Gurkha veterans on 6th day of hunger strike for equal pension 

Two former members of the Gurkha regiment of British Army and one Gurkha has reportedly been on hunger strike since Saturday demanding equal pension right for Gurkha and British Army veterans. 

Gyanraj Rai, a 63-year-old Nepalese Gurkha veteran said he is prepared to starve to death if the British government does not agree to make their pension equal to the British soldiers, reports BBC. 

He is accompanied by Dhan Gurung, 59, and Gurkha widow Pushpa Rana Ghale, 59, who has travelled from Nepal. They took up positions near the Downing Street gates.

More than 200,000 Gurkhas fought in the two world wars, and in the past 50 years they have served in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yet Gurkhas who retired before 1997 receive a fraction of the pension the rest of the British Army receive.

The Gurkha Pension Scheme (GPS) was based on Indian Army rates for those with at least 15 years' service.

The British government says it was designed for retirement in Nepal, where the cost of living is significantly lower than in the UK.

However, all retired Gurkhas won the right to live in the UK in 2009 following a high-profile campaign led by actress Joanna Lumley, whose father served with the 6th Gurkha Rifles.

Rai, who had travelled from Reading for the protest, says he followed his uncles to join the British Army aged 17.

"During service we were given a very small amount of salary compared to our British counterparts," he said.

"And after our service, the pension was very low. My pension was only £47 a month, where a British veteran used to get over £800 a month."

He says his lump sum on leaving the army was £3,000 compared to that of a British veteran who received between £60,000 and £70,000.

He says today he receives a monthly pension of £350 compared to British ex-soldiers of the same rank who receive £1,200 to £1,300.

"This is the last resort to go to hunger strike to the death," Rai told the BBC. 

"We want to be treated equally with the British in every aspect. That's why we are here, prepared to die," he added.

This is not the first time Rai has gone on hunger strike. He did not eat for 14 nights and 15 days in 2007.

He only stopped when pension rules were changed to give serving Gurkha soldiers equal pension rights with other service personnel in the UK.

However, the British Gurkha Welfare Society said about 25,000 men who had retired before 1 July 1997 were denied the opportunity to transfer into UK armed forces pension schemes.