Nepalmountainnews Report | 15 Jul 2008
The Maoist leaders, who opposing foreign imperialism in all its guises, threatened to end what they see as the humiliating recruitment of young Nepali men into the British armed forces had said that they will decide the issue after reviewing the country's new economic policy.
"We don't have any immediate plans to stop the recruitment of Nepali youths into the British army," Nanda Kishore Pun, a deputy commander from the Maoist's People's Liberation Army said as quoted by the AFP.
"For the next few years we will be concentrating on bringing an economic revolution, Pun said adding, "then we will deal with this issue".
The Maoist party in his capacity as the largest party after the April 10 Constitution Assembly elections is poised to form the first government following the abolition of the centuries-old monarchy.
He said that a review of the recruitment policy would not come for "five to seven years."
Concerned say Gurkhas service in the British army has helps support tens of thousands of people in the country. At least 30,000 families depend on the salaries and the pensions of the British Gurkhas, told Lok Bahadur Gurung, from the Nepal chapter of the British Gurkha Welfare Society to the agency.
However, deputy Maoist commander, Janardan Sharma, described their recruitment into the British army as "shameful and humiliating."
"It's wrong to sacrifice Nepalis to protect the sovereignty of foreign countries," he said.
Nepalis were first recruited into the army of the British East India Company after the short but bloody Anglo-Nepali war that ended in 1816.
About 3,500 Nepalis are currently serving in the British army, but the pensions of retirees support tens of thousands of people in some of Nepal's poorest places.
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