OneWorld.net (U.S.)

By Daniel Nelson

The British Gurkha Welfare Society has taken a full-page ad in today's Guardian newspaper to appeal to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for fair treatment for Nepalis who have served in the British army.

Last week’s British government announcement that it would pay full army pensions to current regiments but exclude retired troops has been condemned by the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation.

"The dedication and loyalty of Nepali soldiers to the British Crown has been unquestionable all through history, but the issues of the Gurkhas who joined before 1997 have been ignored," the organisation said.

Today (Monday) retired Major Tikendra Dal Dewan, on behalf of the British Gurkha Welfare Society, uses an advertisement to appeal to Prime Minister Tony Blair to “finally address this long-standing injustice to your country’s loyal heroes”.

He points out that Gurkhas have fought for Britain since the 19th century, but receive one-fifth of the pension paid to British soldiers. In addition, they have to serve 15 years to qualify for a pension, compared with only two years for British troops.

To back the Gurkhas claim, he cites a film, Days of Glory, which has been chosen to close the forthcoming Human Rights Watch London International Film Festival (see OneWorld’s Events page).

The film follows the story of four “indigènes” who enlisted in the French army to take back the fatherland from the Nazis. It shows the forgotten but crucial role that tens of thousands of North African soldiers played in the liberation of France during 1944 and 1945.

In his open letter Diwan and the film’s director, Rachid Bouchareb, make the point that “prior to the release of Days of Glory in France, President Jacques Chirac attended a private screening of the film, and after watching it, agreed to re-instate full pensions to Algerian war veterans to honour their sacrifice and heroism in aiding the allied fight in World War 11.

“For over fifty years they received no pension, but now this has been rectified. We humbly believe our film inspired France’s politicians to correct this injustice.”

Diwan and Bouchareb invite Blair to the festival screening of the film on 29 March in the hope that “you will watch our film, acknowledge the relevance of the issues it raises and take it upon yourself to act upon them accordingly.”

* Other recent films to make a political impact include An Inconvenient Truth, essentially a screen version of former US vice president Al Gore’s climate change lecture, which has played an important role in pushing the issue up the political agenda in the US, and Super Size Me, which for a while at least, put McDonald’s and fast food generally on the back foot.

* To tie in with the release of Days of Glory, on 14 March London's Ciné lumière is screening La Trahison (The Betrayal), which also examines a problematic aspect of recent French history - the 1960 Algerian war of independence. Jean-Michel Frodon, editor of Cahiers du Cinéma, will discuss the film with Independent on Sunday critic Jonathan Romney.

+ Documentaries - higher numbers, lower quality