Nepal's legendary Gurkha mountain men, whose service in the British army helps support tens of thousands of people in their impoverished homeland, will now get to fight another day. The country's new Maoist leaders, former far-left rebels who oppose foreign imperialism in all its guises, had threatened to end what they see as the humiliating recruitment of young Nepali men into the British armed forces.
But in what appears to be a nod to hard-nosed practicality in a country where the annual average salary is 470 dollars, the Maoists have backed off, saying they must first oversee the new republic's "economic revolution".
"We don't have any immediate plans to stop the recruitment of Nepali youths into the British army," Nanda Kishore Pun, a deputy commander from the Maoist's People's Liberation Army, told AFP. "For the next few years we will be concentrating on bringing an economic revolution," said Pun, whose party is poised to form Nepal's first government following the abolition of the centuries-old monarchy.
"Then we will deal with this issue," he added, saying a review of the recruitment policy would not come for "five to seven years." Another deputy Maoist commander, Janardan Sharma, described their recruitment into the British army as "shameful and humiliating." "It's wrong to sacrifice Nepalis to protect the sovereignty of foreign countries," he said.
But the Gurkhas themselves don't necessarily agree. "At least 30,000 families depend on the salaries and the pensions of the British Gurkhas," said Lok Bahadur Gurung, from the Nepal chapter of the British Gurkha Welfare Society. "They have been significantly contributing to Nepal's economy since the practice started nearly 200 years ago."
-- Fearsome fighters, and good money - Nepalis were first recruited into the army of the British East India Company after the short but bloody Anglo-Nepali war that ended in 1816. Impressed by the bravery and ferocity of their foes, the British saw to it that a peace deal gave them the right to enlist prisoners of war in a private army.
The East India Company's troops were eventually merged into the British Army, and the Gurkhas have fought in all of Britain's conflicts since, from Africa to Argentina - often on the frontlines.
Their reputation for loyalty and fearlessness is legendary, as is their use of the Khukuri, a long, curved knife employed in hand-to-hand combat. Around 200,000 Gurkhas fought for Britain in World Wars I and II, and more than 45,000 have died in action.
Entire front lines of Argentine troops were said to have surrendered during the Falklands war on the mere whiff of a rumour that they would be facing the Gurkhas.
A Nepali entering the regiment today will get the same 24,000-dollar annual salary as his British contemporaries - more than 50 times the average annual salary in Nepal.
About 3,500 Gurkhas are currently serving in the British army, but the pensions of retirees support tens of thousands of people in some of Nepal's poorest places.
In addition, thousands of former Gurkhas have landed jobs as private security guards in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, adding to Nepal's income from remittances.
NEED FOR BETTER JOBS: Last year, with around 230 places on offer, a staggering 17,000 potential recruits applied - subjecting themselves to rigorous mental and physical entrance tests, which include hauling sacks of rocks up a mountain.
"There are very, very few job opportunities here," explained 49-year-old Ram Prasad Koirala, a retired British Army Gurkha who now works as an airline security chief in Kathmandu.
"The Maoists have to consider the reality of Nepal and the sentiment associated with the British Gurkhas," he said. "Serving in the British army is very lucrative." The Maoists are facing the blunt reality that the economic situation in Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries, is so desperate that their ideological fervour will have to be toned down for the time being.
Until they can create more jobs, thousands of Nepali youth - having helped vote in the Maoists so they could ditch the unpopular monarchy - will be vying to fight for somebody else's queen and country. "We have a severe shortage of jobs here, and the British Gurkhas is one of the best opportunities we Nepali youth have," said 21-year-old Suraj Ghimire, a student from Inaruwa, east of Kathmandu, who has been trying to win a place in the regiment for several years. "I don't care if the country is a republic or not. What I want is a good job with a good salary."
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