India-Nepal row: Stamp becomes a tool of protest
‘Kalapani finger has never been shown in Nepal’s postal stamps as its territory’
The Bharat Raksha Manch, a national-level socio-cultural organisation, on Thursday released here a number of Nepalese postage stamps that showed the actual map of the Himalayan country in the past. The stamps depict the “correct” representation of the Kalapani and prove that the latter was never a part of Nepal but an Indian territory.
Speaking to media persons here, Bharat Raksha Mach secretary Anil Dhir said that the stamps were issued as a mark of protest to Nepal’s attempt to lay claim to Kalapani as its territory.
“Copies of the postage stamps have been posted to the Prime Minister of Nepal, K P Sharma Oli and 59 members of the Nepalese National Assembly. Stamps have also been sent to the Nepalese High Commissioner in India. The Cover has also been mailed to the president of the Philatelic Society of Nepal and a hundred covers have been sent to eminent philatelists of Nepal.
The cover has been posted with affixing a 1954 Map Stamp that was issued by Nepal.
Mr Dhir, who is an eminent historian, philatelist and has written four books on philately, claimed that his research had revealed that since 1954, Nepal had issued 29 postage stamps in which the nation’s map has been depicted as claimed by the Indian side.
“They have never shown the Kalapani finger as their territory or a disputed area. Even the official maps of the government and the maps in the school atlases have never depicted Indian Territory as a Nepalese claim,” Mr Dhir said.
He has enclosed a brochure with pictures of all the ‘map stamps’ issued by Nepal since 1954.
He said that the majority populace of the Himalayan nation does not support the claim that has been made by Prime Minister Oli at the behest of China. “It is surprising that China, which is now backing the Nepalese claim, had signed a trade treaty during the 2015 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which it had agreed to expand a trade route through the Lipulekh Pass.”