Why is Nepal so highly strung over Hrithik Roshan? (original) (raw)
Horror movie
It would be facile to dismiss the violence in Kathmandu over 
Hrithik Roshan's alleged anti-Nepalese remarks as merely a bad joke gone wrong.
The death of four people in street violence, the ban imposed on the Indian actor's films by Nepal and the apprehension that it could lead to an agitation against the Indian community, which controls a substantial chunk of Nepal's economy, suggest a more sinister pattern.
This is not the first time Nepalese citizens have reacted with outrage over an apparent insult. In 1999, Madhuri Dixit, as big a Hindi film icon as any, travelled to Nepal and in reply to a question said the country was "just like" her homeland.
This completely innocuous remark was interpreted as an example of Indian expansionism. That a tiny country may be occasionally highly strung when encountering a gigantic neighbour is to be expected. Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that the public demonstrations in Nepal are not just innocent if misplaced anger.
Nepal is today the setting for a strange axis of anti-India forces: the Nepalese naxalites who look to China, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence operatives and a section of the Mumbai underworld.
With Roshan reportedly being threatened by Karachi-based gangsters, to suggest that the recent rumour is part of psychological warfare may not be too far off the mark.
There is precious little that Indians can do to prevent such acts. The agency that is busy playing Nero is the Government of Nepal. It has allowed its territory to become a playground for criminals and terrorists and Nepalese politicians are now grappling with a Frankenstein's monster.
Even if the Roshan furore dies down quickly - as, it is hoped, it will - the king's ministers must consider the futility of simply watching while the neighbour's house is set on fire.
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