National
Ex-Gurkhas warn of further protests
Ex-British Gurkha soldiers have warned of further protests over no headway in meeting their demands by governments in Nepal and the UK.Ex-British Gurkha soldiers have warned of further protests over no headway in meeting their demands by governments in Nepal and the UK.
The former Gurkha servicemen are irked by no updates from either governments over their demands despite a talk committee including members from both the government submitting a proposal for resolution seven months ago.
Gurkha Satyagraha Joint Struggle Committee coordinator Krishna Bahadur Rai said they would be forced to resort to protests if no results were seen by October end.
Rai said UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel Mark Lancaster had said a package acceptable to former Gurkhas would be brought by a month and if the package would not be acceptable, resolution would be sought through talks by forming high-level committees from the two governments.
But Nepali ambassador to UK Durga Bahadur Subedi after hearing Lancaster’s proposal had told the latter that the former Gurkhas would not accept his (Lancaster’s) agreement package adding that he (Subedi) had asked the foreign ministers of the two countries to take initiatives to resolve the issue, Rai said.
The ex-Gurkhas have been demanding the UK government to address issues including right to live and work in the UK, equal pension and other benefits schemes as granted to their British counterparts.