Gorkhaland, "The illegitimate Son of Nepal in India" - History of Ethnic separatism and it's illegitimacy

Before I go into very detailed and multifaceted aspects of their demands and their illegitimacy. It is better to start of with very simple facts.

Who are Gorkha / Gurkha?

These are people of Nepal who has their own different community wise language ("Khas Kura" or "Khas bhasa") as well as a common Lingua Franca which we outsiders label as Nepali language. They belong to the Mongoloid race whereas North Indians mostly belong to the Aryan race and South Indians who are the earliest dwellers of India belong to the Dravidian Race.

 Currently, there are 40,000 Gorkhas in the Indian army alone and several other units of different armed forces like - police, BSF,etc have additional Gorkha personnel. Limbu ethnic group is the richest among the Gorkhas in Darjeeling because they fall under the Scheduled Caste category and hold government posts in Hills.

What are the common Gorkha Surnames / Titles?

Magar / Mangar, Rai, Limbu, Gurung, Tamang, Sunar, Chettri.

What is their religion?

Hinduism, Buddhism, Kirat. In India some have converted to Christianity to get minority benefits as part of Government welfare program.

Where from do they derive their name - Gurkha / Gorkha???

It is derived from an ancient hindu warrior saint called Gorakhnath.

What is the racial origin of Gorkhas / Gurkhas?

Genetic researchers, Palaeoanthropologists, studied the blood samples of different North Indian communities like - Punjabis, Maharashtrians, Gujaratis etc with the blood samples of 50 healthy Gorkhas from different communities (Gurung, Tamang, etc.) and compared the results of HLA-CLASS I gene frequency based on their antigens' values - A2, A11, A33, B18, B44 and B51 showed higher values compared to all Indian communities of the plains. The researchers traced the origin of the Gorkhas to the descendants of the Tibeto-Burman Families who spread across high himalayas and in Tibetan Plateau and draw their origin from Mongoloid race. The research results were revealed in paper on "Study of Genetic Relationships of Indian Gurkha Population on the Basis of HLA - A and B Loci Antigens" by researchers Monojit Debnath and Tapas K. Chaudhuri

Which other states have Gorkha Population apart from West Bengal?

1.     Darjeeling District in West Bengal has 9 lakh Gorkhas.

2.     Sikkim has 5 lakh Gorkha population;

3.     Himachal Pradesh has 2 lakh Gorkhas

4.     Uttarakhand has 6 lakh Gorkhas

5.     Punjab has 1 lakh Gorkhas

6.     States like Assam, Northe Eastern states too have Gorkha population.

If their demand is met in West Bengal, the Gorkhas living in all these states will also start movement for their autonomy creating political disturbance in entire border region between India-China, India-Nepal. This can’t be allowed from India’s security perspective. We have enough of problems – Maoists, Pakistani Terrorists and from our own political leaders. 

Let me for the time being hypothesize that The Gorkhaland movement bears fruit and these Gorkhas get a new state then what? All the Gorkhas, as the Gorkhaland movement is claiming -identity of Indian Gorkhas, living in all these states will come to Gorkhaland and stay??

 Darjeeling District has the capacity and infrastructure to accommodate  nurture and nourish this huge Gorkha influx??? or they will live in their respective states without their "Indian Gorkha ethnic identity" while their counterparts in Darjeeling enjoys their statehood???? Why no media house is raising these questions I wonder? Even the political leaders perhaps lacks the education to counter them. But we Indians, we Bengalees, we Punjabis, We Himachalis, We Assamese must unite against them.

Do they love India??

Well, I would put it this way. They are very dedicated and loyal to their masters as mercenaries. It sounds derogatory, I know but they are simply hired killers and they kill for their masters. The reason why they are taken in so many different armed forces by different nations around the world. This is also the reason why they also fit into several clauses defining foreign mercenaries under the Geneva Convention's Article - 47 Protocol - I. For example - 

1. Gorkha / Gurkhas in Malaysian Army

They are mostly concentrated in Royal Ranger Regiment of the Malaysian Army. Others living in Malaysia live in and around Kuala Lumpur working as security guards.

2.Gorkha / Gurkha in Hong Kong

Their population is well represented in this place and especially concentrated in security guard companies operating in Hong Kong (G4S Gurkha Services, Pacific Crown Security Service, Sunkoshi Gurkha Security) and among labourers.


They have moved away from their Barracks in Hong Kong and currently inhabit Yuen Long and Kuwen Chun regions. This is sufficient enough for me to smell a Chinese connection to the Gorkhaland issue.

3.Gurkhas in U.S Army / Navy / Air Force

They work as Sentries in US Navy base in Bahrain (Middle East), US Embassy in Afghanistan and so on.

