ORAL EVIDENCE
PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY ON GURKHA GRIVANCES
26 MARCH 2014
Madam Chairman, Honorable Members,
My name is Deepak Maskey and I am a retired Sergeant from the 7th Gurkha Rifles of the Brigade of Gurkhas. I am also a FALKLANDS war veteran who saw duty in the frontline. I hold the portfolio of Director of Communication in the current campaign by the lead Gurkhas organisations United Struggle Committee, also known as the GURKHA SATYAGRAHA. I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to present my evidence with regards to the remaining Gurkha grievances to the Committee of Inquiry. I am much honored to be representing the Gurkha veterans and their families, not only in the UK, but all over the World wherever they may have settled. We feel this is an unprecedented opportunity given to the Gurkhas to make their case and likewise for the British Government to “right the two hundred years of wrongs” done to the Gurkhas.
INDRODUCTION
The GURKHA SATYAGRAHA is a common platform for all the major Gurkha campaigning organisations to make a united approach to the British and the Nepalese governments in resolving their outstanding grievances.
The organisations within the GURKHA SATYAGRAHA have made various written and oral representation to both the British and the Nepalese governments (including litigations) in various stages in the last 25 years. There have been some improvements in facilities over the course of the campaign but the core issues still remain to be resolved
In the last 25 years of the campaign, we have seen many veterans perish without seeing the light of justice and there are many more that are living the last few years of their lives. Due to the complete ignorance of the successive British governments on the main grievances of the Gurkha veterans, the GURKHA SATYAGRAHA had no choice but to stage a hunger strike merely to highlight their grievances and draw the attention of the government and other political parties.
AIM
The aim of this presentation is to abreast the Honorable Members, of the outstanding issue related to the Gurkhas that need resolving.
The presentation will endeavour to explain the outstanding grievances and clear some confusion while making recommendations and suggestions on resolving the Gurkha grievances for the consideration by the Committee. Madam Chair - This is also an opportunity for you to meet some live witnesses who may be of interest to you and the members of the committee.
The contents of these presentations are based on the Tripartite Agreement of 1947, report and recommendations of the Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committee of Nepal government, first-hand experience of life in the British Army, historical facts and figures and the destitution faced by the veterans and their families after retirement.
The first part of the presentation will be the power point followed by the second part that will be the introduction of the live witnesses.
BACKGROUND
The Gurkhas carry two hundred years of glorious history in the British Army. This all began with the war between Nepal and the East India Company that concluded with a Saugauli Treaty of 1816 where Nepal lost 1/3rd of her territory. This was a turning point in the Nepal Britain relations.
The British were impressed with the bravery and fighting skills of the Nepalese men, and thereafter, began recruiting them into the British Indian Army as “Gorkhas”. There was no formal Terms and Conditions of service laid out for these men. Even without any specifics on pay, pension or benefits the Gurkhas fought for Britain in almost every war including the two world wars with heavy casualties. Madam Chair – we can only imagine how Britain must have treated the Gurkhas in those days, when we, in this 21st century, are having to campaign for equality and justice.
World War I – 200, 000 Gurkhas fought for Britain. (25% of the eligible male population of Nepal)
Casualties - 22,000
World War II – 250,000 Gurkhas fought for Britain.
Killed – 7544
Missing (presumed dead) – 1441
Wounded - 23,655
Madam Chair – While the young Gurkha soldiers were fighting for Britain’s territorial expansion around the World, the situation in their own hills and villages were very tragic. Most of the hills and villages from where the Gurkhas were recruited literally had no young men to care for the old ones. The few, who made it back to their villages after the wars, never saw their parents who had perished after a long wait for a glimpse of their sons.
The map clearly illustrates that Gurkhas have fought for Britain across he globe in the last 200 years. “Gurkha graves are spread across the face of the earth in nearly every country in which Britain has fought – silent testament to Gurkha loyalty and courage”.
