In Nepal, Marriage Is A Public Affair Where You Show Off Your Power and Property. Yes, Even If That Is Illegal. Because Who Can Touch An Army General Who Is Considered Above The Law?
General’s Juwai: On the marriage day: pic taken on Sunday, May 14. Pic by Todd Krainin
General’s Daughter, the Behuli. Pic by Bikas Rauniar
They say marriage is a private affair. But, not so in Nepal. Look at our own General Pyar Jung Thapa, the Chief of the Army Staff (who has just been recommended by a probe commission to be suspended from duty along with other chiefs of the security agencies for repressing last month’s historical Peoples’ Movement). But he has made us proud. We the people, among the world’s poorest, are awed by reading about the marriage of his daughter. We are so proud today that we have forgotten our poverty. How can we be poor when our chief of army staff can have such a grand and expensive marriage ceremonies in the city? We are now all wishing that we could be the chief of the army staff so that we can also have same kind of marriage ceremony for our daughters. We wish we were General Thapa so that we can have same amount of money. By the way, how much is the OFFICIAL salary of the Chief of the Army Staff in Nepal? Not more than Rs. 30 thousands. But how can he spend so generously and proudly? We wish we could know answer and apply the same formula to earn the money. And we are sure that such a formula would make every Nepalis rich and would win Noble prize for economics.
An Artist’s Impression: The Lavish Marriage Ceremony of Our General’s Daughter.
Let’s not talk about how the county is debating on the issue of bringing Royal Nepal Army under the control of Parliament because it’s the season of marriage and general is throwing lavish party. (yes, not only one but five parties) on the occasion of his youngest daughter Pragyashree Thapa’s nuptial. Let’s not disturb him. Lets not talk about reforms in the RNA. Let’s talk about the marriage. This will definitely diminish much-talked about Indian weddings such as billionaire Laxmi Mittal’s daughter’s wedding few years ago.
We Also Salute You General: You Have Shown Us A Great Example. We Wish We Were Rich Just Like You.
Coincidentally, the groom, Pratap Singh Rao, member of India’s former royal family, is coming by Jet Air. According to a report by Kedar Ojha in today’s Kantipur Daily, two five star hotels Soaltee and Hyatt are booked for the Indian guests. Thapa’s official quarters called Shashi Bhawan in posh area of Lalitpur is decorated to mark the occasion. Apart from the Who’s Who of Nepal, the King and Queen will give blessings to the bride and the groom.
Proud Parents: General Pyar Jung Thapa with his wife.
Yes, let’s also forget that in Nepal, there is a Social Conduct Law that restricts these kinds of extravaganzas in marriage and other family functions. But, as English novelist Charles Dickens said: Law is an ass. He could not be more apt in Nepal than anywhere else on earth. Because we firmly believe that thula and dhani le je garda pani hunchha, kanun ta nikukha haru ka lagi matra ho (Rich and powerful can do anything even if that is against the law because law is only for those poor folks who don’t have any connections.)
Congratulations General! No, we are not thinking about the law. Because, as Dickens said, that is an ass.
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Comments
127 responses to “A Big Fat ‘Illegal’ Nepali Wedding”
Glade..Raja G was there only for 1 year only..and during that period the others who should have helped were in India discussing and planning the agitation with Indian Leftists how to make Raja G fail..no constructive help to him….
Maobadi will say 90% of bureaucracy is corrupt and bring their killers into all important, big or small, civil positions…
Glade I do not know your name..you may be comfortable with your assumed name…but NO SELF RESPECTING ARMY IN THE WORLD can hold its head high after changing its name….
STOP playing NAME GAMES…
There is no need to change the name of RNA to NA……
If you think RNA is not good strengthen it ..Make another Anti-Terrorist Force to fight Maobadi….What prevented our politicians from making our Police strong….
Let us not hark back to Raja B (God Bless His Soul!!) and say he did not do this ..did not do that..what have other done???
BEING A GENERAL AND WITH THAT KIND OF WEALTH, CAN YOU DO A SMALL DEED? CAN YOU SPENT Rs. 250 a month to send a poor kid to school?
Congratualtions on your wedding Pragyashree!! Wish your dad did not spend the taxpayers money on it.
shanti, why so prickly about the criticism of the RNA? A lot of the criticism of the RNA is thoroughly justified. If someone or something is bad they must be critized so that there is pressure for reform and correction.
Everyone knows that the RNA is a playground for the Thakuri elite. Over 70% of the top posts are held by them not because they are competent (their incompetency has been thoroughly proved by the Maoist rebels) but because of their family background. Can such nepotism be a good thing? Will it not harm that soldiers morale? If you would open your eyes you would see how corrupt they are too. I have some friends in the army and believe me they talk with disgust at how corrupt and unprofessional the organization is-unfortunately the system has made them corrupt too.
