There is a rising concern among the security agencies, intelligentsia and civil society bodies over the Maoists' intention to include the hill state of Uttarakhand as part of their 'Red Corridor', linking it to Nepal. There have been protests in the state over the intrusion of Nepali labourers alleged to have Maoist links. Police officials have instructed landlords to watch out for suspicious activities of these laborers.

The nine-year long Maoist conflict in Nepal has forced several Nepalis to flee the country and settle in India. Under the 'India-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950,' Nepali citizens have the right to live and work in India. However, their rising influx is perceived in certain quarters as a part of the Maoist strategy to expand and open a new front in the relatively peaceful state of Uttarakhand following major gains in the central and eastern Indian states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.

A major chunk of the Nepali population in India, including Uttarakhand, had formed a national level organization called the Akhil Bharatiya Nepal Ekta Samaj (ABNES) which was outlawed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in 2002 by the Government of India. Although, the objective of ABNES was to achieve unity among immigrant Nepalese residing in India, it has been accused of involvement in subversive activities and being a front for the Nepali Maoists.

Last December, an estimated four hundred Nepal Maoist rebels belonging to the Young Communist League (YCL) intruded into the Tanakpur area in Champawat district and raised anti-India slogans for allegedly encroaching bordering lands of Nepal. However, the security personnel foiled the Maoists' plan to raise their party flag and did not fall into their trap of trying to provoke the Indian Border security forces to fire on them, intending, thereby, to internationalize the issue. Earlier, a journalist of a leading Indian newspaper, alleged to have well-established links with the Nepal Maoists, was arrested from Uddham Singh Nagar. According to intelligence reports, rural areas in Pithoragarh, Udham Singh, Nagar, Champawat, Pithoragarh, and Nainital were used by Nepalese and Indian Maoists to meet some two years back.

Meanwhile, Hindutva forces like the Hindu Jagaran Manch have started whipping up anti-Nepali sentiments in the state and have reportedly formed Gram Rakshak Samitis in border villages to enlighten the villagers about the nefarious Maoist design. They have been demanding that the border areas should be declared as a 'High Security Zone.' The chief minister of Uttarakhand, Maj Gen (Retd.) B C Khanduri, had raised the issue of vulnerable border security at a meeting of chief ministers on Internal Security chaired by the Prime Minister. He demanded a major financial grant from the centre to modernize security agencies and for effective center-state coordination in sharing specific intelligence inputs on Maoist elements in the state.

In short, to say that the Indian Maoists and the Nepalese Maoists have no links will be erroneous. The Nepalese Maoists and their counterparts in India are members of the `Revolutionary Internationalist Movement' (RIM). In July 2001, some 10 radical Left-wing (Maoist) groups in South Asia, including the Nepalese as well as Indian Maoists, formed the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organization of South Asia (CCOMPOSA).

It seems that tensions in the bordering areas of Nepal are yet to die down. Disturbances will definitely have wider ramifications in Uttarakhand. The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) has threatened to re-launch its armed revolt against the Nepal government if the Constituent Assembly elections, presently scheduled for 10 April, are postponed again. The CPN-M has accused pro-monarchy supporters of using civil unrest in the Terai region as a pretext to justify another postponement.

Ethnic groups in Nepal's Terai region, which borders Uttarakhand, have warned of violence before the parliamentary elections in April unless the government accords greater rights to the area and its people. The Hindi-speaking Madhesi community of the Terai, in reality a heterogeneous mix of various marginalized ethnic groups each with its own narrow agenda, has long been discriminated against by the mainstream national politics. A multitude of political fronts, some representing little more than criminal elements, are now seeking a voice at the national level to seek redress for their legitimate grievances. Many are led by former Maoists. Meanwhile, the Nepal Police have declared eight districts of the Terai region as "highly sensitive" and 13 other districts as "sensitive" areas.

The latest threat of the Nepalese Maoists to renew their armed rebellion in Nepal, problems in the bordering Terai region, rising numerical strength of Nepali labourers in Uttarakhand, the Indo-Nepal border dispute and simmering domestic discontentment are likely to accentuate the security vulnerability of Uttarakhand in the coming days.