Nepal elects Constituent Assembly chairman and speaker =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's parliament on Tuesday unanimously elected a chairman of the Constituent Assembly that will draft a new constitution aimed at ending years of political uncertainty.

Subhash Chandra Nembwang, the only candidate put forward by the country's political parties, is a member of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninists (UML) - the second largest party in parliament.

Nembwang served for four years as chairman of the first Constituent Assembly which was dissolved in May 2012 after failing to write a constitution.

He will also act as parliamentary speaker, a role which he has held for three consuecutive terms, making him the longest-serving speaker in the country's parliamentary history.

His election is expected to speed up cabinet expansion which has been delayed as a result of political infighting.

Nepal elected a prime minister last week after a three-month delay, replacing the technocratic government put in place in March 2013 to carry out a second constituent assembly election.

Nepal's first constituent assembly was created in 2008, after a peace deal was signed with Maoist rebels, ending a decade-long insurgency.

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Nepal’s new prime minister sworn in =

Kathmandu (dpa) – Sushil Koirala was sworn in as Nepal's 37th prime minister Tuesday at the presidential palace in Kathmandu.

Koirala was elected by 405 votes in the 601-member parliament on Monday after an agreement was reached among the major parties.

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninists had struck the deal with Koirala’s Nepali Congress party, but announced on Tuesday that it would not join a coalition government because he refused to give it the Home Ministry portfolio.

Chief Justice Khilaraj Regmi, who was leading a technocratic administration in charge of holding election, stepped down on Tuesday to make way for Koirala to take office.

The current parliament, elected in November, also doubles as the Constitutent Assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution.

Nepal's first Constituent Assembly was formed in 2008, after a peace deal with Maoist rebels ended a decade-long insurgency. But it failed to write a charter after missing several deadlines and was disbanded in 2012.

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LEAD: Nepal elects new premier to form coalition government

By Pratibha Tuladhar, dpa

Eds: Adds power-sharing deal, quotes Sushil, background on previous failures to write new charter =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal’s parliament elected Nepali Congress party leader Sushil Koirala as prime minister Monday, as the major parties struck an agreement following months of squabbling.

The 75-year-old won with 405 of the 553 votes.

The voting came nearly three months after the November 19 election of the Constituent Assembly, which also serves as an interim parliament until a new constitution is drafted and ratified.

His election became possible after the second-largest faction, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninists (UML), agreed to support him.

Nepali Congress has 196 seats to the UML's 171. A candidate needs to win a simple majority in the 601-member chamber.

The parties negotiated a power-sharing deal on Sunday.

Koirala’s government replaces the technocratic administration led by Chief Justice Khilaraj Regmi, which was appointed in March to conduct a second Constituent Assembly election.

Nepal first elected a Constituent Assembly in 2008, after a peace deal with Maoist rebels ended a decade-long insurgency. But it failed to write a constitution after missing several deadlines.

Koirala is expected to lead a new coalition government tasked with completing a new charter and restoring stability.

"We'll prepare the draft constitution within six months and promulgate the constitution within a year. I assure you that we will complete successfully the task of constitution-writing under my leadership," Koirala said.

"My government will also focus on development work, with special focus on hydropower, agriculture and tourism."

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PROFILE: Sushil Koirala, Nepal’s new prime minister

By Pratibha Tuladhar, dpa =

Kathmandu (dpa)- Nepal's new prime minister, Sushil Koirala, heads the country's oldest political party, Nepali Congress.

A lifelong bachelor seen as leading a simple, non-ostentatious lifestyle, Sushil, 75, is known for his strong political stance, especially against the Maoist agenda.

“The reason Sushil Koirala has never been in powerful positions is also because he has never kow-towed to foreign powers for favours. His clean image is his main strength,” said Jagat Nepal, a writer who has followed the party closely.

Sushil hails from the Koirala dynasty, a family with the longest history in modern Nepalese politics.

His cousin BP Koirala was the first elected prime minister. BP’s brother, Girija Prasad Koirala, became premier later and signed the peace accord with Maoist rebels that ended a decade-long civil war in 2006.

The pact closed a conflict that left more than 16,000 people dead, and eventually paved the way for Nepal to abolish the monarchy and declare itself a republic.

