VC hero Gurkha banned from Britain
By CHRIS BROOKE
24th May 2007
Daily Mail
The Royal Gurkha Rifles
His courage in the face of almost certain death made him a war hero and deservedly earned him the Victoria Cross.
Tul Bahadur Pun's extraordinary act of valour while fighting the Japanese during World War Two even won him royal admirers. He was invited to the Queen's Coronation in 1953 and had tea with the Queen Mother.
Yet despite his illustrious service record, when the ailing 84-year-old former Gurkha soldier applied for permission to live in Britain he was refused by government officials.
Mistreated: 84-year old Tul is a hero and put his life on the line in the British Army for 18 years - yet he is being denied entry to Britain where he wants to go for a much better quality of life than that in his native Nepal
Amazingly, British officials in Nepal told the wizened old warrior who put his life on the line for King and country: "You have failed to demonstrate that you have strong ties with the UK."
Lawyers acting for Mr Pun, along with 2,000 former Gurkhas, will appeal his case before the immigration courts in London in August.
Meanwhile the elderly gentleman, who suffers from a range of serious health problems, must hope he can survive the intervening months in his ramshackle home in Nepal 4,000 feet up a mountain.
He has a heart condition, poor eyesight, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and he requires daily medication - which is not always available where he lives - to survive.
Mr Pun, who receives a £132 a month British Army pension, wants to move to Britain for the sake of his failing health.
Yet among the reasons given for the refusal to let him ender the UK was that he had "not produced satisfactory evidence" that he had a "chronic or long term medical condition" and that treatment here would significantly improve his quality of life.
"I have served the UK with the utmost loyalty and to be treated in this way is appalling," he said.
The young Tul during his military days as a British Army Gurkha, proudly displaying his lethal kukri knife that every Gurkha in the British Army is armed with
Explaining his reasons for the application, he said: "I take a substantial amount of medication daily, without which I would die. There is not always a constant supply. When it runs out I feel vulnerable.
"There are no doctors or nurses, no medical outposts. I wish to settle in the UK to have better access to medication, care and support from doctors and nurses."
The old soldier has to travel from his remote home to the Gurkha camp at Pokhara once a month to collect his pension - which pays for his medication. It involves a day's walk - and as he is unable to walk that far, he has to be carried in a basket by several men.
Mr Pun's act of heroism in Burma which earned him the VC has gone down in military history. On 23 June 1944 almost all his comrades were wiped out by heavy enemy fire. He seized a Bren Gun and, firing from the hip while running through ankle deep mud, he ignored Japanese fire to singlehandedly storm enemy machine gun positions.
His official citation read: "His outstanding courage and superb gallantry in the face of odds which meant almost certain death were most inspiring to all ranks and beyond praise."
His Ealing-based solicitor Martin Howe said former Gurkhas like Mr Pun have to show "strong reasons", which can include medical needs and family ties, why they should be allowed into the UK.
He criticised Government officials in Nepal for being "too formulaic" in their approach to applications from brave old soldiers.
"They don't take into account the dignity and valour of these people. This man's conduct has been exemplary and he was prepared to lay down his life in defence of Britain."
dailymail.co.uk
By CHRIS BROOKE
24th May 2007
Daily Mail
The Royal Gurkha Rifles
His courage in the face of almost certain death made him a war hero and deservedly earned him the Victoria Cross.
Tul Bahadur Pun's extraordinary act of valour while fighting the Japanese during World War Two even won him royal admirers. He was invited to the Queen's Coronation in 1953 and had tea with the Queen Mother.
Yet despite his illustrious service record, when the ailing 84-year-old former Gurkha soldier applied for permission to live in Britain he was refused by government officials.
Mistreated: 84-year old Tul is a hero and put his life on the line in the British Army for 18 years - yet he is being denied entry to Britain where he wants to go for a much better quality of life than that in his native Nepal
Amazingly, British officials in Nepal told the wizened old warrior who put his life on the line for King and country: "You have failed to demonstrate that you have strong ties with the UK."
Lawyers acting for Mr Pun, along with 2,000 former Gurkhas, will appeal his case before the immigration courts in London in August.
Meanwhile the elderly gentleman, who suffers from a range of serious health problems, must hope he can survive the intervening months in his ramshackle home in Nepal 4,000 feet up a mountain.
He has a heart condition, poor eyesight, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and he requires daily medication - which is not always available where he lives - to survive.
Mr Pun, who receives a £132 a month British Army pension, wants to move to Britain for the sake of his failing health.
Yet among the reasons given for the refusal to let him ender the UK was that he had "not produced satisfactory evidence" that he had a "chronic or long term medical condition" and that treatment here would significantly improve his quality of life.
"I have served the UK with the utmost loyalty and to be treated in this way is appalling," he said.
The young Tul during his military days as a British Army Gurkha, proudly displaying his lethal kukri knife that every Gurkha in the British Army is armed with
Explaining his reasons for the application, he said: "I take a substantial amount of medication daily, without which I would die. There is not always a constant supply. When it runs out I feel vulnerable.
"There are no doctors or nurses, no medical outposts. I wish to settle in the UK to have better access to medication, care and support from doctors and nurses."
The old soldier has to travel from his remote home to the Gurkha camp at Pokhara once a month to collect his pension - which pays for his medication. It involves a day's walk - and as he is unable to walk that far, he has to be carried in a basket by several men.
Mr Pun's act of heroism in Burma which earned him the VC has gone down in military history. On 23 June 1944 almost all his comrades were wiped out by heavy enemy fire. He seized a Bren Gun and, firing from the hip while running through ankle deep mud, he ignored Japanese fire to singlehandedly storm enemy machine gun positions.
His official citation read: "His outstanding courage and superb gallantry in the face of odds which meant almost certain death were most inspiring to all ranks and beyond praise."
His Ealing-based solicitor Martin Howe said former Gurkhas like Mr Pun have to show "strong reasons", which can include medical needs and family ties, why they should be allowed into the UK.
He criticised Government officials in Nepal for being "too formulaic" in their approach to applications from brave old soldiers.
"They don't take into account the dignity and valour of these people. This man's conduct has been exemplary and he was prepared to lay down his life in defence of Britain."
dailymail.co.uk