New Delhi,Karan Thapar's Sunday Sentiments story in the Hindustan Times of January 27,2008 features Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of Nepal in his role as a counterfeiter of Indian currency in the 1970s.The
story that had been published or broadcast by Kantipur television and also probably in the newspaper of the same name, has since been denied.However, the point I want to raise here is under what circumstances this is "serious crime" was committed by G.P. Koirala. To recall the circumstances for committing this "crime" King Mahendra of Nepal had dismissed the first elected Government in Nepal led by G.P.'s elder brother Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala ("BP" hereafter) on December
15, 1960. The elder Koirala was imprisoned for eight long years andreleased only on October 30,1968. He had come over to India soon thereafter making Sarnath near Varanasi his base. He also had a base in New Delhi, at Gulmohar Park and later Niti Bagh.The Nepali Congress leadership, much before BP was released, had taken
to armed insurrection for restoring Parliamentary democracy which wasreplaced by King Mahendra by the Panchayat system, another name for his absolute monarchy. After release and after his bid for
reconciliation with the King had failed, BP too had advocated armed struggle. King Mahendra was succeeded by his son Birendra on January 31,1972, the day hrhad died but the young King too swore by the Panchayat system, a spurious democratic set up.While Girija Babu went about collecting funds for procuring arms for
struggle, two of his younger colleagues hijacked a Royal Nepal Airlines aircraft which was carrying a large amount of Indian currency for depositing with the Nepal Rashtra Bank at Kathmandu.The aircraft was made to land near Forbesganj in north Bihar, and after
the cash was unloaded, it was allowed to proceed to Kathmandu. The amount was probably. Rs. 40 lakhs.This money was utilized for buying arms from various sources and places in India. The hijackers had taken
shelter in Delhi. Both of them are now among the topmost leaders of the Nepali Congress Party, of which Girija Babu happens to be the President.There is more .Jayaprakash Narayan, a close friend of the Koirala family, and his supporter for restoration of democracy in Nepal (but in a non-violent manner) had come to know of the stock of arms at BP's disposal at Sarnath and had requested him to lend some of them for the Bangladeshi Mukti Vahini. One truckload was sent to East Pakistan border. Chakra Prasad Banstola and Sushil Koirala, two young leaders of the Nepali Congress had accompanied the truck along with one Col.
Rai as trainer for the Mukti Vahini, operating in the northern districts of East Pakistan, could not perhaps make full use of the arms.Later, these arms were sought to be utilized for a bold but hazardous venture
inside Nepal The plan was to capture one district in north-east Nepal– Okhaldhunga –and then launch the "liberation struggle" from there. An advance team
had gone to the district and a truckload of arms was to be delivered to them later. However the Indian police had captured the truck and that was the end of the venture. Most of the 35 or so workers, who had
been sent as advance group, were killed in an attack by the Royal Army when they were asleep within a large cave where they had taken shelter because of the extreme cold then.While Girija Babu's story has been revealed by the Kantipur media group, the facts regarding the hijacking of the aircraft, buying
arms, lending some to the Bangladesh Mukti Vahini and the Okhaldhunga episode can be found in the book, "B.P. Koirala, Portrait of a Revolutionary" by Bhola Chatterjee, a Socialist from West Bengal who
had been a friend and supporter of the Nepali Congress since the 1950s.The book published in 1982, barely two months after "BP's death on July 22, 1982 is based on a taped interview by Chatterjee, a copy of which has been deposited with the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library,Teen Murti, New Delhi...The hijacking episode has not been included in the book as it was a "recent happening" .However, the hijack story was well known in the 1970s among those journalists who were familiar with the developments in Nepal. One may add here that Mr. Chatterjee had gone to Burma (now Myanmar) and had brought a planeload of arms, in 1950. Supplied by the Socialist government in that country. The aircraft had landed at Bihta, west of Patna,(on a unused world war II runway) and the arms were used by the Nepali Congress for their armed insurrection in 1950-51.This fact has been mentioned by Mr. Chatterjee in his Bengali book on this struggle in 1958 or a little later.What have been written here is based on documented sources. Besides,this writer, being a correspondent of several newspapers and new agencies at Kathmandu for ore than 10 years between 1958 and 1970 is personally aware of the facts.I may add here that I was a Special Correspondent of the Hindustan Times from 1978 to 1992 and must have written about these episodes in the paper at some time or the other.
My question to Mr. Thapar is: If the Koirala brothers are guilty of counterfeiting currency and gun-running from the soil of India and therefore are offenders, how will he treat the Maoists of Nepal who had launched their "Peoples War" in 1996 and caused the death of about 13,000 people? Several leaders of the Maoists might have personally killed their fellow countrymen in the name of revolution. Their leaders, Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda was honored by The HindustanTimes by inviting him for the leadership conclave in November 2006.Was then HT guilty of promoting terrorism in Nepal? The outfit was declared a terrorist organization by both Nepal and India as also the United States which still treat the Maoists of Nepal as a terrorist Organization. Nepal and India had withdrawn the "terrorist" tag after April 2006 :"Jana Andolan" against King Gyanendra.

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