4. Gurkhas / Gorkhas in British Army (since 2006)

There are 6 regiments approximately and reorganized as and when the Britishers thought it necessary. In Britain the Gorkhas can't command any Regiment and they can't apply for the post of any commissioned officer directly. They have to rise through promotions. However, there is no such ban for British citizens. They are the fastest growing Ethnic group in Britain and their population stood at 72,173 as per UK survey conducted in 2008. 7 out of 10 Gurkhas residing there were born in Nepal. They followed Hinduism, Buddhism, Kirat religion (10% of immigrant British Gurkhas). It is expected that in 5 more years their population has increased in UK. As per a research paper published in UK reflects one Moti Lal Singh as the first immigrant Gorkha settlor in UK in 1850. They have high employment rate and those not in British Army work in low grade jobs and are self employed too.

The 4 points discussed above demonstrates that the Gurkhas have no particular allegiance for a nation.they are on their own and where there is profit through armed conflict. The 4 points don't end the list.There are many other nations who employ Gurkhas but since, this is not the topic of discussion, some other nations have been omitted. They may be there. But many readers would be wondering to know how do Gurkhas fit into the definition of Mercenaries??The Answer is just below:-

Involvement of Gurkha / Gorkha Mercenaries in Sierra Leone:-

Robert C. MacKenzie, an American national was killed in Action in February,1995 during the conflict here, while commanding a group of Gorkha / Gurkha mercenaries operating under the company name - Gurkha Security Guards.

Are there any other Mercenary groups working around the world, apart from Gorkhas / Gurkhas?? What are the other Ethnic groups operating as Mercenaries?

French Legion, Executive Outcomes, Baghdad Security, Gurkhas (Gurkha Security Guards in Sierra Leone), Islamic Legion ( under M. Gaddafi of Egypt), etc. However, none have any distinct Ethnic characterization like the Gurkhas.

Ethnic identity of Gorkhas / gurkhas versus Ethnic identity of indigenous Indian population:-

India has several Ethnic groups and each group is living inside India keeping intact their respective cultural identities. This is what makes Indian dresses so colorful and India in general being labeled as the Land of Diversity. Due to its immense ethnic diversity, the states are differentiated based on the dominant language spoken. There are so many indigenous tribal people, Banjara, Konkani, etc spread across India that division based on Ethnic groups would create massive logistic problems, border demarcation issues and so many break up means there would be 5000+ members of parliament and agreeing upon one decision would be impossible. Apart from this aspect Indigenous population has been living in India from the start and has mixed well and even if they demand a separate state, I don’t see it as wrong. Gorkhas are occupiers and they have a distinct political agenda and political aspiration in India, the reason why they are demanding a separate state. The Gorkhas are citing the example of Telengana. A person of Telengana belongs to the Dravidian race and is the earliest dwellers in India. They were before the Aryans came to India. Moreover, Telengana comprises of 10 districts whereas Darjeeling is a single district. The demand is logically outrageous, even if we overlook the racial aspect. The only source of income is from tourism and from tea plantations. As we already know that the tea plantations are not doing well and many have closed for good. The place is not mineral rich; it’s not a plain land that large factories can develop. If they (Gorkha Janamukti Morcha) are talking about their legal right as the original dwellers in this land then why don’t they claim the entire north Bengal as a separate state? They won’t because they don’t have the numeric superiority to carry out their audacity.

Ethnic identity of Gorkhas versus Ethnic identity of different Ethnic groups across the world:-

You must already know by now that the Gorkha population is growing and is approximately about 1 lakh in UK but they don't need a separate statehood to establish their identity. There is a massive population of ethnic Germans and French living for generations in Switzerland, they don't need statehood to establish their identity. However, Bimal Gurung and company and some pro-Gorkha media channels operating in Darjeeling are making a propaganda that Gorkhaland is must, to have their ethnic identity. There are several US states where the official language is Spanish because of their huge presence, however, the Spanish people in USA and even the African people don't need a separate state to establish, preserve their ethnic identity. USA has the 5th largest spanish speaking population in the world. These International examples show that preserving one's own ethnic identity is not dependant on the factor of statehood as claimed by gorkha janamukti morcha.

Kirat territory and Gorkha Conquests:-

The eastern part of Nepal comprised of 10 politically independent nations of Kirat population known as Limbuwan dynasties. Limbuwan people settled the Eastern Nepal 30 - 40 thousand years ago as they are shifting from Assam towards Nepal due to their shifting cultivation. They have kirat as their religion and in 1769 Gorkhas captured these territories by military conquests and stripped its power as autonomous hegemonies during the Shah dynasty in Nepal. Therefore, Eastern Himalayas is not the homeland of Gorkhas. So, they have no right to talk about Ethnic identity suppression under Bengal Government. In between the Kirat states lied The rajput kingdom of King Prithvi Narayan Shah which was Lamjung state, which is currently a district of Nepal. Therefore, the legitimacy of Gorkha Janamukti Morchas demand for Gorkha identity is bogus.

Minority to Majority and now towards statehood:-

In the above sections we came to know that Eastern Nepal had 10 Kirat dynasties before their defeat in the hands of Gorkhas in 1769. The Limbuwan dynasties as they were know comprised of Limbu majority population. Now! The Limbu people in India live as scheduled castes and Gorkhas have become majority and they are now claiming Darjeeling to be their paternal property.