Gurkhas outraged by Met Police decision to tear down tent used by hunger strikers
By Hannah Neary, local democracy reporter
Veterans are outraged by the Metropolitan Police’s decision to tear down a gazebo used to shelter Gurkhas on hunger strike – branding the force “inhumane”.
Gurkha veterans have been on hunger strike outside Downing Street since Saturday, campaigning for the same pension costs as British soldiers.
Gurkhas who retired before 1997 do not receive the same pension as the rest of the British Army.
More than 200,000 of them fought in both world wars and they have served in places like Hong Kong, the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Met Police tore down the protesters’ gazebo on Tuesday, claiming it breached local by-laws.
Many of the protestors are elderly and say they suffer from various medical conditions.
Gurkha veteran Deepak Maskey said: “The gazebo was there just for shelter.
“We were not making any noise, it was a very peaceful protest but we don’t know why the Metropolitan police just came and ripped it off and took it away. It shouldn’t have been done.
“With the inclement weather in the UK it is making their morale low and worsening their health conditions because they are not protected. If it rains, they’ll need to be covered with plastic, which is really inhuman.
“I don’t know why it’s been ordered by someone to go and harass them. I think the Met Police should have used their common sense and realised this is a peaceful protest.
“The strikers are very hungry and weak and because of their ailments like diabetes and blood pressure it’s getting worse daily.”
Gurkha veteran Dhan Gurung, who suffers from diabetes, has been on hunger strike for seven days straight.
Others have offered to step in for him and allow him to rest and recuperate but he refuses to back down.
Simon Woodrow, a veteran from Somerset, said: “It’s disgraceful the way they’re being treated. They fight the same wars, face the same dangers and the same bullets and yet they are treated like dirt.
“I’ve been in tears. These guys are going downhill fast and unless something is done they will carry on until they die.”
Rashmita Singh Darlami, a nurse at St Mary’s Hospital and vice-president for the Nepalese Nursing Association, came to the protest site to check-up on the protesters’ health.
She said three of the protesters are on blood pressure medication and seriously dehydrated.
She said: “Because they haven’t eaten they have stopped taking their medication. They have got water but when you are hungry you don’t want to drink so it can effect your health really badly and rapidly.
“Today is day seven and I’m really worried for their health. I’ve tried to convince them to stop but they don’t want to.
“They need to go to hospital for an IV drip and fluids but they refused.”
Commenting on the removal of the gazebo, he said: “I think it’s deeply upsetting for many and I know that concerns have been raised with the police and EHRC, which I think is the right action to take.”
He added: “I think it’s hugely distressing that people are out here on hunger strike – the government has got to listen and find a solution.
“It’s outrageous that people out here have not been listened to by government. They’ve got to set up talks with the government of Nepal.
“People who have served out country shouldn’t be treated like this.”
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “At approximately 9am on 10 August, police attended a demonstration on Whitehall after a group of protesters had erected a gazebo and camping equipment in breach of local bylaws.
“Officers engaged with the crowd and the gazebo was removed. No arrests were made.”
A petition for Gurkhas to receive the same pension as other British veterans has received almost 55,000 signatures so far.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News: “I am very happy to meet any Gurkha. My father fought alongside the Gurkhas in Malaya in the 1950s, it is a pretty remarkable group of people.
“The group of people currently protesting are groups affected by the change by the Labour government in 1997 to 2003.
“This was about people who are under a 1947 pension, it is a very small group of Gurkha pensioners, they had different advantages in their pension scheme in that old scheme.”
Pictured: Shadow Secretary for Defence Stephen Morgan with Gurkhas
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