Gurkha veteran staging hunger strike in Westminster is rushed to hospital 'suffering heart attack' on 12th day of protest demanding the same pension rights as British-born soldiers

A Gurkha veteran staging a hunger strike in Westminster was last night rushed to hospital after having a heart attack.

Dhan Gurung, 60, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, is believed to have had a minor heart attack after 11 days without food outside Downing Street.

But the former soldier is said to still be refusing to break his hunger strike, which he is doing to protest pension rights.

He previously said: 'We will keep coming back here, we want to continue our hunger until death. We don't care about sacrificing our life.'

The group of Nepalese-born soldiers are campaigning for equal pensions for Gurkhas who retired before 1997 and are not eligible for a full armed forces pension.

The Support Our Gurkhas protesters reached their 12th day of not eating today, while demonstrating opposite Downing Street.

It comes after it emerged on Monday there are no plans for Boris Johnson to meet the veterans.

Dhan Gurung , 60, is believed to have had a minor heart attack after 11 days without food 

The Support Our Gurkhas protesters are campaigning for equal pensions for Gurkhas who retired before 1997 and are not eligible for a full UK armed forces pension

Nepalese-born Gurkhas staging a protest outside Downing Street are pictured entering their sixth day of hunger strike

Yam Gurung, 71, spokesman for the Gurkhas, said he now has a blood pressure monitor and a heartbeat monitor to keep on top of his health.

He said the Support Our Gurkhas protesters are getting 'weaker', adding: 'On Monday, Dhan sent an email to his family in Nepal and said 'This will be my last email'.

'I was so worried about him I stayed with him all day. Then the next morning he said he was OK and so I went home.

'The next thing I hear is he had been rushed to hospital. I was so frightened. He was taken to hospital because his heart is so weak and he is taking medicine but is not eating anything, he's just having water. He's getting weaker and weaker.

'He didn't want to go to hospital - he said 'I will die here'. But we convinced him to go.

'He told me quietly that his heart can stop any time, so we have got monitors and a medic keeping an eye on his health.'

He added: 'It wasn't a heart attack, he just has minor problems with his heart. They're (all the Gurkhas) are getting weaker.

'The Government must listen. We have done so much. Why are they treating us like illegitimate children? We have done so much for them.

'We don't want anybody to die here. Not a single one. We are human beings. I want to ask Boris Johnson, what is your interpretation of human rights? Tell the world. Tell the Gurkhas.'

Change was brought in after an amendment to immigration rules in 2007, backdated to July 1997, meant more retired Gurkhas were likely to settle in the UK on discharge, whereas the previous pension scheme had lower rates

Mr Johnson was seen leaving Downing Street and heading to Parliament at around 9.20am on Wednesday.

The Gurkha protesters, along with other protesters campaigning on separate issues, began shouting at Mr Johnson as he drove past.

Shortly after 11am, hundreds of Gurkhas marched past Parliament. They chanted 'No justice, no peace' and 'What do we want? Justice' as they walked past the Commons.

The Gurkhas later looped back round and walked to Parliament Square.

The Prime Minister's spokesman was asked whether any talks were planned after the protesters said they would end their hunger strike if a meeting was arranged.

He said: 'I believe the Defence Secretary said that he would be happy to meet with any Gurkha.'

The spokesman added that there were 'no plans' for Mr Johnson to join a meeting.

On Friday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was happy to meet protesters, but warned no government 'of any colour' had ever made retrospective changes to pensions like the ones the demonstrators are calling for.

Actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley urged the Government on Saturday to meet the 'brave and loyal' veterans 'to address the injustices highlighted'.

The 75-year-old, who in 2009 led a campaign to allow Gurkhas settlement rights in Britain, was born in India and moved to England as a child. Her father was a major in the Gurkha Rifles.

Dhan Gurung also said he and his fellow demonstrators had been 'harassed' by police, who then dismantled a gazebo

'Only a deep sense of injustice could drive these brave and respectful souls to this point,' the Absolutely Fabulous actress said.

'At the heart of this matter is how we value those who have offered, and sometimes given, the ultimate sacrifice to protect our way of life and to keep us safe.'

Around 200,000 Gurkhas, recruited from Nepal, fought in both world wars, and they have also served in places such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Those who served from 1948 to 2007 were members of the Gurkha Pension Scheme until the Labour government of the time eliminated the differences between Gurkhas' terms and conditions of service and those of their British counterparts.

Serving Gurkhas, and those with service on or after July 1 1997, could then opt to transfer into the Armed Forces Pension Scheme.

The change was brought in after an amendment to immigration rules in 2007, backdated to July 1997, meant more retired Gurkhas were likely to settle in the UK on discharge, whereas the previous pension scheme had lower rates as it had assumed they would return to Nepal where the cost of living was significantly lower.

Gurkha men, recruited from the rugged Himalayan country of Nepal, have a reputation as hard and loyal fighters, and are known for the trademark curved kukri blades they carry sheathed on their belts

Leo Docherty, minister for defence people and veterans, has said the group (pictured last week) has refused to meet him

Mr Wallace told Sky News on Friday: 'I am very happy to meet any Gurkha. My father fought alongside the Gurkhas in Malaya in the 1950s, it is a pretty remarkable group of people.

'The group of people currently protesting are groups affected by the change by the Labour government in 1997 to 2003. This was about people who are under a 1947 pension, it is a very small group of Gurkha pensioners, they had different advantages in their pension scheme in that old scheme.

'That scheme said that you got it after 15 years when a British soldier got it after 22, but there is a difference and they feel that difference needs to be made up.

'That is not the same as the Gurkhas of today or the Gurkhas after 2003 - they get exactly the same pensions as British serving personnel.'

Leo Docherty, minister for defence people and veterans, has said the group has refused to meet him.

He said: 'I was disappointed the Satyagraha protest group declined to meet with me and hope they will engage positively in the Gurkha veterans dialogue the Defence Secretary hosts in early September.

'We greatly value the contribution that Gurkhas make and consider the 1948 Gurkha Pension Scheme to be objectively fair and equitable, but I am always willing to speak with veterans and help resolve any such welfare concerns.'

A London Ambulance Service spokesman confirmed it was called out Downing Street last night.

They said: 'We were called at 5.54pm yesterday to reports of an incident on Downing Street, SW1A.

'We sent an ambulance crew, who treated a person at the scene and took them to a hospital.'