Date:30/06/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/yw/2009/06/30/stories/2009063050340300.htm

Great going Gurkhas

COMPILED BY ROHINI RAMAKRISHNAN

Photo : AFP

for a cause : Joanna Lumley with former Gurkha soldiers.

Actor Joanna Lumley joined thousands of people to celebrate the Gurkhas being given the freedom of the Kent town, U.K. where they are based. About 10,000 people lined the streets of Folkestone to witness a parade by 630 members of the 2nd Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles (2 RGR). Ms. Lumley, whose father was an officer in the Gurkha regiment, fronted their campaign to gain U.K. settlement rights. Gurkhas, who are recruited from Nepal, have been part of the British Army for almost 200 years.