- Prime Minister of Nepal, the Honourable K P Sharma Oli
- Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Honourable Yogesh Bhattarai
- H.E. Dr. Durga Bahadur Subedi, Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiary
- Lt Gen James Bashall CB CBE, National President The Royal British Legion
- Mr Laurence Jones, Head of the National League System of England Football Association (The FA)
- Mrs Rojina Pradhan Rai, NRNA UK Vice President:
- Kalpana Rai, President Kirat Rai Yayokkha UK
- Mr Hiradhan Rai, UK Nepal Friendship Society, Chief Advisor
Message
I am happy to extend my good wishes to the UK-Nepal Friendship Society for its publication ‘The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource.’
I believe the book and the thematic information it comprises will fulfil the purpose of Nepali community in the United Kingdom, and at the same time, contribute to profiling Nepal in cultural tourism sector and Nepal-Britain business fronts. I am hopeful that the publication like this will assist in deepening Nepal-Britain friendship and treasuring special relationship.
I wish to thank the UK-Nepal Friendship Society and those involved in the publication of this book.
K P Sharma Oli
Prime Minister of Nepal
September, 2020
Message
This gives me immense pleasure to know that the UK Nepal Friendship Society is bringing out a book The UK Nepali Community: A Trans-cultural Information Resource.
Nepal and the United Kingdom have been enjoying cordial and vibrant relations that have spanned over more than two centuries. These relations are multi-faceted and they cover various aspects of our society and culture, trade and tourism, development and economy, education and technology to name a few. At the heart of our relations is the contribution of the Gurkhas who have cemented our ties at government as well as peoples’ level. The history and heritage of the Gurkhas is a valuable content of this book which will be both informative and inspirational.
I believe this book will be a rich resource material for researchers, scholars, policy makers, and general readers. I hope it will further contribute to strengthening our bilateral and cultural relations. My appreciations go to the UKNFS team, Nepali community leaders, experts and authorities, and British friends of Nepal whom the book owes a lot. I have best wishes for the success of this book.
Yogesh Bhattarai
Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation
September 2020
Greetings from the Ambassador of Nepal to the United Kingdom,
I am delighted to learn that the UK-Nepal Friendship Society under the wise and able stewardship of its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Alan Mercel-Sanca, is publishing an important Volume entitled “The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource”.
Nepal is a land of unique nature, diverse culture, and amazing adventure. It is a multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-linguistic, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious country. The population of thirty million Nepali people represent more than a hundred ethnicities. It is interesting to note that each Nepali ethnicity carries its own identity, customs, festivals, rituals, dresses, cuisine, and cultural heritage. About 30 million Nepali people living in the Himalayas, mid-hills, valleys and the plainland, known as Terai-Madhesh, maintain not only their unique, diverse and vibrant culture, but also maintain unity in diversity. The social coexistence, ethnic tolerance and religious harmony maintained by the Nepali people are recognised and respected by the international community.
Nepal was opened to the rest of the world after the dawn of democracy in 1951. After 1951, the world people could witness the grandeur and opulence of Nepali culture. Nepali culture is, indeed, a people’s culture, a culture enshrined, developed, loved, and lived by the people for the people. In fact, Nepal is regarded as a vibrant cultural rainbow that is nurtured by the multitude of festivals and rituals as well as songs and dances.
These Nepali way of life, cultures, customs, traditions, festivals, and rituals are maintained by the Nepali people living in the United Kingdom also. I am confident that this finest volume of “The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource” will be important and instrumental to provide knowledge and information on the cultures, customs, cuisine, festivals, and rituals of the Nepali people residing in the United Kingdom.
I am also hopeful that this volume will contribute to enhancing the existing close, cordial and comprehensive relations between Nepal and the United Kingdom in general and particularly in promoting people to people ties between these two friendly countries.
The distinguished Chief Executive Director of the UK-Nepal Friendship Society, Mr Alan Mercel-Sanca, who is a good and great friend of Nepal and the Nepali people, deserves my sincere thanks and huge appreciation for his every effort in bringing out this valuable and useful book.
Long live Nepal-Britain relations!
Dr. Durga Bahadur Subedi
Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiary
20th September 2020
Message from the President of the Royal British Legion:
The Royal British Legion is pleased to give our support to the UK Nepal Friendship Society’s new book, ‘The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource’. As the national champions of Remembrance, the Royal British Legion understands the long history of service and sacrifice made by the peoples of Nepal, whether as Gurkhas in the British Army or within the Nepalese Armed Forces fighting alongside Britain.
This history of comradeship and collaboration dates back over 200 years and has seen Nepalese and Britons fight alongside each other from the trenches of Flanders, to the jungles of Burma, and from the mountains of Afghanistan to the Falkland Islands. Hundreds of thousands have served, and tens of thousands injured or killed, and thirteen Nepali Gurkhas have been awarded the highest medal for valour, the Victoria Cross.
Through it all the relationship between our two peoples has held strong, and the communities of British-Nepalese across the UK continue to play a vital role in the cultural, social and economic life of our country. Th friendship between our two peoples was demonstrated by the Prime Minister of Nepal in 1940 when Britain asked permission to recruit an additional twenty Gurkha regiments. The Prime Minister of Nepal’s response was resolute: “Does a friend desert a friend in time of need? If you win, we win with you. If you lose, we lose with you”.
