 "Why are boys from neighboring countries desperate to come to India, they want to join the Indian army, read the news")
Every youth in India dreams of joining the Indian Army. Even today, young people from remote villages of the country prepare to join the army in the morning and evening. But this is not the story of the youth of India. The story is about a neighboring country where young men are preparing to join the Indian Army. The story of these fighters from the neighboring country is not new. They have a long history in the Indian Army. We are talking about Gurkha fighters of Nepal.
Al Jazeera reports that at the end of November, in a beautiful playground in the western Nepalese city of Pokhara, around 60 young people are seen doing jumping jacks in the chilly morning every morning. The trainers of these youths are training them for the next round of the Gurkha recruitment programme. Under this, they will be recruited into the British Army or the Singapore Police Force.
Shishir Bhattari, 19, from a town in central Nepal, is one of the youths undergoing training on the grounds of the Salute Gurkha Training Centre. Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said that since childhood, I wanted to be a part of any army in the world. The credit for this dream goes to my mother, who always encouraged me. When I was in sixth grade, a member of the British Army came to our school and told us how they work. I was very impressed with their ‘free, fair and transparent’ selection process, which made me aim to join the British Army.
He added that before training in the British Army, my dream was to join the Indian Army. Many Gurkhas have served in India and I too am keen to carry on the legacy of my forefathers. I also liked the Bollywood film Shershah, which is about the Indian Army and inspired me even more.
Why was the dream of joining the Indian Army broken?
But youngsters like Shishir no longer have the option of joining the Indian Army, as the Nepal government has suspended the Gurkha recruitment process in 2022 in protest against changes in India’s recruitment rules. The youth say that it is very sad. Earlier, if we did not join the British Army or the Singapore Police, at least we had the option of joining the Indian Army. I hope India changes the rules. This will help many of us and give us more work options.