The Gurkhas, who do not exist anywhere in Nepal—as neither a race nor an army but a community of soldiers who served in foreign armies—have fought for Britain in all its major wars over the last two centuries. They were trained as the finest infantry and displayed this wherever they went. This time around, they are battling their own employer and commander—the United Kingdom.

Today is the eighth day of the Gurkha’s hunger strike-unto-death in London near Parliament Square and in front of 10 Downing Street where the British Prime Minister resides. Their demands are genuine and simple: a) equal pension; b) compensation; c) preserved pension for the redundant; d) equal settlement rights for all Gurkha children (those above the age of 18 as well); and e) full medical coverage for Gurkhas back in Nepal.

The history

These demands are not new. Some of them were addressed partially after intense court battles that began in 2001, combined with international campaigns and pressure. Hard-won victories include: a) 10,000 pounds sterling compensation to each of the Japanese prisoners of war and/or their widows; b) equal treatment for those in service, including pension, and some pension increase for those in Nepal; c) right to live with families, which did not exist before; d) right to settlement in the UK, including children and adult children but conditionally—that they are not employed or married and are living with their parents as dependants.

However, the campaign has remained incomplete. The Gurkhas, who were strongly organised under the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO), were supposed to continue with their struggle till the end but they gave up. The leadership mysteriously withdrew the second pension case on advice from GAESO’s UK lawyers, with whom I had differences. They also betrayed the Gurkhas by not challenging the Gurkha Terms and Conditions of Service (GTACOS) discriminately issued in March 2007. The GTACOS was the result of the UK campaign-led Gurkha pension review that continued with pension discrimination for Gurkhas retired on or after July 1, 1997—the date Britain left Hong Kong, where the Gurkha Headquarters was located. They compromised on everything for greed and surrendered for the right to settlement but with no equal pension, even after settling in the UK—contrary to the Sullivan judgment of February 2002.

Sadly, the Gurkhas were always badly divided—not even on talking terms on many occasions. Britain’s ‘divide and rule’ strategy was remarkably successful in the Gurkha campaign as well. British celebrity Joanna Lumley was used temporarily under the guidance of UK lawyers and activist Peter Carroll was more interested in building his electoral constituency than ensuring equal rights for the Gurkhas. Their main interest, hidden or declared, was to kill the pension case at any cost and bring the Gurkhas to Britain for their ‘dirty work’. I call this ‘dirty work’ because the Gurkhas work primarily in security and cleaning jobs due to their language and education constraints. Britain does not recognise their rights as equal ex-soldiers but as cheap labourers—the proof is their pension pay, which is peanuts, not even enough to pay the phone bills for a family of four.

It took several years for the Gurkhas and their organisatons to unite under a banner other than GAESO, which long ago declared the Gurkha campaign over and that they had gotten more than what was asked for! GAESO was also against unity. Now all the major four Gurkha organsations, namely the British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS), British Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation (BGAESO), Nepalese Ex-Servicemen’s Association (NESA), and United British Gurkhas Ex-Servicemen’s Association (UBGEA), are together under the banner of the ‘British Gurkha Satyagraha Sangharsha Samiti’ in the UK and Nepal. They are also joined by the Non-Resident Nepali Association-UK and Bobbie Wason of the Gurkha Human Rights Project.

Fast-unto-death

They have now launched a fast-unto-death. Those fasting are the famous Gurkha veteran Gyan Raj Rai, Dr David O’Halloran, who was saved by the Gurkhas when in South Africa and Bobbie Wason, a Gurkha rights activist. David and Bobbie have been taken home and to the hospital respectively for medical reasons so aging Gyan Rai is now alone and in critical medical condition. The British government is still playing deaf to their cause. But this last resort did not come from anywhere. The Satyagraha first gave the British government an ultimatum on April 24. Then they began relay hunger strikes on October 25 for 13 days in the memory of 13 Gurkha Victoria Cross winners, and the fast-unto-death began from November 7.

Initially, they wrote to 659 Members of the British Parliament with over 150,000 signatures as an endorsement of the British public’s support for the Gurkha cause. They also approached Prime Minister David Cameron through Rob Wilson, a Member of Parliament from Reading East. In a letter of September 26, PM Cameron replied that he has passed the letter to “the Ministry of Defense and Mark Francois will be responding in more detail” and that he hopes “to discuss the situation, and avoid unnecessary distress to those who threaten a hunger strike over the issues in their petition”. But nothing happened since that date and there was no reply from Francois. Instead, the Ministry of Defence spokesperson in an interview with the BBC Nepali Service on November 6 bluntly said that the Gurkhas had been treated fairly and there were no outstanding issues anymore.

Back in Nepal, a Gurkha delegation met both British Ambassador Andrew Sparkes and Chairperson Khil Raj Regmi of the Council of Ministers to press their concerns further. The ambassador is said to be ‘negative’ and Chairperson Regmi ‘sympathetic’. On the positive side, the Nepali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a letter dated October 25, informed the Gurkhas that the matter had been put forward to the UK government via the British Embassy in Kathmandu, and the same had been forwarded to the Nepali Embassy in London for necessary steps towards seeking solutions to all Gurkha problems. However, Gurkha representatives claim that Nepali Ambassador Suresh Chandra Chalise is performing very poorly.

Urgent action needed

The most immediate and serious need is to address the health conditions of those fasting. This can only happen once the UK government: a) recognises the grievances of Gurkhas openly, and b) calls for dialogue immediately. To make this happen, the Nepali government needs to take action instead of simply paying lip service as in the past.

We also expect Chairperson Regmi to use his hotline access to call British PM Cameron and urge that the hunger strike is put to an end and the Gurkha matters are resolved once and for all.

In the long run, the Gurkhas have one of the most legitimate demands for dual citizenship from the Nepal government as well, or else Nepal risks losing its rich Gurkha community, their skills and benefits forever.

Chintan was a GAESO lawyer with the Gurkha campaign.

Published on: 14 November 2013 | The Kathmandu Post