THE TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT
The TPA laid the terms and conditions of Gurkha service with the British and the Indian Armies. Paragraph 1 of Annexure III of the TPA clearly stated that ‘In all matters of promotion, welfare and other facilities the Gurkha troops should be treated on the same footing as the other units in the parent army so that the stigma of “mercenary troops” may for all time be wiped out”. Note (1) of Annexure III of the TPA states - Mr. Symon, the British negotiator made it clear that “subject to the limitation of finance and supply”, welfare facilities would be provided for Gurkha troops on similar lines to those provided to British (United Kingdom) troops”. He emphasised that “the United Kingdom Government in no way regarded Gurkha troops as mercenaries, and that they would form an integral and distinguished part of the British Army”.
Contrary to the explicit desire expressed by the then Maharaja of Nepal for equal treatment of Gurkha soldiers as per the parent armies of Britain and India, and the assurances given by the British representative, Britain has been widely discriminating against the Gurkha troops on pay, pension and welfare facilities in comparison to their British and Commonwealth counterparts since the very beginning. Gurkhas have been treated as a cheap commodity by Britain while India has always treated them equal to the men of the parent armies.
Ø Britain has used the TPA mostly for its own benefit and ignored it when not in its interest.
Ø The TPA does not explicitly state where Gurkhas are to serve - the UK or the Far East. It clearly states that Gurkhas should be treated in the same footing as the men of the parent army (regardless of where they serve).
Ø The signatories of the TPA cannot cherry pick the contents and use it only to its advantage.
Ø The bilateral agreement between Britain and India on the basic rates of pay and pension cannot be forced upon the citizens of an independent/ sovereign country. Although incorporated in the TPA, the government of Nepal is not a signatory to that document.
Ø The abundance of young Nepalese queuing-up to join the British Army each year does not give Britain the right to abuse their Human Rights and undermine the TPA.
In 1998, the House of Representative - Foreign Relations and Human Rights Committee of Nepal, under the Chairmanship of Hon Jay Prakash Gupta, conducted a detailed study on the Grievances of the British Gurkha Ex-Servicemen. This included interviews with ex-servicemen and field visits to various parts of the country for interactions, consultations with the British and the Nepal Governments, historians and experts along with reviews of various historical documents available to the committee. The committee found that the grievances of the Gurkha veterans mirrored their actual conditions and reflected the anomalies and inconsistencies in honoring the TPA by Britain. The Committee reported its findings and recommendations to the Government of Nepal in 1998.
EXCEPERTS FROM THE REPORT BY
FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OF NEPAL
1.1 Reviewing the provisions of Tripartite Agreement of 1947, though it appears that the delegates of Nepal, India and British government have signed on it, Annex – 2 of the agreement provides that the salary and allowance for the servicemen of Gurkha Brigade serving in the British Army shall be as per the Indian Pay Code. Annex – 2 relates to a separate bilateral agreement between India and Britain only, in which, the Nepalese delegate has not signed. As such, its provisions are not mandatory to an independent country Nepal and its subjects. Therefore, it is found that there is no equal salary, allowance and facilities for the Gurkhas on par with other members of the British Army as stipulated in Annex – 3 of the agreement.
Regardless of whatever is contained in the bilateral agreement sealed on 7th November 1947, to which Nepal is not a party, the then Commander in Chief Padma Shumsher had expressed a sort of reservation in paragraph 1 of the Tripartite Agreement, to which Nepal is also a party. It reads: If the terms and conditions at the final stage do not prove detrimental to the interest or dignity of the Nepalese Government, my Government will be happy to maintain connections with both armies, provided men of the Gurkha Regiments are willing so to serve (if they will not be looked upon as distinctly mercenary).
