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THE fierce combat skills, loyalty and vaunted courage of Nepal's renowned Gurkha soldiers have made them a respected - and feared - sight in opposing armies.
Now Kathmandu's new Maoist rulers have vowed to end the two-century-old tradition of Gurkhas going abroad to serve.
Mr Baburam Bhattarai, No. 2 in the Maoist hierarchy that unexpectedly won the most seats in Nepal's national elections this month, has called the practice 'humiliating'.
A future Maoist government would find enough employment for these men in Nepal instead, he said.
But that may be easier said than done.
Unemployment is rampant in Nepal and job opportunities in the private sector scarce. The rising cost of oil and food has made life in the country a struggle.
Gurkhas currently serve in the British and Indian armies as well as in the Singapore police force. Those servicemen earn far more than if they had stayed at home.
'We say that if a Gurkha gets into the British army there is enough money for his whole clan's benefit,' says Mr Bhim Thapa, a former Gurkha soldier in the Indian army, who now drives a taxi in Kathmandu, the Nepali capital.
In one of the best-known mercenary deployments in recent times, Britain sent its Gurkha soldiers into combat in the Falklands War. The former colonial power won a quick victory.
Now the Gurkhas feel they are battling for their very existence. The warrior tribe has been pushed into a moral dilemma of choosing between dignity and livelihood.
'Nothing stirs a Gurkha more than his honour dared, but here we are in a fix,' Mr Mahendra Lal Rai, the general secretary of the largest former Gurkha soldiers group, told Reuters.
'We do feel like mercenaries fighting for foreign armies, but who can deny our economic reality, our compulsions? We are caught between pride and practicality.'
Last year, some 17,500 applicants competed for 230 British army jobs where an infantryman can expect a starting pay in excess of S$35,000 a year. That is more than 50 times what an ordinary Nepali can hope to make at home.
But those opportunities are limited by the needs of their recruiters.
The Indian army, which has some 36 Gurkha battalions, continues to be their best hope.
Besides the 40,000 Gurkha servicemen in the Indian army, there are more than 100,000 Gurkha pensioners.
Post-service retirement and pension means a Gurkha lives comfortably for the rest of his life. The Indian army runs pension posts, hospitals and military canteen services for retired Gurkhas.
Indeed, the Maoists resent the Gurkhas' Indian links because of the hold that the Indians have on them.
The Indian connection stops the spread of their Maoist ideology and the Gurkhas may at some point be used to take on the red cadres.
Maoists have kidnapped close kin of Gurkhas and held them until the Gurkha soldier defected to their side.
Gurkhas are famous not only for their bravery but also have a reputation for loyalty and obedience.
As retired Indian Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw famously said: 'Any man who says he knows no fear is either lying or a Gurkha.'
velloor@sph.com.sg
pjay@sph.com.sg
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