I find your attitude very sad. If you want to defend the RNA from criticism fine…but come up with a logical defense. Don’t deflect criticism by talking about Maoists and the incompetent police.
You asked me if I had been a soldier as if I need to be one to be able to critize the RNA. That is silly. By that logic I will have to have been a politician or a rebel to be able to critize the SPA or the Maoists!
Anyway FYI I grew up with what has been called by many experts the best soldiers in the world.
Yes Kirat you said it. The RNA is basically a playground for the Rana/Shah/Thapa aristocracy. Because, like you mentioned, over 70% of the top posts are held by people with very little field experience, it has translated into major tactical errors during the war on Maoists!
The RNA needs alot of reform and we need to make it a professional organization!
The 2000 soilders decorating a house is a far deeper cultural phenomenon. In Nepali culture the demarkation between official and personal is very hazy. For example, at embassies I have seen how the ambassador’s ralatives come and use all the facilities (car, driver, etc.) for personal use. Stuff like that happens very often. I think with the army, as far as I know, whenever a soilder is getting married they all get involved – even if its a lower rank.
Of course Pyar Jung Thapa is not going to do decorate a soilder’s house but you know what I mean.
“Glade I do not know your name..you may be comfortable with your assumed name…but NO SELF RESPECTING ARMY IN THE WORLD can hold its head high after changing its name….”
There was once an entity called the “Royal British Army”. Its now the British Army.
I don’t see why the Army should feel demoralized just because it got its name changed. Just reflects the new reality.
I had a Thakuri friend who was so laid back. Why? Because he didn’t have to worry about career options. The army was waiting for him. He’d be made a lieutenant straight away.
He himself thought it was a joke, but was quite happy in the end. Yup, end that system. Bring out more competency.
Don’t glorify the RNA please. Its a joke, in urgent need of repair.
corruption in army is the same everywhere in the world. No matter how much you cry and moan, it’s gonna be the same
What is his salary?
can anyone give me more information on pragyashree thapa……. im dying to know more about her! i believe her mother in law the rather arrogant asha gaekwad is something she will have to cope up with! i wish her all the best. is pragyashree a doctor? what does she do? is she of royal blood?
can anybody answer these qs.?
you can check out my site too, its all about royals!!
u have to click on my name to go to my site
otherwise its royalrichfamous@blogger.com
Dear Friends,
If there is some improvement required for the RNA so be it ..let us take steps..
But no one can make sweeping comments about RNA..soldiers even in Indian Army help on social occasions such as marriage..let not jealousy make us unreasonable..
Talking of the British is neither here nor there…we cannot compare with them..they neither have Maobadi nor did their people come out on the streets helped by disguised Maobadi with weapons concealed under their clothes to throw stones and armed with sticks…they have no poverty and illiteracy…
It is in BAD TASTE to condemn a whole lot..the THAKURIS..this is castiest …this way your next step would be to ALSO FIND OUT WHICH COMMUNITY MAKES UP THE Numbers in the CORRUPT BUREAUCRACY…….let our debate not sink to this level…..
rrf:
i clicked on your name and the website doesn’t work!
What a bullshit article, fit for gutter press. Full of assumptions. I hear the swayambhar took place on Friday and this post has reported it to have happened on Thursday and even given details of the food served. What a bunch of bullcrap. Freedom of press also includes reponsibility.
How do we know who paid for what? Maybe this Indian Prince guy foot the bill, which is good as it brings in money to Nepal.
And the law that restricts the number of people blah blah – what an idiotic law it is. You can compare that to other bloody idiotic laws for instance the one that forbids masturbation – the punishment is either a fine or imprisonment.
You all are just jealous because THAPA can and you can’t!!
The RNA is desperately in need of reform. Any intelligent Nepali knows that. It is also a preserve of the Thakuris. These are facts. To deny this is just plain wrong.
shanti your comments just show how silly you are. Excuse me but the British army have dealt with worse than Maoists. Gen. Thapa is a symbol of what is wrong with the RNA. Look at how the army has handled the Maoist insurgency. Totally inefficient and with no clear strategy. And these people are supposed to have received training at Sandhurst! It was hoped that the RNA would bring enough military pressure on the Maoists to bring them to the table for talks. But the RNA have been so incompetent that the Maoists have been even more emboldened. All that money from our national budget and the RNA still allows the Maoists to control 70% of the country. shanti can you rationally explain that?
