"IF A MAN SAYS HE IS NOT AFRAID TO DIE, HE IS EITHER LYING OR HE IS A GURKHA."
This statement holds a history. Gorkha, which was just a name of one of the weak , geographically and economically negligible kingdom, rose to be the strongest and largest kingdom in Southern Asia during the time of its ultimate advancement . The dream of King Nara Vhupal Shah was fulfilled by his son and successor King Prithivi Narayan Shah when he invaded Nuwakot, a neighboring state, and slowly the entire territory of present Nepal and some present day Indian places like Darjeeling and Sikkim. The proud kingdom stood strong against the Tibetan Kingdom in the North and the great British empire in the South. This country is one of those very few places in the world which was never ruled by any foreigner power in any instant of the history. The sovereignty of the kingdom existed from the unknown past and shall continue till the death of stars in the sky.
To keep up with the pride and honor was definitely not so easy. The army of Nepal fought with the biggest known armies and kingdom in the world but remained undefeated and this was possible only because of the bravery of Nepalese people. The determination that they had to keep their nation safe and sovereign made every enemy to drop onto their knees and suffer the defeat. Nepalese thus earned the prestige of bravest of the braves and proudly roar in the present world too. Those proud warriors are regarded as The Gurkha.
Gorkha is not just a place but is the origin of Gurkha and Gurkha is not just an army, but is the pride of Nepal and Nepalese which shall never be copied or duplicated by anyone in the world. It is probably a very easy lesson to be learnt by everyone in the world but some proud Indians in Darjeeling seem to be looking for a tough way to do so.
PROUD INDIANS WANT NEPAL'S PRIDE??
These few days the northern hilly region of India, Darjeeling, is going through a political crisis as the citizens there have come to streets demanding for a separate federal state named Gorkhaland. Till date, Indian Government is not positive about the demand but since the people in protest don't seem to mind violence to strengthen their demand, the verdict has possibilities to go in either of the ways. People there have been demanding this for a long time. But it came as a mass movement recently when the government of the Bangal state refused to accept Nepali language as an official or national language which went against the will of Nepali language speaking population in that region. Now, this is resulting to be one of the biggest mass movements in history of Darjeeling.
But why 'Gorkhaland'?
People in the protest are saying they need Gorkhaland as their state only because in some part of the history they were a part of the proud nation Nepal and got separated to be a part of East-India company ruled by British. This happened under a peaceful agreement between the both sides involved in the treaty. And after two centuries, people of Darjeeling regard themselves as proud Indians but yet demand Gorkhaland as their home. They call themselves Indian Gurkha but since nobody who is not a Nepalese cannot make any claim to be Gurkha, it is nothing more than a insane demand of the people in the movement.
Do they deserve 'Gorkhaland'?
To be called as people of Gorkhaland, first of all anyone need to be a person from Gorkha. And since Gorkha is a place from Nepal, no one out of it deserve to be a Gorkhaland resident. As per the claims of Darjeeling people, they believe that they are the Indian Gurkha. This is weird because Gurkha are not seperated by any nationality. Gurkha is the term used to introduce Nepalese army and sometimes Nepalese people but the demanding people are Indian nationals.
Similarly, they don't know much about the history of Gurkha, significance of Gorkha as a place, the sequence of political and social activities inside that place. Gurkha was always very far from the Darjeeling and people living there might mearly have taken interest over it when Darjeeling was a Nepal's part. After separation, their nationality changed and so did their interests. And now, after many generations of people have passed, no one in that place even recognizes the place and historical importance of the place that they are demanding for.
Also, when Nepalese social media sites wanted to present their views regarding the case of Darjeeling, many hate comments have been to passed to Nepal, addressing Nepal as an underdeveloped, illiterate and poor country. People of Darjeeling have compared their country with Nepal and considered themselves to be much luckier to be in India. They look like happy and proud Indians but they still want 'Gorkhaland'. The only reason for this is their greed to be respected as Gurkha. They want a share of the respect which was earned by the people of Nepal. Darjeeling have not assisted us to gain the respect that our ancestors earned by a long time of bravery and determination.
Darjeeling is known for its natural beauty. But it didn't become enough to give them the respect that their arrogance demands. And being called a Gurkha is the greatest honor of bravery and greatness anyone can gain. So using the lost past of Darjeeling's relation with Nepal and by taking advantage of the common language we share, they are trying to be called as Gurkha. They are trying to earn the respect that they never earned and they never deserve.
POTENTIAL DANGERS FOR NEPAL....
Before the problems over the pride and dignity of Gurkha, Gautam Buddha's birth place was one of the major issues when Nepal had to clash with India. Using the fact that Buddha earned his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, a place in India, they claimed the birth place of Buddha was India. When the entire world knows the fact about Buddha's birth, they still don't hesitate to call India the birth place of Buddha.
According to many people presenting views in social media, similar type of problems can arise in Nepal regarding the identity of Gurkha if Darjeeling will be named the Gorkhaland. The insane creativity of Indians will try to make people believe that the bravest Gurkha army belong to India because 'The Gorkhaland' lies in their country. And if our political policies will remain same as they are today towards the relations with India until that potential danger comes over, Nepalese political leaders may agree with the claim of India in the corresponding circumstances.
This fact leaves our brave and proud identity in danger of encroachment if the demands of people of Darjeeling will be positively addressed by the Indian government. We are in support of people of Darjeeling if they demand something they own but are not granted with. But since they are moving steps to invade our pride to earn some pride for themselves, it is a time for us to take a strict stand against the demand of Darjeeling. We hope people of Darjeeling will soon understand what senseless activity they are doing and also we hope they will get all the justice and pride if they own or deserve them.
Jay Nepal, Jay Gorkha