On February 16, I attended an anniversary celebration of a high school in my native village, Chipleti, in Siranchowk Village Municipality, in the north-western part of Gorkha district. I received my primary education there. The special event saw a big gathering, with former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai as chief guest. The programme was organised and sponsored by the school alumni, mainly retired Gurkha soldiers, many of whom have emigrated to the United Kingdom.

This beautiful village has made significant progress in the recent past. Previously, we’d have to walk the whole day to visit the district capital, the historic town of Gorkha. Now, the village is connected by a good blacktopped road. Electric power is also available cheaply; many villagers now use smartphones and the Internet.

With the help of donor agencies, such as the Red Cross, most homes are supplied with clean drinking water directly sourced from the cool and fresh natural springs. The Gurkha Welfare Trust and the Japan International Cooperation Agency have built excellent modern school buildings.

Caste infested

Our village is developing and modernising, but caste has not lost its grip. These beautiful hills overlooking the mighty Manaslu Peak and Annapurna ranges have been ravaged, as it were, by the caste system, where Dalits continue to suffer daily exclusion and humiliation. Those suppressing the Dalits are not “high castes” but mostly Gurung and Magar communities. Most of these households have at least one member with a history of serving either the British or Indian Gurkha forces.

Any public or private functions there—such as the wedding or barkhi feasts in honour of the dead—witness the public humiliation of Dalits, who are seated separately and made to wash their cups and plates themselves. Any “low caste” that touches the food, drinks or utensils meant for the dominant castes is likely to get beaten up, if not killed. Forget about private homes, even the public temples and some shops and tea stalls are out of bounds for them.

Traditional forms of caste oppression continue even though many Dalit households have pulled themselves out of absolute poverty either through exporting unskilled labour to the Gulf countries and Malaysia, including a few to Japan and South Korea, or through employment in Nepali towns.

Growing upward social mobility of Dalits has meant that the traditional patron-client system has become extinct. This means they are no longer required to serve their upper-caste clients through the year for very little returns. Yet, untouchability is widely practised.

Damaging colonial influences

Many local Dalits feel that the caste bites harder in these Gurung and Magar settlements than in many Bahun and Chhetri communities. Humiliation, ridicule and intimidation are more pervasive and severe among the Gurkhas. I have seen and heard about similar experiences in other districts including Kaski, Syangja and Parbat—the biggest sources of Gurkha soldiers.

How come the Gurkhas, known to the world for their extraordinary fighting skills and unwavering loyalty to the British, become so casteist? This is a question that should be scrutinised not just sociologically but also historically.

I stress that the British colonial history, inter alia, has greatly contributed to the Gurkha communities being rigid about caste. The British never took over Nepal, but they have had a lasting influence on the country, mainly through Gurkha recruitment. Gurkha policies and programmes, since the early 19th century, have directly contributed to “Hinduising” the remote communities of the Gurung, Magar, Rai and Limbu, and caste-ifying them in the process.

I remember watching how Nepalese recruiting agents, called the galla wala, used to screen the best boys from these hills for Gurkha regiments. The recruits had to be highly agile, active and in great shape, both physically and mentally. Education was not important, but caste background was the most important factor. The recruiters made every effort to select only the favoured castes (the Gurungs and Magars from the west, the Rais and Limbus from the east). Young and capable men from other castes, including Bahuns, Chhetris and Dalits, were not even allowed to contest. However, a few Dalits were occasionally picked up to perform their traditional roles as tailors, blacksmiths and shoemakers.

All the selected men were required to enlist as Hindus and strictly follow Hindu principles and rituals throughout their military careers. Every regiment had/has a Hindu temple under the control of a Bahun priest to whom all Gurkha soldiers had to offer salutations every week. The Hindu festival of Dashain was elaborately celebrated in the forces, and it was mandatory that everyone put on the red mark on their forehead and worshipped Goddess Durga.

But Gurkhas followed different religious traditions including Buddhism, Kirantism, Shamanism, Bon and Christianity. These faiths had no place in the regiment, although some of them have recently started following Buddhism. Gurkhas have their own ethnic festivals, such as Lhochhar of the Gurung, Maghe Sankranti of the Magar, Udhauli Ubhauli of the Rai and Limbu—which are still not recognised by the Gurkha regiments.

Thus, for whatever reason, the British have long assisted the Hindu state of Nepal in “Hinduising” the ethnic communities, especially the select group of four, residing in remote Himalayan foothills and in destroying their original cultures and customs and languages. Many Gurkha activists, such as Padam Bahadur Gurung, have spoken vociferously against this damaging colonial legacy in Nepal.

Role of donors

The aim of this article is not to defame the British. Like many politically organised Gurkhas, I want Britain to recognise this historical wrong and make swift changes to Gurkha recruitment and organisation, so it doesn’t in any way reinforce Nepal’s caste hierarchy and, more importantly, to actively work towards eliminating caste discrimination in Nepal. As one of the largest bilateral donors, the UK has a significant leverage upon the Nepali Government and civil society.

Likewise, other international donors should take the issue of caste discrimination more seriously. Aside from pressuring the Nepal Government to protect Dalit rights, they should make strict regulations about cases vis a vis the development aid they deliver to the communities. They should make strict conditions, for example, on any development infrastructure that they support—such as school buildings, community halls, drinking water facilities and health posts—so that it is not used to exclude and humiliate Dalits. This is exactly what I see happening everywhere, including in my village.