No im sure the indian prince did not foot the bill……. im sure the general did. The indian princes mother probably only chose the bride becuase of her fathers status…
his mother is an aristocrat from the rana family….. a rAna marrying a thapa!! unheard of unless her father is also afcourse the general of RNA.
to bhudai pandit…… i dunno why it doesnt work try this
http://royalrichfamous.blogspot.com
To shanti,
You don’t have to go far to listen to all this. Ask the lower rank soilders at your barracks – even they will tell you all this (provided that you don’t intimidate them). Better search where they stored your brain, and restore it back so that the shit filled by the royalists is gone for ever and you realize the reality.
I don’t think that it is a grave offence to talk about restructuring the RNA. After all we are the taxpayers and we want to make sure that the money we pay is not spent just for the shake of few aristocrats.
janti bakhra khana maharaja kina nagayeko?
how one compares this marriage with Prerana’s or Shruti’s?
I dont get it, i love the way nepalese people like to slander anyone they can. Justified that the generals daughters wedding is too lavish by nepalese standards, but are you sure he dished out all the cash. His elder daughter who is in New York is my aunt, and married to a pande, her marriage wasnt that lavish but on par with nepalese generals. I will concede that the generals do use a lot of soldiers to carry out the required task and that save an enormous amount of money. But tell me which general in which country doesnt. You are also quick to blame chettrie and thakuris for having a easy go in the army, but do you realize that its usually the thakuris, rais, and chettris who are the most applicant to the army also. I dont see any other castes filling in if they chettries, thakuris, and rais back down. Not to slander but bauns and newars are known to frown at millitary service, because you know that except chettris, thakuris, and rais no other well to do caste will join the army. They dont want to waste their life in the army. So ofcourse they are going to be under represented. But back to the generals daughter, seriously it not his finances all out, the millionaire prince is dishing out quite a lot.
Kantipur and sons getting personal. Well if you want the gloves to come off – let us talk about who you work for – your Gyawali character (The head of Kantipur). Did any of you nincompoops know that he was a customs chief in the Panchayat days reknowned for his corruption. He was even kicked out, that is why this ex mandale is so bitter against the royals. All you buggers are earning money off the corrupt income of Gyawali, who has sucked the blood dry of us Nepalis. It was 16-17 years ago so we forget. But I hope you buggers sleep well at night trying to be so holy than thou while happily accepting money from a crook.
Do you have the f@@##$% guts to go into your bosses history of corruption?
When you are a public figure like the Chief of the Army you are open to criticism. Just like the actions of the King, PM, DPM and the rest of the Ministers must always be closely scrutinized. All these people are funded by the taxes we pay and have a responsibility to fulfil towards the country and the people.
Frankly I couldn’t give a damn about what the idiot spent on his daugthers wedding to the bhaiya from down south. More important for me is his complete incompetence in handling the Maoist insurgency. You can see how corrupt the system is when it produces fools like this General as the Chief of the Army.
Kirat you seem to be what we call in Political Science as a fundamentalist. You have realized that a system is corrupt but you nothing else but that. Your kind usually realize that much later that the general public because most often you dont realize it are told so or have read so, simply put it you have be indoctrined so. How can a you control a guerilla army with 40,000 field soldiers you are told to ration their ammonution more than their food because they don’t have any more ammonution to supply them. What do the SPA do, they mingle with the the maoist in the Indian crib, your so called “Bhaiyas down south”, and start a janaandolan to in conjuction with the maoists. Well SPAM now blames the army of malfunction while it purposedly made it misfunction to retain power and now to regain power.
Sorry Alias but you make a very poor defence of the RNA. One of my subjects in college (years ago)was Pol. Science. And unless you read the RNA version of it-criticizing a corrupt, inefficient organization where people are promoted because of their surname rather than on merit (producing idiots like the present Chief) does not equate to fundamentalism. I feel sorry for you if you are being taught such bull.
Critizing the RNA in the hope that it will become a professional army based on meritocracy and free from nepotism and corruption can only be good for my country.
And by the way RNA’s complete incompetence has been shown in the fact that they have not been able to hurt the rag-tag teenage villagers turned rebels with arms stolen from the RNA and other security forces. The Maoists are supposed to have an army of 15,000 to 20,000. The RNA now numbers over 80,000 The Maoists still control over 70% of the country. Is that not shameful?
And don’t start on Indian aid to the Maoists. It might be true but don’t you think that the RNA got much much more? Helicopters, training, Insas rifles, money etc?
Alias please think before you write such rubbish.
To shanti,
You don’t have to go far to listen to all this. Ask the lower rank soilders at your barracks – even they will tell you all this (provided that you don’t intimidate them). Better search where they stored your brain, and restore it back so that the 5h|T filled by the royalists is gone for ever and you realize the reality.
I don’t think that it is a grave offence to talk about restructuring the RNA. After all we are the taxpayers and we want to make sure that the money we pay is not spent just for the shake of few aristocrats.
