DEHRADUN: Every year, Dehradun folks organize various events at Nalapani Fort in the Uttarakhand State of India in November to mark the gallantry of Balabhadra Kunwar.
Balbhadra had commanded the Nepali military force against the British to protect the Nalapani Fort and the subsequent invasion into Nepal during the Anglo-Nepal war.
This November 24th, the Nepalis diaspora here held the 45th fair and a rally to celebrate the warrior spirit of Balabhadra as well as the other Gurkha soldiers who valiantly fought in the war from 1814-1816.
During the fair, food festival and cultural shows were held while the rally ended up in a discourse where the speakers had generated discourse on the war in Nalapani Fort and the military acumen of Balbhadra and his troop among others.
Gurkha Democrat Front Dehradun Chairperson Surya Bikram Shahi said that Nepalis were hailed as the brave ones in the world due to the bravado of Balbhadra. He shared,” We organize such event yearly, where we recount the bravery of the Gurkhas who fought in the Anglo-Nepal war.”
He informed that two memorials were constructed by the British army in honor of the brave Gurkha soldiers. “There were memorials built in Dehradun in memory of Balbhadra, and Gillespie, the high-ranking Generals of the British army who was killed by Nepali military force. Nepali army was commended as the ‘Brave Enemy’.
According to him, the memorials were conserved by the government of India by fencing it.
Bir Gurkha Welfare Committee General-Secretary Bishal Thapa added, “It is said that Balbhadra died in Afghanistan in course of fighting against the English army on the side of the king of Punjab Raja Ranjit Singh. It is also said that he had said ‘We have not been defeated. We are leaving the Nalapani Fort’.”
Dehradun is home to some one million people of Nepali origin who believe that the Nepalis were not defeated in the war, the war stopped after the Sugauli Treaty.
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