Like so many other political, economic and cultural processes, the issue of Nepalis in foreign military and pars-military forces is often obscured by multi-layered veils. These veils not only cloud the perceptions of our men in foreign uniform, but also fog the personal and collective values of Nepalis generally. This leads to distorted interpretations of our past and present, and to wrong prescriptions for the future.
The Myth of "Isolationism"
One of the long-standing myths is summarised in the notion of "isolation". Politicians, political scientists, historians and journalists without exception have told us that prior to 1950, we were, as a people, isolated from other peoples. Correspondingly, that the Nepali state practiced isolationism vis-à-vis the rest of the world. The "modern period" of Nepali history is said to begin from the 1950-51 watershed, when there was a "democratic revolution" which, in turn, opened Nepal to the world.
This interpretation of history is patently false. Lying in the zone of transition between the Indic and Sinic civilisations, two of the greatest cultures of world history, Nepal could not have remained isolated in any period of history. Trade, culture, migration, political influence and domination constantly buffetted what is present-day Nepal. The scale and the rate of flow varied temporarily at brief periods, but it always resumed.