Well Deuba has said that RNA must be under king so there will not be consensus on this matter and parliament cannot declare itself supreme. The people’s movement is far from complete so let us not say we do not need the Maoists and begin to abuse them.
yeah funny how we’ve learnt to use the Maoist’s to neuter the threat from the Royalists! Never underestimate the people!
To Shanti,
It seems you are well-paid by RNA to repeatedly express your non-sense views in regards to RNA.
How much Rs/Words??
Right on Rocky the Rock,
And you’ve got Prachanda’s dick shoved up your ass!
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It’s not the surname but people like this that dont get promoted.
Umm… im a little surprised at those who say the indian prince pratap is going to pay the bills……… i dont think so , its the generals hospitality all along.
but this pragyashree girl seems to be quite good, a captain and a doctor too! unfortuanate shes just marrying a mumbai social butterfly
Just to ask all the nepalis here? Why do u hate the monarchy so much? as far as i remember i saw onj tv when king birendra died , how much ppl cried and how much respect they gave him…………
and now this turn around?
Also does anyone know anything about this social nepalese butterfly called gautam sjb raana?
Can’t we all raise a campaign to pressure SPA leaders to probe into General’s wealth sources ? He needs to be brought to books if found guilty. This is the right time to take such a bold decision and can set off a great precedent.
By the way, why is this general chap being spared when other security bosses are being arrested? Why did he go to GP’s house? GP must tell us what happened.
Also the fact that general is openly flaunting his ill-gotten wealth in such times is openly defying people’s sentiment. He has scant regard for the revolution sweeping the country and is brazenly showing off when he knows he should not at such a time.
Alright well…i think itz kinda cool that pragya got married. It’s good for her and for the nation. I think it brings a sense of peace and tranquility in the nation. Yes, i totally understand that the General spent a lot of money on this wedding and yes, it is the money you and i earned together but this is a marrigage for the coutnry. I think this is also played out as a tactic for the country. There’s something good nehind this stuff. We are just jealous that he’s rich and we’re not. But hey, guys it could be worse you know. I wish them all the best. i just hope the king thinks better and fast as well as the General paying us back somehow. somehow!!!!!
ok guyz listen plzzz…plzzzz letz stop fighting and having arguments…i mean really what’s the point of shouting when no one hears u anyway??? Rite? So, letz help nepal become a better country…u can SUGGEST but u cant FIGHT. Hopefully, thingz will get bette.r I think itz us ppl who just this beautiful country a huge failure. Nepal still has hope…but plzz letz stop this fighting…it wont get us anywhere….beleive me…i mean guyz stop being such [icd]!!!!!
I am totally agreed with “Possumgurl”. Stop Fighting and blaming each other that does not help!
Please come to point and do some decent argument with some logic & refs, please do research before writing anything. It will help us (reader) to get the right message from you (who knows the fact). It means your efforts valuable to change our society, isn’t it? And it will help to reflect the current situation of our country.
Let’s change our form culture…. please stop being rude..
God bless our country!
I am fan of you all.
Re: General Thapa’s grand wedding ceremony for his daughter. It’s obvious that it was not a love marriage. It’s obvious that it was an arranged marriage. Couldn’t a suitable Nepali groom (a well-educated Nepali fellow within the compatible caste system) have been found, so Nepali wealth (in the form of dowry and what not) could have remained within the country itself instead of being exported to India?
What a shame!
perhaps the general is enamoured of the fact that his daughter will be married into royalty!
UWB Have read no. 83. Can’t you erase that , For otheres you censor but this one what is this man ?
I liked the comment made by Uday Lama.We have to also see the other side of the story.KG and his cotorie are dead against India and Indians. If you talk with any military officer, they are against India.And their Chief feels proud to marry his daughter to an Indian, whoever he may be. So what ? Can’t he get a suitable Nepali boy say Thakuri if he wants,to marry his daughter ? What a shame ? And the money spent ? Huh !!! All poor Nepalese tax money in the form of corruption exported to India.
IN LIFE, MONEY ONLY IS NOT EVERYTHING.THERE OTHER THINGS ALSO WHICH ARE IMPORTANT.
Good things ? Huh !!
But I also think that this blog also should not have published the photos. It is their personal life and it is sort of indulging inside their personal things. UWB you are allowing the comments like no. 83. It is disgusting. It is the misuse of freedom of expression and press. We can discuss it without the photos and in a decent language. We know PJT is corrupt but we can discuss about how to contain this trend in the Army.
UWB is quick to moderate strong arguments that goes against their grain but it seems pornography is allowed. Number 83 is discusting and vile and has no semblence of human decency or character. You allow animals like these on your blog and have the gall to moderate decent people.
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