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| Kathmandu, Sunday February 16, 2003 Falgun 04, 2059. |
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Ex-Gurkhas hold anti-war
rally, youngest Everester joins in
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 15 : Around 2,000 ex-British
Gurkhas joined by their family members and pacifists today marched on a procession to
protest against the possible US strike on Iraq.
The procession, which paraded through Anamnagar
to Ratnapark, waved placards and shouted slogans like ‘Gurkhas for peace not for war’.
This implied their opposition to reported
deployment of the Gurkhas in anti-Iraq front by Britain, an ally of the US against Iraq.
The procession also demanded that the UN should
be fully respected and international laws honoured.
A distinctly visible participant in the anti-war
rally was Temba Tsheri Sherpa, the youngest person to scale Mount Everest. ‘Lets like
in peace’, read the placard he waved throughout the route of the procession.
‘War creates widows and orphans’, said
another placard which was repeatedly shouted by the procession.
"More than 60,000 Nepalis have either died
or were taken captive during the two world wars while defending the British Empire. The UK
government did not provide information on whereabouts of those to their families, in order
to avoid payment of compensation," said human rights activist Gopal Siwakoti Chintan.
Chintan, a consultant to the Gurkha Army
Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation, is leaving for the UK on Sunday for a hearing of the
pending case in the British courts.
The hearing on the case on Gurkhas in a UK high
court is scheduled from February 18 to 21, in which the wife of British Prime Minister
Tony Blair is pleading on behalf of Gurkhas. A large number of ex-Gurkhas, who fought on
the side of the British, do not receive pension.
"Gurkhas do not receive the same salary and
pension as provided to their counterparts in UK but we are the first one to go to battle
and die. This is a virtual slavery and wickedness," said Chintan, addressing the
large gathering at a meeting held soon after the rally.
"I was not allowed to stay in Hong Kong for
more than three years while my husband served the British for 17 years," said Harka
Maya Rai, wife of an ex-British Gurkha, who came all the way from Damak, in eastern Nepal
to take part in the peace rally.
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