Gurkha veterans set Dec. 31 deadline for Nepal to act on pay and pension demands

The British Gurkha Satyagraha United Struggle Committee sent a letter to Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah demanding concrete steps on pay, pensions, recognition and other grievances of Gurkha veterans, and warned that if no progress is made by Dec. 31 2026 it will resume peaceful protests, including hunger strikes, in Nepal and the United Kingdom. The demand follows more than four years of bilateral talks between Nepal and the United Kingdom and multiple rounds of negotiations in London that have yet to produce a settlement.

The veterans reference the 1947 Tripartite Agreement and the 1923 Britain-Nepal Friendship Treaty as the basis for equal treatment, seeking pension parity with British Army soldiers and a fully costed schedule covering eleven financial issues identified in a 2018 technical report. They also request the release of historical recruitment records under the UK Public Records Act and a written response to advice from retired Lieutenant Colonel Hamish Adams on Gurkha service identity.

The committee notes that over 20,000 Gurkha veterans have died since the campaign began and stresses the urgency given the aging survivor pool. Previous hunger strikes in 2013 and 2021 prompted the UK to agree to talks, but the process has been repeatedly delayed. If the deadline passes, the group will restart protests and hunger strikes in both countries.