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Undid revision 895236828 by Eli Katzmann (talk)

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'''Oropolitics''' comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''oros'' meaning [[mountain]] and ''politikos'' meaning [[citizen]]. In modern usage it denotes the use and abuse of [[mountaineering]] for political purposes.

==Origin of term==
The term "oropolitics" was coined by [[Joydeep Sircar]] in the early 1980s to describe the surreptitious efforts, first by [[Pakistan]] from the 1950s, and then by [[India]] from the late 1970s, to demonstrate control and ownership of the [[Siachen Glacier]] by allowing or organising mountaineering [[expeditions]] to the high peaks such as [[Saltoro Kangri]] and [[Teram Kangri]] flanking the glacier.<ref>[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060515/asp/nation/story_6221947.asp The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation]</ref><ref>[http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1984_files/AJ%201984%2074-49%20Sircar%20Oropolitics.pdf Joydeep Sircar, "Oropolitics: A dissertation on the political overtones of mountaineering in the East-Central Karakoram, 1975-82", Alpine Journal (1984), p. 74-79. Reprinted from Himalaya Sameeksha.]</ref> The [[Siachen War]] of 1984 was the direct outcome of these 'oropolitical' activities. Another example is the [[China|Chinese]] publication ''Raising the Five Star Flag on Mount Tomur'', an account of the successful Chinese expedition of 1977 to the [[Tien Shan]] peak better known by its Russian name as [[Pik Pobedy]] (nowadays renamed yet again by Kyrgyzstan as [[Jengish Chokusu]]).<ref>[http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151896/peak-pobeda-mnt-tomur.html SummitPost - Pik Pobeda/Tomur Feng - Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering]</ref> The Chinese volume seems to imply a first ascent and completely ignores multiple Russian ascents.

==Other examples==
The strangest oropolitical events must surely be the unpublicised ascents of [[Nanda Devi]] and [[Nanda Kot]] by joint Indo-US expeditions in the 1960s to plant devices to monitor Chinese [[nuclear weapon|nuclear]] activity.<ref>M.S. Kohli and K. Conboy, "Spies in the Himalayas", 2003.</ref> The media disclosure in 1978 that an Indo-American covert expedition had planted a nuclear-fuelled monitoring device atop Nanda Kot in the 1960s, and that subsequently the device had disappeared, led to fears of radioactive contamination of the river [[Ganges]], and a political [[brouhaha]].

Recent examples of oropolitics, again from India, were the claimed ascent of '''Nyegyi Kangsang''' (7047 m) and the attempt on the nearby peak '''Kangto''' (7090 metres) by Indian teams in the 1990s.<ref>Articles in ''The Himalayan Journal'', 1996, Mumbai.</ref> Both are remote [[Arunachal Pradesh]] peaks difficult of access, located on or very close to the India-China border. These were as much sporting activities as visible demonstrations of de facto control of India over terrain claimed by China. It has been suggested that the actual summit of Nyegyi Kangsang was not even reached.<ref>[https://pakpotpourri.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/the-myth-of-siachien-an-extreme-case-of-oro-politics/ Jawad Raza Khan, "The Myth of Siachien :An extreme case of Oro-politics", Pakpotpourri. On line.]</ref>

A simmering dispute between [[China]] and [[Bhutan]] over [[Kula Kangri]] (7554? metres), which is possibly located wholly in Chinese territory, but is claimed by Bhutan to lie on the Bhutan-China border and be the highest peak of Bhutan, has clear oropolitical overtones. A Japanese team attempting nearby [[Gangkhar Puensum]] (7570? metres) on the Bhutan-China border in 1999 from the Chinese side stopped short of the true peak due to the [[Jigme Singye Wangchuck|King of Bhutan]] having prohibited ascent of the unclimbed main summit.<ref>[http://www.sol.co.uk/v/viewfinder/kula.html Kangkar Punsum and Kula Kangri] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311064618/http://www.sol.co.uk/v/viewfinder/kula.html |date=2007-03-11 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Political terminology]]
[[Category:Mountaineering]]
[[Category:Politics and sports]]

Oropolitics - Revision history

imported>Shashank5988: Undid revision 895236828 by Eli Katzmann (talk)