UK court grants British Gurkhas residential rights

STAYING RIGHTS: Some 2,000 former Gurkha soldiers will benefit from the ruling.

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London: Protesting veteran Gurkha regiment officers have won a historic battle in the United Kingdom's courtroom.

The London high court has granted Gurkha officers who have retired before 1997 similar pension benefits like their British counterparts.

The Court on Tuesday ruled the deeming that those restrictions are illegal and must be reworked.

They have been entitled the right to retire with honour and settle in the UK.

The Nepalese soldiers had challenged the British government’s rules that those who retired before 1997 did not have an automatic right to settle in Britain.

Lawyer representing Gurkha Soldiers Martin Howe said, "Today is a wonderful and a terrific victory day for the Gurkhas of Nepal. It is a victory for common sense, it is a victory for fairness, it is a victory that is right. The home office policy that kept these brave men and their families out of this country has been quashed by the high court. Decisions made in individual cases have all been set aside. This is a day that will go down in history for the Gurkhas."

UK's ministry of defence had announced last year that only those who retired before 1997 would receive the same pension as the rest of the British army and could also apply for citizenship. leaving out thousands who retired before the cut off date.

In March this year, the retired soldiers gave up their medals, symbols of their service to the British army, as a mark of protest. Their demands were of equal pension and citizenship rights like their British counterparts.

British actor and Gurkha veterans supporter Joanna Lumley said, "This day is more important than I can tell you because it gives our country a chance to right a great wrong and to wipe out a national shame that has stained us all.”

It is not just the 2,000 former gurkha soldiers who will benefit from this ruling but Britain's change of heart will reunite two generations of army families that were pulled apart. Fathers who retired before 1997 can now live with their sons who are now British citizens.

The Gurkha soldiers have fought many battles while serving the British Army since the early 19th century.

(With inputs from Namrata Kilpady)