Making A Difference

The Queen's Unpaid Army

After some 200 years on the frontline, Gurkhas in the British Army demand just wages for blood

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The Queen's Unpaid Army
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‘The Almighty created in the Gurkha an ideal infantryman—brave,tough, patient, adaptable, skilled in fieldcraft’.
—Field-Marshal Viscount Slim 

ASK any British general, and he willdelightfully narrate why Gurkhas make excellent soldiers. In these ruggedmountain people, the commanders found almost every trait they could possibly desire in a soldier.Limitless courage, cool-headed discretion, indefatigability. But it was theirunflinching sense of loyalty that endeared Gurkhas to their superiors most.

Some of those white sahibs could now be turning in theirgraves. After nearly 200 years of blind devotion and disciplined reticence, thewarriors are now breaking their silence. To tell the world how badly they weretreated by their British commanders. They have even threatened to drag HerMajesty’s Government to court if their long-harboured grudge against adiscriminatory pay package is not addressed.

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"The oppressive Panchayatregime would not tolerate dissent of any kind in the past," says PadamBahadur Gurung, chairman of the Ex-Gurkha Association, which representsthousands of disgruntled soldiers. "But we can speak freely now. Thediscrimination has to be stopped immediately. We want to put the recordstraight." Part of the urgency comes from the fact that Hong Kong, amongthe last Gurkha stations, reverts to Chinese rule next year, and with peacereigning, Britain could disband Gurkha battalions altogether.

Gurkhas claim Britain has treated them as mercenaries,violating the 1947 tripartite treaty signed by the British, Indian and Nepalgovernments that guarantees the Nepali recruits the same status as their Britishcolleagues. They are indignant over the British Army policy that follows theIndian Army pay code while paying the Nepalis. Thus, a serving Gurkha gets paidthe same as a Gurkha in the Indian or Nepalese army just as they retire on thesame pension—which British officers concede is "a pittance by ourstandards".

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Nepalis were first enlisted in the British Army 182 yearsago. But the recruitment peaked during World War II, when every fighting soldierwas worth his weight in gold. Gurkhas now come from all parts of the Himalayankingdom, but mostly belong to five ethnic hill classes: Gurungs, Limbus, Magars,Rais and Tamangs, all of Mongol origin. Historians say the mass-scalerecruitment of young Nepalis fulfilled a desperate requirement of ImperialBritain. It needed all the manpower to colo-nialise and consolidate territoriesthousands of miles away from the British Isles.

In early 19th century, the tiny kingdom of Nepal held swayover its neighbours, thanks to its legendary fighters. It was in 1814 thatBritain first got the taste of their military might. In a series of clashes,heavily outnumbered Nepali soldiers showed the East India Company Army theruthlessness and bravery they were capable of.

In the end, of course, the supremacy of the moresophisticated, and larger, British army prevailed. A ceasefire and the SugauliTreaty (March 1816) later, Nepal was forced to accept the presence of theBritish Resident in Kathmandu, the first foreign mission in the country.

It was at this time that the wily British commander, Gen.David Och-terlony, set his sights on Gurkhas as possible recruits. "Thiswas to prove a major strategic success for Britain," says Padam Gurung."It helped Britain further its imperial ambitions." The hill peoplewere rugged, doughty and, above all, they came cheap. A retired Gurkha corporal,after 20 years of service, now receives a mere £30 in monthly pension while hisBritish counterpart is paid £475. Thousands of others with less than 10 yearsof service have never received any pension, while their British counterpartshave been covered through alternative employment on dismissal. 

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"We havebeen treated pretty shabbily," says Maj. I.K. Tamang, who retired in 1987after 31 years of service. With his monthly pension of £48, he is struggling tosupport his 25-year-old daughter, currently training to be a fashion designer ina London institute whose charges are £8,000 a year. "I have somehowmanaged to foot the first year’s bill. I wonder how I’m going to manage nextyear."

 His repeated pleas to the British Government that his daughter begiven the ‘home student’ status—where she would need to pay only £2,500—wereignored. Indeed, there is aprovision for financing the studies of children of serv- ing soldiers, but Gurkhas hardly ever benefit.

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 Most Gurkhas retire at . "That’s when their children are indire need for funds to pursuehigher education," says Tamang. "I have told Britishofficials there are tens of areas Gurkhas have been discriminated against."His complaint is hardly typical. Currently, there are only about 130 of what arecalled Queen’s Gurkha Officers, equivalent to Junior Commissioned Officers inthe Indian Army. Tamang, in fact, belongs to the elite Gurkha corps: very fewNepalis climb to the rank of Major in the British Army. He now lives inKathmandu, adopted home to over an estimated 2,000 Gurkha families, who arecomparatively well off.