It is with the words of the Nepalese Prime Minister in mind that we wish great success for this book and the work of the UK Nepal Friendship Society in continuing to build bridges between our two nations and in fostering a deeper understanding of the customs, culture, and way of life of the Nepali people and of Britain’s Nepalese communities.
Lt Gen James Bashall CB CBE, National President The Royal British Legion
December 18th, 2020
Message from Laurence Jones, Head of the National League System, The Football Association
I am pleased to give my support to the UK Nepal Friendship Society’s new book, ‘The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource’. Sport is one of the most powerful mediums we have to bring communities together, to remove barriers and to build positive cohesive communities.
The passion for football in both of our communities is evident, and in the years to come capturing this passion will lead to the further strengthening of the collaboration and friendship between the United Kingdom and Nepal which dates back over 200 years and has seen Nepalese and Britons develop the most unique and special relationship.
The relationships between our two peoples not only hold strong bonds but continue to evolve in a way that sees the communities of British-Nepalese across the UK continue to play a vital role in the cultural, social, sporting and economic life of both countries.
I wish great success for this book and the work of the UK Nepal Friendship Society in continuing to extend bridges between our two nations and in fostering a deeper understanding of the customs, culture, and way of life of the Nepali people and of Britain’s Nepalese communities
Laurence Jones
Head of National League System
Football Operations Division
The FA Group
Website: www.TheFA.com
Mrs Rojina Pradhan Rai, NRNA UK Vice President:
It gives me great happiness to provide a few words in support of ‘The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource’ information resource and book, that the UK Nepal Friendship Society has developed with widespread and exper input from across our UK Nepali community.
This resource I believe accomplishes two major purposes that matter to Nepali community members across the UK. It for the first time in a thematic and key topic way, not only records the full diversity of every part of our Nepali community and society, including but not limited to our UK Nepali women’s component, but present a comprehensive, clear structured overview of our community on essentials for national government to local authorities and public service providing organisations to enable them to enhance or better plan engagement on the services they provide or need to provide to our community.
Secondly, it provides a balanced thematic profile of our rich unique culture, andcommunity, crucial to have in the English language which I see gives a solid foundation to both preserve and promote Nepali community culture in the UK and share with the broader British people society, building valuably on important preexisting works in this field.
The work of the NRN accords strongly with both of these achievements, which are especially needed because most of our community is first generation with consequent integration and effective community voice needs.
The UKNFS team and its lead, Alan Mercel-Sanca, and the many community members and organisations that have enabled creation of this resource and its important content are to be fully commended for their accomplishment.
Mrs Rojina Pradhan Rai
NRNA UK Vice President
November 2020
Mrs Kalpana Rai, President, Kirat Rai Yayokkha United Kingdom
13 September 2020
Salutations from the President of KRY UK to one and all
On behalf of the KRY UK, I wish to provide words of enthusiastic support and appreciation regarding ‘The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource’ information resource and book, that has been created by the UK Nepal Friendship Society, and with extensive details and support from many across our UK Nepalese community.
I am happy to commend the value of this book, as it fulfils all the important needs in bringing together much clearer understanding about our community for the general British community. It is diverse in nature, composition and contribution in many ways to the UK. It covers important topics and details from our retired and serving Gurkha community through our major and minor facets of our Nepali culture in all its wealth of diversity. Also includes our arts, music, film to fashion, clothing, artisanship, sport, to even restaurants and catering.
This comprehensive in thematic topics resource will make us feel our contribution strongly regarding government to public services and local authorities voice for our community. This book also provides a clarity regarding the matters above that our first generation has much need for. On behalf of the Kirat Rai organisation I wish to thank the UKNFS team, content contributors and its compiler, for this important book and for what they have achieved.
Kalpana Rai
President KRY UK
Hiradhan Rai, Chief Advisor at the UKNFS:
‘The UK Nepali Community: A Transcultural Information Resource’ information resource and book, created by our friends of the UK Nepal Friendship Society, and with input from many UK Nepali community members, leaders, associations and experts is greatly appreciated by Nepalis Community.
Seeing the place of our community in broader British society and history with clarity is so important for the preservation of our cultural identity, and sharing our culture, arts, economic contributions to the British nation which the book achieves so well for audiences from policy makers and politicians to business communities, those in the education sector, and public service organisations. All of these are important purposes of the Nepali Communities, and the book clearly supports this well. It also in turn highlights clearly aspects of British culture that we have embraced and added very successfully to; something long needed for counteracting prejudice and discrimination.
The Honourable Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, And Honourable Minister of Culture, Tourism and civil Aviation Minister Mr Yogesh Bhattarai in Subhakamana message on the book encapsulates so well the spirit and the content of the publication having the potential to further deepen Nepal-Britain relations and the treasured special friendship between the Nepali and British peoples.
Best wishes to the UK Nepal Friendship Society team and all who have contributed to the content of this important, and what I believe will be, influential book supporting every section of our community.
Mr Hiradhan Rai
UKNFS Chief Advisor December 2020