Sushil Koirala joined the Nepali Congress party in 1954 and served in several positions before being elected party president in 2010, after Girija Prasad Koirala’s death.

“He always had a hand in government formation but never became a minister himself,” said author Jagat Nepal, whose works include a biography of Girija Prasad Koirala.

The author said Sushil has preferred to wield influence from outside  the limelight, partly due to a lack of oratory skills - a condition exacerbated by having suffered tongue cancer.

“He has no experience of running the government but he’s always been the one to take major decisions. Almost all the decisions taken by Girija were made by Sushil. He was the backbone of his success,” Nepal said.

He spent 16 years in self-imposed exile in India after King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah banned political parties and took over absolute power in 1960.

The new prime minister Koirala served 40 years on the Nepali Congress central committee. He was elected to parliament in 1991, 1994, 1999 and 2008.

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Nepal elects new prime minister =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal’s parliament elected Nepali Congress party leader Sushil Koirala as prime minister Monday, as the major parties struck an agreement following months of squabbling.

The 75-year-old won with 405 of the 553 votes.

The voting came nearly three months after the November 19 election of the Constituent Assembly, which also serves as an interim parliament until a new constitution is drafted and ratified.

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Nepal president gives parties one week to form government =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday gave political parties a one-week deadline to form a government, a process that has been in limbo since elections in November.

Yadav set a deadline for February 2 for the parties to nominate a prime minister, his office said.

The centrist Nepali Congress - the largest party in parliament - has nominated its president, Sushil Koirala, as its prime ministerial candidate.

Various factors have contributed to the glitches in government formation, including a delay in the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly after parties debated the protocol of who would call the first meeting.

The Constituent Assembly also functions as a parliament and is responsible for drafting a new constitution.

Other delays have been caused by the Nepali Congress, which was unable to choose its parliamentary party leader. It has 196 seats in the 601-member charter writing body.

The Nepali Congress' electoral success dealt a blow to the once-dominant Maoists. The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxists Leninists and the Unified Maoist party came in second and third, respectively, in the November polls.

The Maoists waged a civil war from 1996 to 2006 in which more than 16,000 people died. They joined mainstream politics in 2008 through the Constituent Assembly election.

But that assembly was disbanded in May 2012 after failing to achieve consensus on the text despite several extensions, as the parties squabbled over power-sharing and the Himalayan nation was plunged into political paralysis.

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Nepal doctors return to work as government gives ground on reform =

Kathmandu (dpa) – Hospitals in Nepal resumed normal operations Friday, after doctors ended their strike over health sector reform, the Nepal Medical Association said.

"We have already directed all the doctors nationwide to return to work from this morning after the government agreed to respond to our demands," the association's doctor Narsingh KC said.

The doctors launched their action in support of a surgeon who started a hunger strike two weeks ago demanding an end to political pressure on hospital appointments, and the repeal of a 5-per-cent tax on medical services.

Surgeon Govinda KC, no relation, ended his hunger strike early Friday.

Narsingh KC said the government on Wednesday agreed to reinstate a former dean at Govinda KC's hospital, who the surgeon believed had been replaced due to political pressure.

The government also said it would form a task force to establish a University of Health Science, another of Govinda KC's demands, and roll back a 5-per-cent tax on health services.

The strike had closed out-patient departments at 400 hospitals across Nepal since the weekend.

On Thursday, doctors ran a free health camp in the centre of the capital Kathmandu, although they refused to provide in-house services at the hospitals.

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Assembly kicks off Nepal's latest attempt to write constitution =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's second constituent assembly opened Wednesday with a mandate to draft the constitution, a work in progress since 2008.

Its Chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa said the people would not be forgiving again and again of politicians' failure to produce a text.

The 601-member body representing 30 parties was elected November 19th, after the first assembly, elected in 2008, was disbanded in May 2012 for failing to write a constitution in time.

Party leaders have said they hope to have a draft by the end of the year.

A new constitution was one of the points in the peace deal signed with the Maoist rebels in 2006 to end a decade-long civil war, but disagreements have persisted over its content.

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Doctors in Nepal resign en masse over alleged political meddling =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Some 200 doctors in Nepal resigned Tuesday in support of a colleague who has been on hunger strike for 11 days to protest political interference at hospitals.

