Gurkhas give back their medals to protest!

[MissAlice]

In today's news I read the following story. Do you think the way our government has treated them is correct?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7304964.stm

'This is the saddest day of my life'
By Sarah Bell
BBC News

They have a reputation as fearsome sword-wielding warriors.

Madan Gurung was one of many protesting outside Parliament.

But the thousands of Gurkhas who gathered outside Parliament to protest over pension and residency rights presented a pretty peaceful scene.

Watching the veterans happily greet each other and chat, it was like a slightly chilly reunion rather than an angry demonstration.

But beneath the gentle smiles lay a steely determination - equal rights for the Gurkhas who had pledged their lives to the Queen.

The protest culminated with a powerful symbol of their sense of injustice, when they handed back their hard-earned medals to the government.

Clutching homemade placards, the veterans patiently waited for the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who had promised to pass the medals onto the prime minister.

Standing out as a tall and wiry figure amongst the solidly-built Gurkhas, he expressed his support for their cause, which was met with polite claps and cheers.

The veterans lined up to place the medals into a leather-lined wooden box, with a very-British "hip, hip hooray" marking its completion.

Oath to the Crown

One of the veterans handing over his medals was Madan Gurung, who served for 24 years but had his application to stay in the UK rejected.

The 54-year-old is now living with his wife in one room in Tonbridge and surviving on hand-outs from the Royal British Legion and friends.

"I took an oath on the Union Jack and said in the oath I would fight and give up my life. So I left my wife and family in Nepal and fought wherever they decided to send me.

"After giving all of my life to the army and the crown service, now they're telling me I don't have the right to stay."

He said he was "very sad" to be giving up his medal, but it had to be done.

"Having served for 24 years I was given such a nice decoration, but having been refused by the Home Office, they have not recognised me, therefore having this decoration means nothing to me," he explained.

"It is the saddest day of my life, because I am so devoted to the Gurkhas, they were my life for 24 years."

Bemused tourists

Captain Kunwer, who served in the Gurkhas in Iraq, Northern Ireland and Sierra Leone said: "We have fought for the British government for 200 years and we are not getting equal rights.

"I served for 26 years and became a captain, but only get one quarter of the pension which a British captain gets. I want an equal pension.

"I am feeling terrible about this. We work exactly the same as British officers, but can't get the same pension."

Ratna Kumarlimbu said those he had served alongside in the UK were receiving larger pensions than him.

He added: "I am so happy to be here with all my friends. But it's a pretty sad situation."

As photographers scrambled to get pictures of veterans proudly sporting their uniforms, watched by bemused tourists, the numbers of protesters continued to swell.

Less than an hour later, one of the medals was held up by Nick Clegg in the Commons chamber, as he tackled the prime minister over their fight, as promised.

[jrh2002]

Why would we want honest, hard working, loyal people in our country who put their lives on the line for us? Surely we are more than happy with the foreign criminals, illegal immigrants, bogus asylum seekers and scroungers.
It seems the more you do for this place and the harder you work (pay more taxes) the less they do for us.
I used to be very patriotic but for some reason the government is trying to kick that out of us :s maybe they are doing this so we wont object at joining europe so much? I also notice from being one of the richest countries in the world we are suddenly in trouble and borrowing billions a year :s maybe so we are in so much debt we have to join europe to get some funding to save us? somethings very wrong with the place and the sooner i can escape the better.

[Breakfloor]

disgusting. this has been going on for so long. they are some of the BRAVEST people in the world and they get treated like *Text Removed* i dont think thats fair at all. maybe they can tie your shoe laces before you know theyre there. maybe they have killed hundreds of people. but if theyve faught for the queen, why would they fight against it. if anything, they should get a little bit more pention than the british ex-military.

Edited by LucasAge (Forum Super Moderator): Please do not use inappropriate language.

[IRBlueMoon]

Bad... so, so bad...

[Nereo]

This is bad, they shouldn't be treated like this

unfair

[Technologic]

Our government is a complete pile of ****.

[Jordy]

Gurkha's are some of the most respected and feared regiment's in the world, we're incredibly lucky that some of them still fight for the British Army as lots decided to fight for Northern India. They're so good and brave they where the one's looking after Prince Harry (Third in line to the throne) when he toured Afghanistan.

I think it's rather sad really, how the government can let down such a huge contributor to the British army and actually be unfair to them, we need to look after this 'tradition' and if anything, give them better pension's than our standard army, not worse! I found it really rather touching that they actually surrendered all their medal's to give them to the prime minister, I'd feel an awful lot of guilt if I was the prime minister.

[-:Undertaker:-]

We let scum in yet we throw these brave people out. But hey! this is new labour.

[jrh2002]

I'd feel an awful lot of guilt if I was the prime minister.

So would most of us but you are on about gordon brown here.

We let scum in yet we throw these brave people out. But hey! this is new labour.

Agreed.

Will we ever be able to put the country right after all the mess its in? i doubt it.

[Jordy]

Will we ever be able to put the country right after all the mess its in? i doubt it.

I'm losing hope, especially now we're running out of oil... All empire's turn to nothing after many year's from 'growing old' and I can see the UK being 'just another country' very soon. Turkey was once a thriving empire, so was Austria, where are they now? Just another boring country