Nepal Army’s unpopularity on their own soil
Posted by yrol on 30th July 2006
There is no doubt that the Nepal Army (NA), still loyal to the Palace, is full of “power thirsty” people and to rise above the rank of colonel you need to be connected to the Shahs and Ranas either by birth, or marriage or a proven track record of loyalty that goes back several generations.
The NA has, for the most part, been run like a family-owned business by a closely-knit inner circle of mostly Ranas and Shahas. The army has for generations provided the Shahs and Ranas of Nepal with an elevated social status and clout and associated benefits - monetory and othewise. If you belong to one of these ruling clans you can be assured of a job in the army even if your IQ is barely 50.
However, if you just happen to be an ordinary Nepali lad eager to see yourself in uniform, chances are you’ll not be let in unless you happen to know, personally or through a link, at least an officer not below the rank of colonel or somehow cough up a few hundred thousand rupees even for the lowly job of a private “recruit”. If you’re taken in, you’ll end up at the house of the officer who helped you get selected, doing his chores and running errands for him as his domestic helper.
It’s not just military plans and strategies that are kept secret inside the NA, the civilian population and, to a lesser extent the government of the day, has practically no information about the NA’s sources of revenue (other than the regular budgetary allocation), expenditure, criteria for promotions, contracts, and virtually everything else the NA is engaged in. We don’t know how they are spending our money and how much UN pays to NA for its peacekeeping operations. Where does the money they charge for securing their own country’s infrastructure like communications towers and power plants (almost exclusively hydel) go?
Bootlicking is the dominant culture inside NA - the more you shine your senior officer’s boots, the better are your chances of getting a promotion. Although the term “Royal” has been severed from the NA’s official name, the spirit lives on - the NA may not be “royal” in name, but in deed it is still every inch so.
That probably explains why some NA officers tend to think that ordinary Nepalis do not matter. How would one otherwise explain the unprovoked and unwarranted killing of 11 villagers at Nagarkot and 6 more at Belbari?
The recent kidnapping and thrashing of three police officers at the NA’s Bhairabnath Battalion HQ has once again reinforced the popular perception of the NA as an institution that refuses to reform itself. Those who run the NA are still above the law, and they can apprehend and torture, or even kill anyone at anytime with impunity, so noone dares question or interfere with their modus operandi, legal or illegal.
According to the police, some three-dozen armed soldiers from Bhairabnath Battalion, on the command of Captain Rabindra Bikram Rana, surrounded the Durbarmmarg Ward Police Post situated at the heart of the city and issued threats to the police officers. “We will destroy the office and shoot all of you if you don’t hand Bista over to us.”
Bikendra Singh Bista was arrested at Thamel on Saturday night for beating a police officer.
Soldiers entered the office and took Bista along with Inspector Ram Bahadur KC, ASI Dharmendra Roy and Constable Dilli Ram Tamang to Bhairabnath Battalion and tortured them at the barracks for about two hours.
This is not the first time that Captain Rana has sought to settle a score through the barrel of the gun. Because of blessings from someone higher up in the chain of command, Rana is only too eager to settle an issue in his own terms.
And as in the past, the government and the NA have set up separate “high-level independent probe committee” and “General Military Court”, but as usual, the culprits will be allowed to go scot free. Just as in the Nagarkot and Belbari incidents some “small fish” will be thrown out from the institution while it’s going to be business as usual for the “big fish”.
As Rana has been suspended by PM Girija Prasad Koirala’s direct order, he is now outside the jurisdiction of a military court and should therefore be tried in a civil court of justice. It’s time the “big fish” was finally tossed out of the lake and housed in a man-made tank called a prison cell.
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