The Nepal Medical Association confirmed the move by the doctors from at around 400 hospitals, a day after the Supreme Court ordered them to return to work.  

Govinda KC, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, began the protest after the appointment of a new dean for the facility's Institute of Medicine. KC said he was given the job because of his political connections.

The chairman of the Nepalese cabinet, Khilaraj Regmi, on Tuesday directed the university to scrap the dean's appointment and appealed to KC to end his protest.

The 200 doctors stopped work Sunday in a show of solidarity with KC, leaving only emergency and intensive care units operational at the country's hospitals since.


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Nepal's new Constituent Assembly sworn in =

Kathmandu (dpa) - The elected members of Nepal's new Constituent Assembly were sworn in on Tuesday, one of the preliminary steps toward the drafting of a new constitution.

The chairman of the assembly, Surya Bahadur Thapa, administered the oath of office to 575 representatives in the presence of President Ram Baran Yadav.

Out of them, 240 were directly elected and 335 were chosen through proportional representation. The remaining 26 members of the 601-member body will be nominated on merit.

Nepal's first Constituent Assembly was elected in 2008, two years after the end of a 10-year civil war, but was dissolved in May after failing to draw up a draft constitution.

The first meeting of the new assembly, due Wednesday, is expected to start dealing with unresolved issues from the previous assembly.

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Nepalese doctors strike to protest alleged nepotism =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Hundreds of doctors in Nepal went on strike in support of a colleague's hunger strike against alleged political senior hospital appointments, police said Monday.

Three dozen protestors were briefly detained for demonstrating in a prohibited zone after marching toward the government's administrative hub of Singha Durbar, police said.

Doctors stopped providing all but emergency treatment at hospitals across Nepal Sunday to support doctor Govinda KC, whose hunger strike entered its ninth day Monday.

The doctor says the dean of the Institute of Medicine at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital where he works was appointed thanks to his political connections. He has asked the government to revoke the dean's appointment, and reconsider several others.

More than 300 members of the Nepal Medical Association gathered in Kathmandu, saying they would continue their strike unless Govinda KC's demands are fulfilled.

Doctors treating him said his health was failing.

The government has directed Tribhuvan University to reconsider its recent appointments.

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First member of Nepal's new constituent assembly sworn in =

Kathmandu (dpa) - The first member of Nepal's Constituent Asssembly was sworn in Monday, as the body prepares to pick up the task of drafting a constitution, pending since 2008.

Surya Bahadur Thapa, 85, took the oath in front of President Ram Baran Yadav, and was to serve as the assembly's chair until an official speaker is nominated.

Thapa, also the chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantara Party, served as prime minister five times under three different kings.

Nepal's first Constituent Assembly, elected in 2008, was dissolved in May after failing to agree a draft constitution on time.

The country's 10-year civil war ended in 2006, but persistent disagreements have held up the drafting of a new constitution.

The remaining members of the new assembly were to be sworn in on Tuesday, with the first meeting due Wednesday.

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Fast, doctors strike held in Nepal to protest political appointees =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Doctors stopped providing all but emergency treatment at hospitals across Nepal Sunday to support a colleague on hunger strike to protest political appointments at hospitals, the Nepal Doctors Association said.

Govinda KC, a doctor at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, started his fast a week ago, asking the government to revoke the appointment of the dean of the university's Institute of Medicine and reconsider other recent appointments.

Doctors said they would continue their strike unless KC's demands are fulfilled.

Doctors attending KC said his health was failing.

The government directed Tribhuvan University to reconsider recent appointments.

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Nepal's "living goddesses" to receive allowance after retirement =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's famous Kumaris - prepubescent girls considered to be incarnations of a Hindu goddess - will receive retirement benefits starting June, the government announced on Tuesday.

The provision, which sees former Kumaris receiving a monthly allowance of 10,000 rupees (101 dollars), will benefit around 10 girls who were stripped of the title upon reaching puberty.

"This is a gesture to extend our tribute to the former Kumaris," Kathmandu Metropolitan City chief Laxman Aryal said at a press conference.

The Kumari is a virgin deity, regarded as the protector of the ancient Kingdom of Nepal. The girls are selected at an early age and have to go through rituals to attain the title, including spending time in seclusion.

