Gurkha Satyagraha, a battle of regaining the lost dignity

The Gurkha crusade has been perpetual for the last six-lustrum. It is a dogged struggle of accomplishing equality, justice and dignity to the proud citizens of a sovereign, independent country, Nepal.

The glaring discriminations against Gurkhas has brought a big shame on the marvellous Britons as well as the great nation, the United Kingdom. We are living into the third decade of the twenty-first-century of the third millennium; notwithstanding, the naïve, loyal and brave Gurkhas have been discriminated against. Such racist treatment given the colour, language and culture has seriously mocked the height of human civilisation and the world’s oldest and the best British democracy. It is the worst anachronism of the British democracy.

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British government has been guided by a colonial mentality. Thus a last vestige of the colonial regime has still been perpetuated. The Gurkhas have shed a river of blood, sweat and tears for the British Crown in the last 207-year. The grandeur, prosperity and power of today’s Britain is an outcome of the immense sacrifice of the Gurkhas.

Britain always confined the Gurkhas to enclaves; it didn’t allow us to assimilate into the dynamic and rapidly changing outside world. Further, Britain has been trading the Gurkhas as commodities for ages. It, sans concluding treaty with Nepal, recruits Gurkhas for Singapore Police, used to recruit for Gurkha Reserve Unit, Brunei and has been reaping huge amount of commissions from these countries.

In the past, it used to base Gurkha Headquarters in India, Malaysia and Hong Kong and charged all the expenses those institutions incurred to the respective countries. Britain did never spend its money to maintain the Gurkha Regiments, instead, always made huge profits. The irony of ironies is: “Britain, a sovereign country, recruits nationals of another sovereign country, Nepal and makes them serve still other countries, Singapore and Brunei.” It raises a million dollar question: Is Nepal really a sovereign and independent country? Having said that the so-called democratic governments of Nepal are in deep slumber for so many decades as if nothing has happened. With an intention to end all these anomalies, the Gurkhas have embarked upon the crusade. During the crusade, Gurkhas employed numerous avenues but to no avail. We always pursued dovish approaches and avoided hawkish ones. Ironically, they didn’t yield any result. For Britain followed in the footsteps of Dr Paul Joseph Goebbels and kept lying that it hadn’t discriminated against the Gurkhas.

Realistically, Britain has pursued an arbitrary policy. Such stratagems and lies of the British government forced the Gurkhas to stage hunger strike unto-death. It is solely a compulsion and not intention of the Gurkhas. This time round, British veterans and the folks have been moving heaven and earth to support our protest programme. They have been utilising social media to the greatest extent and its impact is widely felt. We should, with all our hearts, applaud their dexterity in this regard. The extensive media coverage has prompted by it. The Johnson government is feeling mounting pressure and Deuba government, at such crucial juncture, of course, can’t stay as a mute spectator.

In order to make it a coup de grace and to consequently strengthen Nepal’s sovereignty and independence, each and every Nepalis’ unwavering support is imperative to us. As a matter of fact, we have been working our fingers to the bone to materialise a human and dignified treatment as it is a plight of entire humanity.