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Their kukris are rusting
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Remember the gurkha who used to do the rounds at night time? Today he is in danger of being a relic, thanks to private security agencies
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— Photo: Murali Kumar K.
Residents often refuse to pay the gurkhas a small monthly fee saying they don't hire them and so they aren't obliged to pay them.
WITH UNFLINCHING loyalty, they have made supreme sacrifices for the country. During the wars with Pakistan and China many laid down their lives. But when it comes to jobs, the honest, the valiant and hard-working gurkha is considered an outsider. What the gurkhas seek is not unreasonable. They are content doing their job, but they need a job. "When the Government can recruit us in the military, why can't it provide jobs?" asks Inder Singh Bahadur, a watchman at a building at Krishnarajapuram. "Hum Bharat Mata ka seva karna aya aur hamara pet ka palan karma. No employment card is available to us. When it comes to war we are the first to go, but when it comes to jobs no such treatment."
Nepal has no opportunities for them. There are no technical courses available to help them earn a living. There are about 3,000 of this brave and hardy people struggling to make a living in Bangalore with only a few of them earning up to Rs. 4,500 a month. Others still less. This barely meets their expenses for rent, medical facilities and children's schooling. They live in small houses, struggling to pay rents of up to Rs. 500. And then, they have to send money back home too where the rest of the family lives in poverty.
Tough job
The Nepalese in Bangalore are from west Nepal. They live in kuchha houses. Their job of patrolling the city's localities at night and guarding property is tough by any account and even here they are being eased out with the advent of professional security agencies. Also, no one recognises that they assist the police in patrolling and cracking crime. They once helped the police solve the case of a murder of a Nepalese girl too. But the rewards are meagre. They slog 12 hours a day, says Bhir Bahadur. They are not entitled to either holidays or a weekly offs. Not all of them possess ration cards. Only a small per cent are able to exercise franchise.
Bhir Bahadur says the money they get in some areas is pitiful. Residents refuse to pay gurkhas even a small monthly token sum saying they don't hire them and so aren't obliged to pay them. Bhir Bahadur even says some accuse him of not going on beats regularly or not at all. The standard answer is: "Saab is not there, come later, come next week or come next fortnight," says a gurkha. "Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have provided us with job cards. Karnataka is yet to do it."
A Migrant Nepalese Association was set up in 1986 whose members are people of Nepalese origin. Ramachandra Bhandari, Central Committee Adviser of the Association (India), says there are about 700 members in Bangalore. There is a unit in Mysore and a few other places in the south as well. Before one is made a member, his antecedents are ascertained. Those found to be of doubtful background are denied membership. Each member contributes Rs. 3 to the Association. Y.N. Sharma, Regional Committee Secretary, says they have a conference every three years where the Regional Committee and Central Committee meet and discuss problems and cultural issues. There are 31,000 members spread across India.
About 75 per cent of the gurkhas stay with their families here. The others make that long journey back home every year. From Bangalore they travel to Delhi and then to Banvasa in Uttaranchal. Some take the Gorakhpur Express and alight at Sunuli on the Indian border. It takes one or two days of bus travel from there. There are others for whom it takes at least six days to reach home near the China border. One visit home sets the gurkha back by at least Rs. 4,000. Mr. Bhandari says the Treaty between India and Nepal of 1950 luckily makes it easy for Nepalese to come into India. A passport is not needed.
Glory in war
The killing of 12 Nepalese hostages in Iraq last year saw the Migrants Nepalese Association stage a silent protest here on September 1. The gurkhas have always been fearless in war. The British army had its Gorkha regiment that brought glory during conflicts, including the World Wars and the Falkland war. In fact, the soldiers of the regiment had to take the battle to court because they accused the British Government of discriminating against when it came to parity in pension.
The gurkhas are known for their honesty and integrity. It would indeed be a pity if we let their dandas and kukris (daggers they bring from Nepal) be forgotten.
M.V. CHANDRASHEKAR
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