Bharaat & Pakistan

beoram

beoram

Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Messages
1,780
In the midst of the Afghanistan/bin Laden muddle, following a terrorist attack on the Lok Sabha (House of Commons of the Indian Parliament), as many will be aware, India has been stationing troops along the border with Pakistan--I haven't heard anything, but I wonder if there aren't Indian Gorkha Regiments being involved in this action.

There was meant to be a summit between India & Pakistan in Kathmandu, being I believe that that's off now. Tony Blair is supposed to brokering some sort of negotiations, I've had rather mixed opinions of his competence, but hopefully all will turn out well, since both India & Pakistan claim to be nuclear-powers (though I read somewhere that Pakistan may have faked their 'nuclear tests'), but I don't think either wants a war. I think India is just very tired of Pakistan's support of terrorist organisations and their claims on Kashmir.....

Cheers all, B.
 
I heard both india and Pakistan have Ghurka regiments. Certainly the Ghurkas wouldnt be forced to face each other.
 
History, politics and religion all say there is no way this could happen.
 
Originally posted by Bill Martino
I doubt that any Gorkhas are serving with Pakistan.
Click to expand...

There are certainly no Gorkha Regiments serving Pakistan, unless I'm horribly mistaken. Gurkhas being of Hindu-Buddhist faith were not really welcome into the formation of a theocractic state.

In his book, The Gurkhas, Byron Farwell describes the hasty withdrawal of Gurkhas from the newly formed Pakistan
The Gurkha battalions on the West Pakistan side [this is when Bangladesh was East Pakistan-BMS] of the new frontier on Independence Day [15 August 1947-BMS] experienced special difficulties. The 1/4th, caught in Waziristan, sustained casualities when attacked by a Muslim mob. Gurkhas could expect no help from the Muslim troops in Pakistan. The 5th and 6th Gurkhas had made their home in Abbottabad for ninety years, but the Pakistanis ordered them to be gone within a fortnight and the Gurkhas made haste to comply. In St Luke's Church in Abbottabad were memorial tablets to those officers of the 5th who had died in service. These were taken down and shipped to England, where the regimental asociated of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) took charge of them and eventually arranged for them to be installed in St Luke's Church in Chelsea. The regimental memorials of the 6th Gurkhas were taken down and shipped to the regiment's new home in Malaya. Left behind by both regiments were their barracks, messes and clubs, the playing fields, the Dashera House [Uncle Bill--is Dashera the same as Dasein?--BMS], the little temple, and their dead.... (p. 260)
Click to expand...

The Gorkhas have fought against Pakistan before:
[The first Indo-Pak war] began, almost at the moment of the Partition, in the beautiful lands of Jammu and Kashmir. It was here that Gurkhas demonstrated they could fight just as well, as bravely and as skilfully, under Indian officers for India as they had fought under British officers for the United Kingdom. Battalions of the 5th, 8th and 9th Gorkhas took part in this inconclusive war. In 1948 Gurkhas also took part in India's invasion of the princely state of Hyderabad and in the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan (p. 264)
Click to expand...

Anyone know if any Indian Gorkha Regiments are being stationed along the border? cheers, B.
 
Don't get me started about this topic. I think the Gorkhas didn't serve Pakistan for the exact reason the Sikhs refused to join their side of Punjab with Pakistan. In 1947, when Hindus and Sikhs were leaving the Pakistani side of Punjab for India, Pakistanis used to check children to see if they were non-muslim or muslim. They used to check for circumcision in male children. If the child was circumcised, he would be allowed to live, if he was not circumsized, more often than not, he would be killed.

Arvind
 
Originally posted by Arvind
Don't get me started about this topic. I think the Gorkhas didn't serve Pakistan for the exact reason the Sikhs refused to join their side of Punjab with Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Hi Arvind, I don't think I've 'run into you' yet in the Cantina.

I didn't think that Pakistan even offered/wanted Gorkhas (or Sikhs) to serve Pakistan....
the more I read about the Partition, the more complicated the picture becomes....some of Gandhi's political decisions do seem to have some casual relationship in the breakdown of negotiations between the Congress Party & the Muslim League....but in any case, I was mainly wondering if anyone had heard anything about the Gorkha Regiments in connexion with the current situation..

cheers, Ben.
 
Beoram,

You haven't run into me because I haven't been on the cantina as much as I would like to. Due to work, taking care of my daughter when my wife is away, and other activities, I haven't been able to post as much as I would like to. But I have posted on and off for a while. In any case, the cantina has been compared to the Mos Eisley in Star Wars in many ways. While I would agree with that in some ways, I feel that the hospitality and wealth of knowledge in the cantina rivals that of Mos Eisley in many ways. So as many on the cantina have said, pull up a chair and you will find out a lot about khukuries here. Btw, about my background, I am an Indian American by origin, and a Sikh by religion as you might have guessed. I am able to talk about 1947 a little only because my father was one of the many refugees from the Pakistan side of Punjab during that time.

Arvind
 
Dashera in India, Dasein in Nepal -- same deal.

I see that my statement proved to be a bit mild.
 
Originally posted by Arvind
You haven't run into me because I haven't been on the cantina as much as I would like to. Due to work, taking care of my daughter when my wife is away, and other activities, I haven't been able to post as much as I would like to. But I have posted on and off for a while. In any case, the cantina has been compared to the Mos Eisley in Star Wars in many ways. While I would agree with that in some ways, I feel that the hospitality and wealth of knowledge in the cantina rivals that of Mos Eisley in many ways. So as many on the cantina have said, pull up a chair and you will find out a lot about khukuries here. Btw, about my background, I am an Indian American by origin, and a Sikh by religion as you might have guessed. I am able to talk about 1947 a little only because my father was one of the many refugees from the Pakistan side of Punjab during that time.
Click to expand...

I'm pleased to meet you Arvind...and yes I've found out what an extra-ordinary sort of place the cantina is.

I see that India has warily accepted Pakistan's offer of a "hand of friendship" at a regional summit in Nepal
_1744147_vajpayeeap.jpg


cheers all, B.
 
More info & photos from the SAARC conference in Kathmandu-
(The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985 at the First SAARC Summit held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when its charter was formally adopted. Members countries are INDIA, SRI LANKA, NEPAL, BHUTAN, BANGLADESH, PAKISTAN, MALDIVES)

SOUTH ASIAN NEWS COVERAGE
Hindustaan Times SAARC page
Special Nepalnews Report
Bhutan PM in Nepal, from Kuensel(Bhutan's national newspaper) Online



040101a.jpg

Nepalese policemen patrol near the Birendra International Convention Center, the site of the 11th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit on January 4, 2002


04saa8.jpg

A convey of Nepalese soldiers patrol a street in central Kathmandu, January 4, 2002, ahead of the summit which has been delayed.


040101.jpg

Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba (L) shows Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee the way upon his arrival at Kathmandu airport for the SAARC summit


saa3.jpg

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (L) talks with Nepal's King Gyanendra at the palace in Kathmandu, ahead of the 11th SAARC summit on January 3, 2002.


saa7.jpg

Atal Behari Vajpayee (2nd R) is offered garlands upon his arrival at Kathmandu's airport, as Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba (R) looks on


saa9.jpg

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga (R) walks by a saluting Nepali soldier upon her arrival in Nepal, for 11th SAARC summit


more photos from SAARC summit


cheers all, B.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top