Brit actress Lumley set for heroine’s welcome in Nepal
July 26th, 2009 - 4:38 pm ICT by ANILondon/Kathmandu, July 26 (ANI): British actress Joanna Lumley will get a heroine’s welcome and reception when she lands in Nepal on Sunday afternoon, for spearheading a high profile campaign to allow Gurkha soldiers and their families to settle in Britain. The actress, who played a pivotal role in the campaign to allow those who fought to live in Britain, said before her departure Saturday night that she felt “humbled” to be travelling to Nepal.
Lumley’s late father was an officer in the Gurkha regiment, and she said a great injustice had been righted when the Government finally relented in May and said all Gurkha veterans with four years’ service would be allowed to move to the UK.
“It’s thrilling, it really is. We were met by the most wonderful group of Gurkhas outside Terminal Three, with silk scarves and bunches of flowers. It’s just incredible. I’ve never been to Nepal before, and this is really going to be just stunning,” The Telegraph quoted her, as saying.
“Just to be in that country is such a privilege. I don’t think it can be anything other than wonderful,” she added.
Gurkha Justice campaigner and Folkstone councillor Peter Carroll is accompanying Lumley.
Carroll said he expects to be completely overshadowed by Lumley although he is well known in Nepal for launching the campaign.
He said approached Lumley after a women in Kent tapped him on the shoulder and suggested he ask her to get involved, he said, adding: “The rest is history.”
The group will meet President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Monday morning before they address a meeting at the city hall of Kathmandu.
They will have afternoon tea with the British ambassador to the country, Dr Andrew Hall, before laying a wreath at a war memorial near the Embassy.
On Tuesday, Lumley will visit Jhapa and Dharan to meet Gurkhas. The group will visit Pokhara on Wednesday to meet members of the charity the Gurkha Welfare Trust and will stay in the city on Thursday to meet Gurkhas’ widows and address a meeting at the city hall.
On Friday, Lumley will visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, before flying back to Kathmandu to visit homeless children and orphans at the Maiti Nepal project.
The group is due to fly back to the UK on August 1. (ANI)
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