Join our campaign for Gurkha memorial

THE Daily Express is today urging the British public to support plans for a national monument to our fallen Gurkha heroes.

CAMPAIGN A Gurkha soldier on an Army exercise in the Oman desert CAMPAIGN: A Gurkha soldier on an Army exercise in the Oman desert

We are demanding that the memorial be built to remember the 45,000 loyal soldiers who have laid down their lives for Queen and country.

Supporters want the statue to be built on the cliffs above Folkestone, Kent, where the 2nd Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles are based.

The monument is likely to be a statue of a Gurkha in full battle dress.

When completed it will be the first of its kind in Britain and sends another strong message to the Government of the high esteem in which the Nepalese soldiers are held.

Folkestone town councillor Dhan Gurung who is leading the memorial campaign said fallen Gurkhas deserve to have their place in British history remembered.

Mr Gurung, the first retired Gurkha elected to a public office, said: “Over the generations, some 45,000 Gurkhas have laid down their lives for Britain. They are still doing it today.

“Within the last few months alone, we have lost brave Gurkhas.

“I am calling on the whole country, and on everyone from across the world who holds the Gurkhas in high regard, to help support this memorial.”

Mr Gurung said £50,000 is needed to pay for the tribute.

“We are asking individuals, groups and communities to support us by donating to our memorial fund,” he added.

Various designs for the memorial, which will probably be designed and made by a local artist, are being considered.

The national monument has won the support of Gurkha justice campaigner Joanna Lumley and Victoria Cross holders Lachhiman Gurung, 91, and Tul Bahadur Pun, 87.

Peter Carroll, of the Gurkha Justice Campaign, said: “The bond between the Gurkhas and the British people is written in blood.  Folkestone has become both the physical and spiritual home of the Gurkha’s. 

“It’s entirely fitting that this powerful memorial should be erected here.”

Tory MP and Gurkha campaigner Ann Widdecombe, said: “This an excellent idea. We should always remember the debt that we ow the gurkhas.”

Gurkhas have been part of the British Army for almost 200 years and are hand picked from a fiercely-contested recruitment contest in Nepal to win the right to join.

They have seen combat all over the world, with 200,000 fighting in the two world wars.

Despite their loyal allegiance Labour has shamelessly refused to give all Gurkha veterans the right to settle in Britain.

Ms Lumley, who has championed the Daily Express crusade for Gurkha rights, has confronted Gordon Brown over the matter in recent weeks.

The Government has promised to alter settlement rights by the end of May.

To back the Gurkha monument crusade go to www.gurkhamemorialfund.org.uk

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?