Migrant warriors and transnational lives: constructing a Gurkha diaspora

ABSTRACT

The Nepalese Gurkhas have often been regarded as brave warriors in the scheme of British military recruitment since the 1800s. Today, their descendants have settled in various parts of South East and South Asia. How can one conceive of a Gurkha diaspora, and what are the Gurkhas and their families’ experiences of belonging in relation to varied migratory routes? This paper locates Gurkhas as migrants by deliberating upon the connection between military service and migration paths. I employ the lens of methodological transnationalism to elucidate how the Gurkha diaspora is both constructed and experienced. Diasporic consciousness and formation undergo modification alongside subsequent cycles of migration for different members of a diaspora. The article thus evaluates the transnational lives of migrants, and how these are connected to re-territorialized dimensions of identity and belonging.

KEYWORDS:

• Gurkhas
• methodological transnationalism
• diaspora
• belonging

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Other scholars point out that the Gurkhas were not treated as mercenaries but were fully integrated soldiers in the British Army (Bellamy 2011; Rai 2009).

2. Although retired British Gurkhas now have the option of settling in the UK, my respondents tell me that they prefer living in Hong Kong due to more manageable living costs, and the familiarity of ‘Asian faces’. Some say that they hope to continue working in Hong Kong and when they are no longer able to do so, they may return to Nepal.

3. There have been distinctions made among the Gurkhas who serve in the British Army, the Singapore Police Force and the Indian Army, hierarchized as such. In order to make a distinction between the British and Singapore Gurkhas, for example, the latter pointed out to me that they wished to show the Nepalese government that they are doing something for Nepal, and to differentiate themselves from their British Gurkha counterparts where the British government does not appear to be contributing enough to retired servicemen in Nepal. Other instances of inter-diasporic relations may be traced to how some British Gurkha children and Singapore Gurkha children regard each other in negative ways, with both stereotyping each group as being ‘spoilt’ and very different in terms of upbringing and their accent, among other factors. Examples of relations between overseas Gurkhas and those in Nepal include active Gurkha servicemen who contribute about S$10 of their monthly income towards a widows’ pension scheme initiated by retired Gurkhas in Pokhara, as well as a day's salary to the Gurkha Welfare Scheme in Nepal.

Additional information

Funding

Part of the research for this work was supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 2 grant [MOE 2012-T2-1-153].