BRITISH ARMY CHIEF RETURNS HOME WEDNESDAY Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Chief of General Staff of the United Kingdom, General Sir Peter Wall, concludes his six-day Nepal visit Wednesday. He visited the Birendra Peace Operation Training Centre in Panchkhal. and observed the Nepali Army’s Sivapuri-based Army Command and Staff College and addressed the trainee personnel there Tuesday. . Host Chief of Army Staff General Gaurav Shumsher Rana hosted a dinner reception in the honour of his UK counterpart Tuesday evening. Nnnn CHINA TO CONTINUE PROMOTE COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP SAYS ENVOY Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Six days after the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan made clear that China will continue to promote its comprehensive partnership with Nepal, previously agreed upon during former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s China visit in 2009. During Nepal’s Beijing visit, the two sides had agreed to establish and develop a Nepal-China Comprehensive Partnership of Cooperation based on mutual interests and peaceful coexistence. Yang said that China’s policy to pursue economic cooperation and development in Nepal for mutual interest will continue. “We, Nepal and China, are in a strong position and have laid the foundation for achieving these goals,” said Ambassador Yang. “Nepal is important for China,” said Yang on Tuesday, while unveiling the outcomes of the 18th National Congress of the CPC and highlighting the major points delivered by outgoing President Hu Jintao. China desires Nepal’s political stability, its quick development and wants to be partner to its developmental endeavours, said the ambassador. He said that many Chinese companies were interested in investing in Nepal’s hydro resources, tourism development and agricultural sector. “We should observe the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and support equality among all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor,” said outgoing President Hu at the recent party congress. “We will continue to promote friendship and partnership with our neighbours, consolidate friendly relations and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with them, and ensure that China’s development will bring more benefits to our neighbours.” Nnnn KIN RECALL FALLEN GURKHS Kathmandu, 21 Nov.: Jham Bahadur Pun Magar, 55, wipes his eyes with the end of a bright white linen cloth he wears around his bare body, as a group of mourners sing a traditional Magar funeral dirge, Prateebha Tuladhar writes un The Kathmandu Post from Phedikholam Shyangjha.. “This song is about life and death and the loss of your loved ones. It makes me cry,” says Pun, a former Gurkha Rifle soldier, laughing at his own tears. Magar is one of the participants at a three-day mass funeral for former Gurkha servicemen in Syangja’s Salame Dada in Phedikhola VDC. The Gurkha Army Ex-servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO) is holding funeral rites for soldiers of 18 different ethnicities. The ceremony is meant to honour the 60,000 Gurkhas who died while serving the British Army in various conflicts, including the two World Wars. “We are organising this event to pray for the souls of those who lost their lives fighting for the British Empire,” said GAESO’s press advisor Rajesh Kulung. GAESO is also building a park and memorial at Salame Dada in memory of the dead soldiers. “We chose this location because most of the dead come from this area,” explained Padam Bahadur Gurung, Chairman of GAESO. Salame Dada is a traditional burial ground for some of the indigenous communities. The site is spread over 300 ropanis of land across the top of the hills, with the stunning Annapurna range as its backdrop. On Tuesday, the first day of the funeral, people from different ethnicities were busy organising and observing mourning rituals according to their own traditions. The Limbus started a slow wailing chant, as the priests dressed like shamans rattled drums and danced around their forest deity. Nearby, a group of Magars in monk attire, chanted Buddhist scriptures. A little further, the Hyolmos and Tamangs observed their own last rites while the Gurungs drew a huge crowd as the men, dressed in ethnic attire danced around the deceased, chanting prayers and beating drums to a sound that knocked at the bystanders’ heartbeats. Salame Danda was strewn with people coloured in their ethnic attires. “When we were growing up, we could not think beyond joining the British Army because that’s what we had seen our fathers do. We grew up knowing that was our destiny,” said Damar Bahadur Pun, whose four brothers and three uncles all were in the British Army. For some, the ceremony was also a time to take stock of the long and varied history of the famed Gurkhas. “We have been raising a debate on the grounds on which the British recruited Nepalis in the first place,” said Padam Bahadur Gurung. GAESO is demanding that the British government make public the total number of Gurkhas who died fighting for the British Empire. Gurkhas first joined the British East India Company Army in 1851 and later served in the British and Indian armies. More than 200,000 Gurkhas fought for the British crown in the two World Wars, according to GAESO. They have also served in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo and Iraq. There are currently just over 4,000 Nepalis serving in the British Army, according to GAESO. About 130 are recruited every year even as many have been rendered redundant as the army started downsizing last year. nnnn