Most others live in their native villages, making occasionalforays to alien cities. "You should remember that they spent their youth fighting in a foreign land for a foreigncountry," says Padam. "They are now back in their villages. It’s alllike a dream to them. An ugly dream." Padam survived the long and bitterCommunist insurrection in the malaria-infested jungles of East Asia. Noteveryone was so fortunate.

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In World War II, a quarter of a million Gurkhas were sent tofight the Germans and the Japanese. Even by the British count, nearly 9,000 never returned home. Thousands others were injured, some maimed for . life. Historians put the Gurkha toll for the two World Wars at 45,000. 

Britain continued to hold Gurkha battalions even afterthe War—when their strength was about 15,000—mainly because of the Communist insurrection in Indo-China. Soldiers were sent into jungles both to learn and fight, observesBrig. E.D. Smith in his book, Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas. "Asour American friends put it, they were training for real." 

The Gurkhastrength dwindled slowly, but almost halved over the last few years when theBritish cut the strength of their army with the end of the Cold War. There were7,500 Gurkhas in the British Army before the post-Cold War redundancy schemeswent into place. Now only about 4,100 Gurkhas are left in the British Army—abouta sixth of its total infantry strength. But even recent years have seen them in action—in the Falklands, the Gulf and even Bosnia, assoldiers or as part of the signals, transport and engineering units.

 "Thesufferings of the Gurkhas is among the most heart-rending tragedies of moderntimes," says Hiranya Lal Shrestha, opposition MP in Nepal. The worstvictims were those with less than 10 years of service. They were sent home withgratuities ranging from £150-250—none of these estimated 10,000 ex-servicemennow receive pensions. Activists say this is human rights abuse of greatproportions on the part of Britain, which poses to be the champion of democracy.

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A large number of those dismissed without pension neverreturned home. They were too ashamed to. The fortunate ones were re-employed in remaining unitsin Brunei and Singapore. Much of the wealth the general people associate withGurkhas belongs to these sections, says former Captain Himal Rai. "MostBritish Gurkhas live in villages. They don’t have the kind of money it takesto live in big cities." 

Kesh Bahadur Gurung, father of fivechildren, served the British for 15 years. He is now bruised and broke. Therifleman wasn’t able to secure himself an overseas employment. He had saved Rs56,000 when he returned to Nepal in 1984 from Hong Kong. "I set up a smallshop," he recounts. "It was never going to be easy after 15 years outthere in the army. But we aren’t very pushy by nature and I had to closeshop."

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 A grim battle for survivalfollowed. Kesh Bahadur got into illegal logging. He went bust when the policecaught him red-handed and imposed a heavy fine. His life is now confined to theone-room apartment he shares with his wife and two children, among them a17-year-old daughter, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. They haven’t paid the Rs450 rent for the last four months. "We spend whatever we have onfood," says wife Chandra Maya.

Kesh is too broke to even travel400 km southeast to Duhabi to collect his £20 monthly pension. "My onlyhope now is to get a new driving licence." But, at 46, he is somewhatdiffident about relearning the art of driving. His only other hope: an earlyrevision of the pension scale. 

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The soldiers are gearing up for alegal battle now. But, first they plan to give diplomacy a chance. Theysubmitted a memo to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba this June, appealing tohim to initiate a dialogue with Britain on their four-point charter: pensionlessGurkhas dismissed under the redundancy programmes, with less than 10 years ofservice, be covered with pensions; the Gurkha pay package be same as that oftheir British counterparts; the soldiers be granted British work permits; andthat a welfare fund be set up to assist Gurkha children in their careers.

Ex-servicemen say though theNepalis serving in the Indian Army get promotions on merit, they are seldompromoted beyond the ranks of Major in the British Army. earlyrevision of the pension scale. Some eight lakh Nepalis have served in theBritish and the Indian armies to date.

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In the light of the Gurkha call toarms, Britain has announced a review of the pension rate. "The inflation inNepal has been much steeper than we believed it might have been," concedesa Defence Ministry official in London. But the British military attache inKathmandu stressed the new rate would still approximate to the Indian rate moreclosely than those for British servicemen. "There are sound reasons forthis," says Colonel Christopher Lavender. "The primary reason is toensure Gurkha recruitment in the Indian Army is not adversely affected byover-generous conditions in the British army and vice versa." Gurkhas claimsuch pronouncements only make their case stronger. "How can you even claimto be non-discriminatory when you admit you are employing a two-tierpaycode?" asks Yubaraj Sangroula, the Gurkha lawyer.

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In Britain, the image of Gurkhas ispreserved in ceremonial functions. They seem royally favoured, and not just innames like the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers, the Queen’s Own Gurkha TransportRegiment and the Royal Gurkha Rifles. They can be seen often at thecrowd-pulling changing of guards at Buckingham Palace. A unit even did guardduty at the Palace in early September. "They have a very strong place inthe affections of the British people," says the Defence Ministry official.Only, after a two-century-history of service, the soldiers who came in from thecold—or the heat—might not settle for that.

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