Kathmandu, October 2
Early morning on Sunday, Hong Kong’s local media was abuzz with news about local gangs fighting it out on the streets of Jordan, one of the popular neighbourhoods among Nepalis living on the island.
According to witnesses, members of rival Nepali gangs attacked each other with khukuris over a dispute, the details of which are yet to become clear. Police arrived at the scene, and was forced to fire at the gang members; two people were injured in the firing.
This is not the first time that the gangs have resorted to violence on the Chinese island, where more than 40,000 Nepalis are estimated to be living. Many of them are involved in restaurant businesses; not all of the restaurants comply with legal regulations.
Most of the Nepalis are believed to be children and grandchildren of Gurkha soldiers who served the British Army from 1814.
According to the South China Morning Post, before 1997, soldiers and their families lived in army barracks in areas such as Happy Valley, Stanley and Shek Kong. After the British handover of HK to the Chinese, the Gurkhas were eventually offered Hong Kong residency, and many moved to areas such as Jordan for the affordable rents.
But the military men could not find well-paying jobs in the city and unemployment ran high, says the Post.
After today’s incident, a Nepali living in HK told Onlinekhabar, “Gang fights have become quite a normal sight in Jordan. Not a week goes by without a fight.”
He, however, said that clash on Sunday was more than a fight, and police had to resort to opening fire. According to local reports, the youth involved in the clash were drunk to celebrate Hong Kong’s National Day. The Island has a holiday on Sunday as well, and people were partying till early morning when the incident took place, it has been learnt.
“Violence is becoming a major problem in the Nepali community in Hong Kong,” says Kishan Rai, who edits Everest Weekly paper based in Hong Kong.
He says police should crack down on illegal restaurants and take action against perpetrators of violence.
But police seem reluctant to do so.
In the meantime, violence continues to be the norm in this Nepali neighbourhood in Hong Kong.
