Joyous cries of 'Ayo Gorkhali' rent the air in Westminster as opposition leaders brandished the 'khukri' in celebrations, as the Gordon Brown government lost a motion in the House of Commons on restricting number of Gorkha veterans of the British army to settle in the UK.
Voting on a motion condemning the government's treatment of the Gorkhas who have served in the British army for years, Lawmakers voted 267-246 in favour of a motion to scrap the rules announced last week.
The Labour rebels and the Conservative Party ensured that the Liberal Democrat-sponsored motion was passed at the sitting of the House of Commons yesterday.
Though the vote is not binding, Gordon Brown's government suffered a rare Parliamentary defeat which would come as a great embarrassment.
The government reacted fast by announcing it would review its new plans for the settlement of Gorkha soldiers in the UK. Some 200,000 Gorkhas fought for the Britain in World War I and II and more than 45,000 died in British uniform.
Currently, around 3,500 Gorkhas are serving in the British army in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Under new rules, only Gorkhas with at least 10 years' service are eligible to come to Britain. Other foreign nationals serving with the British Armed Forces can apply after only four years.
The High Court last year declared that preventing Gurkhas who had served in the British Army before 1997 from living in this country was unlawful.
In response, the Home Office last week issued fresh criteria for allowing Gurkhas into the UK, but set the bar for entry so high that campaigners say that only a few hundred veterans will ever qualify.
During Question Time, Brown resisted allowing all Gorkha veterans to settle in the UK on the ground that doing so would cost the taxpayer over 1.5 billion pounds, which, he said, would be difficult in these days of recession and high government borrowing.
Actor Joanna Lumley, whose father fought with the Gorkhas in Myanmar and who threatened to take Indian citizenship if the Gorkhas were not allowed to settle in Britain, said: "Just before this vote was taken our spirits were nearly at zero. When it came through we saw it on the screen and I can't tell you the sense of elation, the sense of pride - pride in our country, pride in the democratic system and pride in our parliament."
At an impromptu press conference outside the House of Commons after the vote, both Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats leader, and David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said the Prime Minister must now change his policy.
Clegg said: "This is the kind of thing that I think people want this country to do, that we pay back our obligations and our debt of gratitude to generations of Gorkhas who laid down their lives for this country.
Cameron said: "Today is a historic day where Parliament took the right decision. The basic presumption that people who fight for our country should have a right to live in our country has been set out very clearly. Gorkhas have served the British crown since 1815 and have amassed battle honours including 26 Victoria Crosses."
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