This clarifies that the bilateral agreement sealed on 7th November 1947 should not derogate the esteem of Nepal and Nepalese and His Majesty’s Government has to categorically place that it would not be just for Nepal to be bound by that bilateral agreement. When needed the British Government recruited thousands of soldiers and at the end of war, they were repatriated in the name of downsizing in 1947, 1968 and 1991. It is known that His Majesty’s Government was neither informed nor its consent was taken in this process.
THE REMAINING ISSUES
Madam Chair – although some improvements have been made after the start of the Campaign for Justice and as a result of various court cases, the undermentioned issues remain to be resolved:
Ø Equal Pension (including preserved pensions).
Ø Reimbursement of underpayments and compensations for unfair dismissals.
Ø Settlement Rights for Adult dependents.
Ø Equal facilities for Gurkha Widows
Ø Medical Health Care in Nepal.
STATISTICS OF GURKHA PENSIONERS
This is the current statistic of the Gurkha pensioner:
Ø 16,065 Veterans
Ø 6,870 Widows
(Total 22,935) under the Gurkha Pension Scheme).
Ø 3,438 veterans on charity pension of £40/ month
Ø 3,638 veterans without any pension.
The above figures are constantly in declining order due to the age and the mortality rate of the veterans.
PENSION
a. British and Gurkha pension as at 1997
Rank / British / GurkhasCorporal / £5969 / £360@15 years
Staff Sergeant / £7538 / £404@19 years
Warrant Officer 1 / £8616 / £514
b. British and Gurkha pension as at 2013
The MOD has made numerous claims that Gurkhas’ pensions have increased by leaps and bounds. However, the two tables speak for themselves. A British WO1's pension has gone up from £5269 per annum in 1988 to £8616 in 1997, an increase of 63.52 % in nine years. Whereas a Gurkha WO1's pension for the same nine years period rose from £494 per annum to £514, an increase of only 4.05 %. Where is the large percentage the MOD is talking about?
A British Captain and a Gurkha Captain (i.e. Queens Gurkha Officers) are not equal in their ranks. As laid down in the Queen's Regulations 1961 and the Royal Pay Warrants, a Queen's Gurkha Officer (QGO) rank is senior to a British Warrant Officer 1 and junior to a Sandhurst Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. It can be stated, therefore, that a QGO should receive proportionately more than a British WO1 and less than a Sandhurst Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. A Captain (QGO) should thus have received more than £8616 per annum that is, more than what a British WO1 was getting in 1997. But the British government paid him only £900 per annum in 1997. He was thus getting 9.58 times less than a British WO1 [Source: Gurkhas in the Service of the Crown – Johnny Gurkha – March 1999, pages 12/13]
Retirement at 12 & 15 years point – The MoD Illusion!
Ø The 15 year compulsory retirement rule is forced upon the Gurkhas and is not found in either the British or the Indian Army!
Ø 15 year point is the pensionable service for the Gurkhas exactly as the 22 year point is for the British soldiers. It is irrelevant to compare the 15 year Gurkha pension point with the 12 year discharge point of the British. Up to the 12 year point the British and the Gurkhas follow the same service extension rules at 4 – 7 – 10 & 12 year point.
BENEFITS AT 12 YEAR DISCHARGE POINT
You can see from the comparison table how Gurkhas would fair if discharged at 12 year point like their British counterpart:
British at 12 year point:Ø Handsome gratuity.
Ø Job opportunity in UK
Ø Earnings and pension from civilian jobs.
Ø Armed Forces preserved pension at age 60.
Ø State benefits and pension. / Gurkhas at 12 year point:
Ø Extremely Low gratuity.
Ø No job opportunity
Ø No civilian job or pension.
Ø No Armed Forces preserved pension at 60.
Ø No State benefits or pension.
Gurkhas therefore, have no choice but to serve up to the 15 year point to receive at least a meager pension to survive.
THE ARGUMENT
Ø The Gurkhas have to serve the British Army for at least 15 years to earn a pension exactly like the British soldiers who have to serve for up to 22 years to earn their pension.