The tradition is a controversial one, with rights activists criticizing the practice of installing the girls at such an early age. Kumaris received no formal education before 2008.

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Nepal's highest court rejects blanket amnesty plan =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's Supreme Court said on Thursday it had asked the government to amend an ordinance calling for a blanket amnesty in cases relating to the country's decade-long Maoist uprising.

The Maoist insurgency, between 1996 and 2006, ended with the signing of a peace pact. More than 16,000 people died in the war, and there were more than 1,200 forced disappearances.

The ordinance has been criticized by human rights activists and the international community because it proposed an amnesty for all crimes committed during the period of conflict.

The National Human Rights Commission objected to it, saying it breached international standards.

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Nepal government hires Pinochet lawyer to fight wartime case =

January 23, 2013 
 Kathmandu (dpa)- Nepal has hired the British law firm that handled a human rights case against Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet to defend an army colonel arrested in Britain on charges of war crimes, local media reported.

   Colonel Kumar Lama has been in custody since January 3.

   “Kingsley Napley and its top solicitor, [Michael] Caplan, have already taken up Colonel Lama’s case," the Kathmandu Post quoted Nepali Ambassador Chandra Chalise as saying.

   "With the help of such a reputed law firm, we now hope that we will be able to get proper legal counsel."

   Lama was arrested on allegations of torture committed during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, which lasted from 1996 to 2006.

   The next hearing is scheduled for January 24.

   The case has divided public opinion in Nepal. Human rights activists lauded the arrest, while the government and its supporters argued that the nation should deal with its own wartime cases through a future Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

   Pinochet who was arrested in by British authorities in 1988 but was later released on medical grounds and repatriated to Chile.
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Nepalis lose patience with violence against women

By Pratibha Tuladhar, dpa

   Kathmandu (dpa) - In the Nepalese capital, nearly three hundred demonstrators are gathered outside the prime minister’s residence, huddled against the morning cold.

   "We don’t want rapist police!" shouts Sudha Maharjan. "We want justice!" says another.

   Every morning for more than two weeks, the crowd has assembled for two hours before dispersing around 11 am to get on with their respective days.

   Neither their numbers nor their anger show any sign of abating, inspired by recent demonstrations in neighbouring India against the gang-rape and murder of a student in December, and violence against women more widely.

   “Rape is an issue globally,” says Bijaya Subba, a protester. “The recent Delhi protests gave people courage to speak out against it.”

   Women in Nepal fare little better than in India, experts say.

   Official figures are hard to come by, but women’s organization WOREC says 88 cases of rape, murder, battering, sexual abuse and trafficking were reported in the four weeks from mid November to mid December.

   In December, 16-year-old Shiba Hasmi, from south-western Nepal’s Bardia, was burned to death, allegedly by her relatives - now in custody - because of a love affair.

   Public outcry over the incident brought to media attention the earlier case of Sita Rai, who on November 21 was allegedly raped by a police officer who offered to help her after she was robbed by airport officials as she returned from Saudi Arabia.

   The case sparked an outcry in news and social media, and a group started the daily protests outside the prime minister’s residence. Several officials have been arrested but not charged.

   “So many people who have faced violations have joined the protest just to speak out,” says Bidushi Dhungel, a journalist.

   The demonstrations and their media coverage appear to have increased awareness of violence against women, with three cases of burning and more than 10 of rape - including two against minors - reported in the press this week.

   “The cases wouldn’t have surfaced in the media if it wasn’t for the protests,” Dhungel says.

   Some protesters are demanding a fast-track court and stronger laws to deal with rape cases. Others say the legislation is not the problem.

   “The problem isn’t our laws, but the fact that they do not get implemented,” says Aman Maharjan, a law student and a demonstrator.

   “Impunity is institutionalized and if there is money and power, people can get away with anything,” says Mandira Sharma, a lawyer and rights activist.

   Dhungel agrees, saying there is no effective legal recourse because "criminals are backed by politicians."

   Some blame Nepal's current caretaker government, paralyzed by the suspension of parliament, for the lack of action at legislative level.

   Others say the country's entrenched patriarchy plays down violence against women.

   “If there were more women in the political process, the likelihood of resolving the problem would be way higher,” Dhungel says.

