Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

(Retd) Tikendra Dal Dewan JP, is an ex- British Army Gurkha, a Gurkha leader/social worker/activist campaigning for equal rights of British Gurkhas. Dewan served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

for thirty one years, United Kingdom Civil Services for eleven years and is the

chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS) a welfare organisation for

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Gnergy an energy company based in the UK run by retired British Gurkha veterans.

Career

Army stations

Whilst in the British Army, Maj Dewan served in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

and United Kingdom.

Rank

Dewan joined the British Army as a regular soldier and rose the rank of a

, the highest for a Gurkha Officer and retired in 2002.

Post army

After retiring from the British Armed forces, Dewan served in the British Civil services for eleven years before spearheading the energy company Gnergy as a

since 2013.

Activism and social work

Dewan was instrumental in the Gurkhas campaign for equality in the United Kingdom when on May 21, 2009, all retired Gurkha soldiers were granted the right to live in Britain. According to

Asia Times ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kong-based English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

a critical speech of Dewan's resulted in public pressure that led to then Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

finally relenting to the Gurkhas settlement rights in the UK. Dewan was appointed a Governor in the Hampshire National Health Service (NHS) Council in December 2018 and Justice of Peace (JP):

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

for England and Wales, standing since January 2014 ( North Hampshire Bench).

Gurkha Justice and campaigns

Maj Dewan also heads the campaign for equal pensions for Ex-British Gurkha veterans. The legal and political campaign is over the fact that Gurkhas who retired before July 1, 1997, despite having won the right to settle in the UK with the assistance of Joanna Lumley's campaign, continue to receive much smaller pensions than their British counterparts. The pension inequality rule affects about 25,000 Gurkha veterans and the challenge was brought to court by BGWS on

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and discrimination grounds. According to the

UK Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to d ...

(MOD) the ruling was "justified and proportionate" and not discriminatory on the grounds of age or nationality. The UK MOD also argued the discrepancy is justified because of lower living costs in Nepal, although thousands of Gurkhas are UK residents. The BGWS had taken the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

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which got rejected in 2016. Dewan and BGWS continue to fight for equality and justice for the retired Gurkhas.

BGWS

BGWS is the first and the largest ex-Gurkha veterans organisation established in the UK to fight for Gurkha Justice and the welfare of ex-Gurkhas.

Achievements and awards

* Gold Asian Achievers Award (UK), 2011 in community service, the first Nepali to receive this award. * The OCU Commander's award for community relations in 2014. *Hampshire Constabulary Award in 2009 *Don Allen Award Service to Education 2014 * The Nepali Media UK- One of the top ten Nepali personalities in the UK in 2013. * CEO of the year 2013 for Hampshire by the CEO review magazine. *First Nepali Justice of Peace (JP): Magistrate for England and Wales, standing since January 2014 (North Hampshire Bench)

References

External links

Witness History: Tikendra Dewan, chairman of the British Gurkha Welfare Society. The Gurkha soldiers fight for equality

BBC World News: looking at the proud tradition of the Gurkhas, and their campaign for equality

BBC Witness History speaks to retired Major Tikendra Dal Dewan. The Gurkhas: We felt like second-class citizens

Interview with Major Tikendra Dal Dewan from BGWS

BBC: A Nepalese regiment of the British army won the right to settle in Britain in 2009

विश्व लिम्बुको यक्ष प्रश्न, यूकेमा नेपालीहरुको समस्या के के छन् ? टिकेन्द्रदल देवानको जवाफ Tikendra Dal Dewan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewan, Tikendra Dal Royal Gurkha Rifles soldiers Royal Gurkha Rifles officers British activists British social reformers British social workers Nepalese activists British chief executives 1953 births Living people