Book review | Tim Gurung’s ‘The Gorkha Grief’ presents a sympathetic outlook towards the warrior community

After scripting Ayo Gorkhali: A History of the Gorkhas in 2020, Tim I Gurung has authored what can be called a sequel, The Gorkha Grief, which, like his maiden effort, is a repository of all the grief suffered by Gorkhas in India.

In his first book, though, it was grief meted out by Rana rulers, the political class in Nepal, and primarily by the greatest empire-builder of the world, Great Britain, which recognised Gorkha valour and superb battlecraft after fighting against them between 1814 and 1816.

After the Treaty of Sagauli, the British East India Company began recruiting Gorkha battalions, which ultimately helped the British empire expand from Honduras to Hong Kong. Like in the first book, he had toured Nepal; similarly, in his second effort, he travelled to various parts along India’s northern foothills where Gorkhas were brought by the British or they chose to settle down.

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For the purpose of recruitment in the Indian Gorkha Brigade, they are called Indian-domiciled Gorkhas. Recruitment has been suspended for the last five years, initially due to COVID and later to the new recruitment scheme Agnipath/Agniveer, to which Nepal has not subscribed.

Gurung’s second collective on grief is written over 21 chapters, ranging from the Brief History of the Indian Gorkha Brigade to the Bhutanese refugee crisis to the Indo-Nepal Treaty for Peace and Friendship 1950 to the Gorkhas’ loss of identity, their stigmatisation, and the Gorkhas’ future.

The thrust of the book is on the author’s counsel on minimising Gorkha grief abroad and ensuring they can live dignified lives at home in Nepal instead of trudging the world to make a living. Gurung covers the Bhutan refugee crisis, where in 1990, the Bhutanese expelled the Nepalese, also called Bhupalese, and nearly 108,000 Bhutanese of Nepalese origin suddenly became refugees. Nepal accepted them and settled them in refugee camps in eastern Nepal.

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The crisis occurred following a movement for the restoration of democracy in Bhutan that led to fears of Sikkim-isation of Bhutan. The use of force by Bhutan to push out the Bhupalese from the foothills violated several international humanitarian laws. Nepal’s current political class turned the refugee crisis into a horrible scam, as some top leaders today are either in jail or on bail on account of it.

Gurung’s treatment of the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship is superficial and follows the traditional Nepalese line, which has become history. That it is “unfair and Nepal feels shortchanged” is not entirely tenable when free travel and work for nearly 8 to 10 million Nepalese are available in India.

Nowhere else in the world does such a mutual facility exist between two countries. Gurung cites Articles 2, 6, and mainly 7 of the Treaty as offending articles without reproducing the text of the treaty or relevant articles in the book. An annexure would have been useful. Articles 6 and 7 are for national and equal treatment and privileges in matters of residence, property ownership, etc.

Nepal-domestic Gorkhas could join the Indian Army and attain flag rank without any discrimination, in stark contrast to British Gorkhas, where only one Nepali got to command a battalion. That they are treated shabbily by their Indian employees is another story that needs condemnation and correction. A new treaty is indeed required, but Nepal wants to cherry-pick changes in the existing treaty. A Joint Working Group was set up in the 1990s but could never come to closure as Nepal was unable to provide input for changes in treaties.

On another grief, loss of identity, there is confusion between floating Nepalese and Nepalese who have settled in India and have become Indian citizens, and many among them are Gorkhas. All Nepalese are not Gorkhas, as Gurung knows well. This is a matter for Gorkhas to resolve. India will and does treat them as Indians of Nepali origin who have a right to residence and can even vote.

Most of the Gorkha woes have arisen from the Gorkhaland movement in West Bengal, Assam, and Bodoland, according to Gurung. I was monitoring the Gorkhaland movement from the Army Corps Headquarters near Siliguri at Sukna. The problems faced by the Gorkhas are political issues in states, and the centre has little jurisdiction over them. Gurung has correctly identified a lack of unity and political acumen among Gorkhas in tackling these issues. Look at how the Gorkha leadership in Darjeeling has splintered, whereas at one time they were reasonably united.

Gurung’s chapter ‘How Nepal Views India’ is typical India bashing, some of it justified but hugely exaggerated. That India makes appointments in the Nepal Army and other institutions is far-fetched. On Agniveer, he says Nepal has asked for dialogue, which is factually incorrect. There is a stalemate that may clear after the Indian elections in May and June this year. He has taken a shot at Nepal and the responsibility of its leaders, both of which hit the magpie. On the Gorkhas’ future, he writes: They have learned only one trade, which is soldiering. Unless they diversify their skills, the Gorkhas, who are relatively uneducated and most without means, will do manual jobs abroad, which they will not do in Nepal. He rightly says that Nepalis and Gorkhas have reached 153 of the 193 recognised countries. I have compared the present generation of Gorkhas to the enterprising Sikhs of India, who were the first Indians to reach far-flung places.

Gurung predicts that Nepalese abroad will slowly stop sending remittances back home. Presumably, they will settle down in foreign countries. This is already happening. He also says the Indian Army pension is too little, which is not correct as One Rank One Pension and Indian welfare facilities are exceptionally handsome, as one can now see in Pokhara today. The quality of life of Indian ex-servicemen has improved significantly. As someone who visits Nepal twice a year and lives in a Gurung village, I can attest to the change in the quality of life. But Nepal’s economy is remittance-based, which is not the right path for Nepal’s future growth.

Gurung advises a second career other than soldiering. That will come from employment-related skill acquisition, which is slowly happening. I spoke to a young female government doctor in Rolpa who said she had three wishes: a high-class cellphone like the iPhone; a permanent job; and money to go on vacation abroad.

Gurung ends the book with hope and prayer for unity and fame for Gorkhas in areas other than soldiering, like winning the football World Cup. The issue I have with Gurung is that he was born in Nepal, served in the British Army for 13 years, and then settled down in Hong Kong among the 30,000 or so Gorkhas there.

His knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues in Nepal require greater research and study. There is a fair amount of repetition in the book and also between the two books. While discussing grief, he frequently switches to his sad British experience, about which his knowledge is deeper. Even so, the Gorkha grief in India is real, though sometimes overstated. I read the book in Nepal last month until the last page. You should too.

The author is former GOC IPKF South Sri Lanka and founder member Defence Planning Staff, now Integrated Defence Staff, Ministry of Defence. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.