Gurkhas who are feeling “weaker” by the day from a hunger strike outside Downing Street have vowed to die to secure better pensions.
Pensioner Dhan Gurung and other Gurkha veterans were on day five of their protest yesterday, after police had moved in to “disturb” them, they said.
Mr Gurung had been outside No10 for four nights as he and fellow protesters continued to demand “equality and human rights”.
He told Sky News: “The three of us are getting weaker day by day, today is weaker than yesterday.
“This is the fourth night and starting day five we are all having emotional disorders – it is stressful.
“Last night we were targeted by the police who were trying to wake us. They said we cannot do this, cannot do that.”
He said officers attempted to remove his gazebo and other furniture as it was against by-laws overnight.
But the public helped defend the campaigners who have been offered warm clothes.
Mr Gurung said: “My wife and one of the ladies on strike became mentally distressed. They can’t speak, talk, stand.”
Gurkhas who have spent 15 years in the British Army and left before 1997 get a Gurkha Pension Scheme worth about £200 a month, based on living in Nepal.
But a campaign led by actress Joanna Lumley meant Gurkhas from 2009 won the right to settle in the UK.
Those who had retired after 1997, it was decided in 2007, would be eligible for the Armed Forces Pension Scheme.
But many who retired before 1997 and live in the UK can only receive the GPS.
