Joanna Lumley

Hindus have urged the Nepal Government to award its highest civilian honor to BAFTA winner, actress Joanna Lumley, for leading Gurkhas to victory in a high profile campaign for residency rights in United Kingdom.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Lumley, 63, had been the public face of the campaign on behalf of the Gurkhas and led a long struggle to success.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that India should also be proud of Lumley. She was born there in 1946, and her father was an officer with the 6th Gurkha Rifles.

Besides Gurkhas, Lumley has also taken up various other causes like exiled Tibetan people, animal welfare, literacy, etc. This ruling makes around 84,000 Gurkha veterans, their wives and children eligible to settle in UK.