LONDON, April 30: The Gurkhas have objected to the loss of millions of rupees to Nepal as the pensions of the former Gurkhas in the UK are still being deposited in the Reserve Bank of India.
Krishna Bahadur Rai, chief coordinator of the Gorkha Satyagraha Joint Struggle Committee UK-Nepal and Santosh Thalang, Chief Coordinator of the British Gurkha Nepali Citizenship Continuity Campaign- UK-Nepal, wrote a letter to the Finance Minister through the Nepalese Embassy in the UK. They have strongly demanded the Government of Nepal and the United Kingdom to make arrangements for the pension of Ex-Gurkhas to be sent directly to Nepal Rastra Bank instead of the Sterling Pound converting to Indian rupees before remitting again to Nepal.
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The letter states, “While the country is going through tough times, we would like to contribute to its economy through the money we earned risking our lives by arranging the pension and compensation of British Army to be deposited directly in the Nepal Rastra Bank, which will lead to a long-term source of foreign exchange reserves for the country.”
They have also warned that the Gorkhas would be forced to sell their property in Nepal and move billions of Nepali currency to the UK and be permanent citizens of Britain if the government does not ensure the Nepali citizenship of British Gurkhas.
The Embassy of Nepal in London has stated that Nepal is taking the initiative to hold talks with the UK government to resolve the issue of Ex-Gurkhas in the United Kingdom. Leader of the Gurkha movement Gyan Raj Rai said that the date of formal talks between the two countries is expected to be finalized within two weeks.
