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Kathmandu, Friday January 07, 2000 Paush 23rd, 2056.
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Ploy
to mislead
As
an ex-serviceman myself, I feel that the recent announcement of
pension increase by the British government is a ploy to mislead
the Gurkhas. Many ex-servicemen are of the view that they have once
again been rudely insulted.
The
question is, if Gurkhas are used in the frontline like Kosovo and
East Timor and do similar jobs as British soldiers, then why are
Gurkhas treated differently? Secondly, the UK govt collects income tax
from each Gurkha soldier. They pay as much as British soldiers (150
pounds a month). But when it comes to receiving pension benefits,
Nepalese Gurkha get only 15 pounds a month while British soldiers
enjoy 480 pounds a month. So, aren’t Gurkhas entitled to equal
pension since they do a similar job and are forced to pay the same
amount of income tax as the British soldier? Even with the new rate of
pension, 8 out of 10 Gurkhas will struggle to live their retired life.
Should UN Secretary General Kofi Annan be treated the same way because
he is from Ghana?
Interestingly,
this announcement of pension increase was made over Christmas when the
entire British public was on holiday. Surely, British MPs who favour
Gurkhas should have reacted to this unfair decision. Whatever happened
?
Readers
may find it hard to believe that serving Gurkhas (Nepalis) are made to
beg on the streets of Britain. This happened in Hong Kong too. The
money goes to soldiers fund to support their retired men. This
is because large number of Gurkhas lead a life of poverty. Even the
British public were disgusted to see us beg with collection buckets.
Many Britons expressed their opinion that Gurkhas should not be made
to beg but the UK government should provide them proper pension
benefits.
Despite
Gurkhas’ grievances and years of struggle for their equal right,
arrogant British leaders still claim that the Tripartite Agreement
Treaty (1947) is an obstacle that restricts them from fulfilling
Gurkha's demand of pension parity and other benefits. This excuse is a
blatant lie. Enough is enough. We have heard lie after lie all these
years. According to our lawyers (both Nepalese and foreign) the treaty
itself is dubious, ambiguous and worse, legally invalid. Therefore, it
is high time that the UK government changed their policy and came to
terms with the situation and honoured their debt of honour to repay
the Gurkhas. I say this because our movement is gaining ground winning
wide support and sympathy from the international community. Unless the
UK government responds to our plight and heeds our rightful demand,
the Gurkha pension issue could become an international embarrassment
when the international community points the accusing finger at
Britain. I must therefore say in the strongest terms that we Gurkhas
are not impressed with this decision.
J
B Gurung,
Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen Organisation (GAESO),
Anamnagar, Kathmandu |