   Although Nepal reserves a third of its parliamentary seats for women, all top leadership positions are held by men.

   Women victims of violence also have to confront a tradition that considers speaking out against their aggressors as shameful.

   “There is this feeling that women shouldn’t complain because it is a matter of prestige,” explains Mohna Ansari, Nepal’s first female Muslim lawyer and member of a Gender-based Violence Monitoring Team formed by the government in the wake of the protests.

   Women who speak up about being raped can be labelled as "seeking attention," she adds.
  
   "I feel worried that people will accuse me of getting into a situation like this," Sita Rai told BBC Nepali Radio. "People won’t understand," she said, adding that she underwent an abortion after the rape.

   Uma Devi Adhikari is the mother of domestic worker Saraswati Subedi, who was allegedly sexually abused and killed by her employers.

   Adhikari was encouraged to speak out for her daughter by the recent demonstrations and media coverage.
  
   "I do not want money, I want justice for my daughter," she said.

   Adhikari has rejected the autopsy's verdict of suicide, saying the evidence had been tampered with. The family says they are under pressure from the employers to accept money and withdraw their case.

   With an increasing number of cases emerging, people say they are furious the government isn’t acting faster.

   “No institutions are working accountably,” says Sharma. "Police don’t do basic work like registering or investigating, instead they use their power to pollute and manipulate evidence."

   “The basic rule of law is missing.”

   Ansari's team is to present its report on violence against women on Sunday.

   “We might not be able to change laws but making sure these families get access to a full investigation and legal recourse is something that can be done, if there is will on the part of political actors,” she says.

   Rai says she wants her rapist to be punished but that she also wants to be left in peace. "May this never happen to anyone else."
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Hundreds demonstrate against rape in Nepal =

January 3, 2013
   Kathmandu (dpa) - Hundreds of protesters in Nepal were Thursday demanding stringent and swift government action against officials who allegedly robbed and raped a woman at an international airport.

   The protests, in their eighth day, echoed those in neighbouring India over the gang rape and death of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi, for which five men were formally charged Thursday.

   As in several cities across India, the Nepalese demonstrators came from varied social and professional backgrounds.

   The woman was allegedly robbed by airport officials and raped by a police officer on November 21 at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, as she returned to Nepal from Saudi Arabia. Her father told media she is pregnant.

   Two airport officials accused of robbing her and the police officer who allegedly raped her were arrested and were being charged with corruption. But demonstrators say they want the government to act faster to set a precedent.

   Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Monday said he was "deeply ashamed" by the incident and ordered an investigation.

   "I have already directed the Home Ministry to release the report at the earliest and bring the culprits to book," he said.

   The protests were initiated by a small group of youth but have drawn hundreds of people through the week outside the prime minister's residence.

   "I have my mother, sisters and niece at home and this could have been the plight of any one of them," said protester Sherab Sherpa.

   "I have joined the protest so that I can fight for a safer and just society for the women in my life," said Sherpa, a web designer.

   Student Prakrit Nepal said: "This isn't about violence against women, but about human rights. We all have to speak out against such insane acts."

   On Wednesday, a college student was gang-raped in the eastern district of Jhapa district.

   There is little official data on reported rapes and conviction rates in Nepal. According to WOREC, a women's rights organization, 88 cases of violence against women - including rape and murder - were recorded in November-December.

   "People want to see stern and prompt action against the perpetrators,” said journalist Dewan Rai.

   The premier has tasked the government with forming a monitoring committee on violence against women, which is expected to release a report on cases of rape and other violations after 11 days.
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Nepal's Maoist chief bails out man who slapped him =

   Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal's Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Tuesday bailed out a man detained for allegedly slapping him in public last month, media reports said.

   Padam Kunwar, a 25-year-old party worker from Baglung district in western Nepal, slapped Dahal at a public event on November 16.

   Kunwar said he slapped the head of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) because he was frustrated with the political deadlock stemming from the failure of parties to form a national unity government.

   A caretaker Maoist government has been in place since May, when the term of the Constituent Assembly, or parliament, expired after it failed to draft a new charter.

   Kunwar was attacked by Maoist supporters after he slapped Dahal and later arrested. Dahal paid 28,000 rupees (329 dollars) to bail him out, according to Kantipur Television.

