota Rajan may as easily play in the hands of RAW for money, 
>> as
>> they can do for others. How about some other media group?
>
> Not heard of threats to other media groups so far. But an owner of the
> newly opened National TV is said to be on the hit-list of Rajan gang
> (unconfirmed). However, he is under police custody for charges of
> involvement in printing fake Indian currency.
>
>>
>> How about ISI getting him murdered to malign and get India demonized? He 
>> was
>> a rich guy with sympathies towards fundamentalism, so a likely target for
>> CIA, Black Waters and Israel.
>
> Again, nothing like this can be denied.
>
> It is (now) rumored that he has 3 passports, which if true, is sign of
> something ulterior. He might have criminal links, true. But, nothing
> of that kind was known so far. Even charges of being anti-India don't
> look very fair to people here because neither his TV nor newspapers
> did so in an unfair way. The Indian embassy would repeatedly charge
> him of being an ISI agent, and he said that the Indian pressure was a
> reason for his TV license getting delayed. His media organization was
> on the brink of collapse because of financial difficulties and his
> employees say that he was often seen weeping after having a hard time
> defending charges of being anti-nationalist. They say that he wasnt
> able to pay his employees in time and it looked unnatural for someone
> receiving funding as claimed by Indian intelligence sources.
>
> But, here are a few things that are possibly unknown to many in India.
> 1. Prior to Shah's murder a number of people said to be anti-India
> were murdered in some towns bordering India. All of the murders
> (including Shah) were done by Indian nationals (which doesnt mean that
> they could have been used by less suspected parties, including China,
> as you hinted).
> 2. His TV wasn't the one to start the Hritik Roshan scandal. His TV
> wasn't in existence then, it started only a year later. Also, I think
> Indian newspapers' view that killing of someone anti India in Nepal is
> the right thing is fundamentally wrong. That means anyone anti-Tamil
> or anti Sinhala in India also needs to be killed. I think Indian
> newspapers' coverage of their neighborhood is very immature and
> possibly harmful to India's interest. I have long harbored a suspicion
> that they get such stories from Indian foreign ministry of
> Intelligence sources themselves. I have stayed in India for about 4
> years, and this belief hasnt changed.
> 3. I have read many times in the recent months about the need to
> review RAW's role and existence itself, especially following the
> Mumbai blasts. Maybe people inside RAW had to show something to prove
> their efficiency and worth.
> 4. The government of Nepal and its leaders have to share all the blame
> though. They have not been serious about any important issues at all,
> and have been so inefficient and weak that it is very easy for any
> party to play against Nepal's interests. It hasnt been able to control
> activities of non-state actors including anti-Indian and anti-chinese
> ones. Big failure.
>
> Bibek