According to the Mail:
'They were ready to lay down their lives for Britain - and have been rewarded with an act of treachery.
Thousands of Gurkhas were yesterday shut out of the UK in what was described as 'shameful betrayal' by the Government.'
The Gurkhas must be the only group of immigrants ever to have escaped the wrath of the Daily Mail. They are almost definately the only ones to have melted the heart of Britain's most famously rabid tabloid. However, the tabloid didn't miss the opportunity to contrast the treatment of the 'valiant' Gurkhas with the government's apparent willingness to let in 'paedos' and other undesirables:
"Raymond Horne, a 62-year-old predatory paedophile, was deported from Australia, where he lived since the age of five. Britain had no choice but to let him in.See also this story about British immigration favouring 'paedo scum' over an injured Gurkha.
On the same day in March last year, Gurkha hero Gyanendra Rai was refused NHS treatment.
The 53-year-old is partly paralysed after his back was torn open by an Argentine shell during the Falklands War.
Italian-born Learco Chindamo, 28, who knifed to death headmaster Philip Lawrence in 1995, is free to stay in the UK after lawyers claimed that deportation would 'breach his right to a family life'.
Hate preacher Abu Qatada, 48, is wanted by Jordan for involvement in terrorist attacks but remains in Britain"
The Sun, a tabloid which backs the Labour party but has been repeatedly accused of jingoism describes itself as being 'on a quest for justice' for the Gurkhas. They ran this emotional piece about ex-Gurkha Ram Bahadur Gurung, who passed away last week in a London hospital
The fact that even the foreigner-bashing Daily Mail supported the Gurkhas shows just how much Brown has misread the public mood in the UK. There is immense publically sympathy for the Gurkhas, and the ongoing argument over their residency is still featuring prominently in the British media - to the extent that it's getting as more coverage than the current political crisis in Nepal. Even scaremongering about the 'flood' of 100,000 ex-Gurkhas and their dependents that could enter the UK has not been enough to change the public mood. The overwhelming majority of Brits are appalled and embarrassed to think that their government could compromise the historic relationship between Britain and Nepal's Gurkhas, and place a high value on Britain's 'emotional' tie to Nepal.
3 comments:
fucking imperialism must end, picking up poor third worlders to fight their fucking wars.
so the right wing likes them huh! no surprise there.
Much as I respect the Gurkhas I also feel a bit uncomfortable about the fact that we're paying them peanuts to fight our wars for us, gange. It's hard to know how to look at the relationship between the British army and the Gurkhas - are they exploited or are they taking the opportunity to ply their trade as mercenaries in a global free market? Clearly the moment has come for a bit of self-reflection about the 'Xtreme outsourcing' going on here
I wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the Gurkhas. My Granddad reminded me on many occasions that they saved his life during WWII. There is an important bond and a responsibility of care, but hasn't this accusation of treachery been blown out of proportion?
Yes, this is yet another example of how Brown has grossly misread the public mood, but that public mood has been entirely led by over-sentimental and over-simplifying redtops and their sickening one-sided campaigns that have no use of well-rounded analysis and relevant facts. Is it really a fact we are paying them peanuts when you consider a Gurkha retiring after 15 years service at 33 receives a higher income from a pension than a working Nepalese Government minister? For the 230 available spots in the regiment there are over 20,000 applicants, so they don't seem to be too put off.
Is it exploitation? Of course it is. But it is a contract the soliers enter into willingly. The very idea behind the Gurkhas was that they would be cheaper to employ than British soldiers. The ironic thing is that if all Gurkha soldiers had the same rights as the British ones, with their much larger familes to accomodate in military housing, they could become more expensive.
If it wasn't for Lumley, I'm not so sure this issue would have been given any front page exposure.
And it angers me how Cameron and the tories are trying to capitalise on this issue. Under the Conservatives a grand total of 5 ex-Gurkhas were given British residency compared to over 6000 under Labour.
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