   Dahal has not commented on the case since the bailout, although he had said after the incident last month that he had forgiven Kunwar, a former Maoist soldier, whose family also fought the decade-long Maoist war.

   The Maoist politician was the third of Nepal's top political leaders to be slapped in public recently, as public discontent over the political stalemate rises.
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FEATURE: Gurkhas mourn dead, seek equal rights from British army

By Pratibha Tuladhar, dpa =

   Syangja, Nepal (dpa) – As a group of mourners sang the Magar dirge, Jham Bahadur Pun Magar, 55, wiped his eyes with the end of the white linen cloth wrapped around his bare body.

   “This song is about how you can no longer call out to someone once the person is dead,” the former soldier in the British army said.

   The ceremony in the western district of Syangja honoured the 60,000 Nepalese Gurkha soldiers who died fighting for the British crown during the two world wars, and to press for recognition.

   “Songs like these make me cry,” he said laughing at his own tears, revealing a facet of the culture known to be “as gentle and shy in daily life as they are fearless and tenacious in battle.”

   Described by 19th-century British officials as a “martial race,” the Nepalese hill tribesman have served in the British army over two centuries. More than 200,000 Gurkhas fought for the British in the world wars, serving in different countries.

   The Gurkhas first joined forces with the British in 1814, fighting for the East India Company.

   The regiment was split when the British quit India in 1947 and it has since served in both the Indian and the British armies.

   “If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha,” Indian Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw famously said.

   The name is derived from Gorkha district, where the expansion of the Nepalese kingdom began. Western Gurungs and Magars, and Rais and Limbus from the east, have mostly joined the Gurkha ranks. The tribes live in some of the remotest districts in the shadows of Himalayan peaks.

   They are nature worshippers, with many practicing Buddhism, while some have taken up Hinduism.

   “When I was stationed in Borneo in 1962, there were times when I’d lost my way in the forest, battled snakes and quicksands,” recalled Til Bahadur Gurung, 70, who stood out from his country men in a suit and Scottish cap.

   “There were days when we dug out roots for food and waited for the sun to dry our clothes after we got drenched in rain.”

   Gurung now lives in Reading, England. He moved to Britain three years ago, after former Gurkha soldiers won a court case in 2009 that gave them right to residency. But he is not entitled to a pension, and survives on government welfare.

   “I once shot a single-engine Indonesian plane with a GPM (General Proper Machine-gun),” he recalled. “The plane dropped paratroopers, but it burst into flames by the time it arrived at the Indonesian airport - like a scene from the movies.”

   Gurkhas are also identified by their traditional 18-inch curved  knife called the khukuri.

   “Legend has it that the khukuri had to taste blood once removed from the sheath,” said Rajesh Rai, spokesman for the Gurkha Ex-Servicemen’s Association (GAESO).

   “It was to imply that Gurkhas never give up in war.”

 

   Since 1858, 13 Gurkhas have been awarded the Victoria Cross, Britian's highest military honour for valour.

   “When we were growing up, we could not think beyond joining the British army because that’s what we had seen our fathers do,” explained retired soldier Damar Bahadur Pun, who followed his own father and three uncles into the British army, as did his four brothers, and one of his two sons. 

   “We grew up knowing that was our destiny,” he said.

   Now the once-unquestioned loyalty to the crown is strained as the Gurkha accuse the British government of discrimination.

   “Our ranks, salary and pensions have always been lower than that of other British soldiers,” said Padam Bahadur Gurung, chairman of the veterans' association.

   “We’re demanding equal pay for equal work.”

   They are petitioning the British government for rights on par with other soldiers, and recognition for Gurkhas killed in war.

   There are currently around 4,000 Nepalis serving in the British forces, GASEO's Rai said. About 130 are recruited from Nepal each year.

   As a three-day mourning ritual got underway this month, Buddhist monks said prayers, women lit colourful incense sticks, and men dressed in ethnic attire beat drums and chanted prayers.

   Retired soldier Dambar Bahadur Limbu watched as a shaman from his Limbu caste invoked a slow wail, dedicating the ritual to the dead.

   “It is the first time in 200 years that the undocumented Gurkha deaths are being honoured for their sacrifices,” Limbu said.

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