Gurkha Tul Bahadur Pun VC is to be allowed to settle in the UK!

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said:

"The circumstances surrounding Tul Bahadur Pun's case are clearly exceptional, and in the light of this the Home Secretary, John Reid, and I have reviewed the case and made the decision to grant Mr Pun a settlement visa immediately. This decision was not taken lightly and reflects the extraordinary nature of this case, in particular Mr Pun's heroic record in service of Britain which saw him awarded the Victoria Cross. It is entirely right that this record should not only be recognised but honoured. There has always been scope to grant settlement in the UK to ex-Gurkhas who have retired before July 1997, and who do not meet the requirements in the immigration rules. As on this occasion, discretion may be exercised on a case by case basis. We have also taken into consideration his current medical condition."

This is great news which I hope shows that this country has not totally gone to the dogs. Let's hope Mr Pun VC enjoys his remaining years in comfort.

Hat Tip: Iain Dale

Gurkha Tul Bahadur Pun VC Petition UPDATE

UPDATE: For a my recent post on the governments treatment of our Gurkhas and a link to a current petition click HERE.

As I write this the number of people who have signed the Petition to immediately and retrospectively give all Gurkha servicemen and their immediate families past and present british citizenship, stands at 16,928 (19,587). The number of visitors of my blog that have signed the Petition stands at 111 (140) and the number to write emails in support of Mr Pun VC stands at 47 (51). Updates in red.

Thanks to all those who have taken time to show your support for the cause. I would also like to thank my MP Peter Viggers for bringing up Mr Pun's plight with the Home Secretary. If anyone deserves the right to live in this country and receive medical care it is Mr Pun VC.

To remind us of what Mr Pun VC did for us, here is a copy of his Award Citation:

“No. 10119 Rifleman Tullbahadur Pun, 6th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army.In Burma on June 23rd, 1944, a Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles was ordered to attack the Railway Bridge at Mogaung. Immediately the attack developed the enemy opened concentrated and sustained cross fire at close range from a position known as the Red House and from a strong bunker position two hundred yards to the left of it.So intense was this cross fire that both the leading platoons of 'B' Company, one of which was Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun's, were pinned to the ground and the whole of his Section was wiped out with the exception of himself, the Section commander and one other man. The Section commander immediately led the remaining two men in a charge on the Red House but was at once badly wounded. Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun and his remaining companion continued the charge, but the latter too was immediately wounded.Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun then seized the Bren Gun, and firing from the hip as he went, continued the charge on this heavily bunkered position alone, in the face of the most shattering concentration of automatic fire, directed straight at him. With the dawn coming up behind him, he presented a perfect target to the Japanese. He had to move for thirty yards over open ground, ankle deep in mud, through shell holes and over fallen trees.Despite these overwhelming odds, he reached the Red House and closed with the Japanese occupations. He killed three and put five more to flight and captured two light machine guns and much ammunition. He then gave accurate supporting fire from the bunker to the remainder of his platoon which enabled them to reach their objective.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.”

To refuse Mr Pun VC entry to the UK on the grounds of: "You have failed to demonstrate that you have strong ties with the UK." is both shameful to this country and a show of gross disrespect to Mr Pun's service to it.

You can email words of support to: support@vchero.co.uk . All your emails will be put before the Immigration Judge considering Mr Pun VC's appeal.

You can sign a Gurkha Petition: HERE

And you can find your MP: HERE

Gurkha with Victoria Cross is denied entry to the UK: Times Online Quiz

This Quiz was taken from the Times Online. Sadly I got the answer immediately and I think you will too:

Here’s a quiz. Not a very good quiz because you will know the answer before you’ve finished reading the question. Whether you can comprehend it is another matter. An awful lot of immigrants are allowed into Britain these days and very few deported because they are undesirable. However, as a nation we must draw the line somewhere. So, using your understanding of How Britain Is, estimate which of the following four aspirant British citizens has been told to get out and stay out. And which three can stay?

1) Mouloud Sihali, Algerian. Lived at Finsbury Park mosque, breeding ground of Islamic terrorism. Described in court as “unprincipled and dishonest”. Illegal immigrant.

2) Yonis Dirie, Somalian. Drug addict, armed robber and burglar. Convicted of raping a young woman in London. Illegal immigrant.

3) Tul Bahadur Pun VC, Nepalese. Won the Victoria Cross for taking out a Japanese machinegun post in 1944 in Burma single-handedly. Now 84, of unblemished conduct, suffering from heart problems and diabetes and would like treatment here. Legal applicant.

4) “AS”, Libyan. Islamic extremist involved with Milan terrorist group. Court accepts that he is likely to try to kill us all again quite soon. Illegal immigrant.

You got it, didn’t you? Old Pun’s application was rejected because - and here’s another punchline, in case the first wasn’t funny enough - he “failed to demonstrate” that he had “strong ties with Britain”. How much stronger do you want? There can be hardly a soul who wouldn’t be happy to have Pun here. And not one who could make a case for allowing Dirie, the robber-rapist, say, to get preferential treatment. Some of us would have happily dispatched him back to Mogadishu strapped to a missile.

There is no great objection to immigration in this country; the objection is to how it is done and who benefits, exemplified by the cases I quote above.

I suspect the public feels there are people who should be allowed in - people to whom we owe a profound debt of gratitude (like Pun), or those whose countries we have let down in one way or another (such as the Hong Kong Chinese or the black Zimbabweans). And yet it seems we do precisely the opposite.

Libyan and Algerian extremists who feel the regimes in their home countries are not sufficiently rigorous are allowed to stay because we worry they might be bumped off at home - regardless of what threat they pose to us.

I would vote for any party that pledged to extricate us from the international legislation that insists on such absurdities.

By then, however, it will most likely be too late for Tul Bahadur Pun VC. The Japs couldn’t kill him - but we’re not making a bad job of it.

You can email words of support to: support@vchero.co.uk . All your emails will be put before the Immigration Judge considering Mr Pun VC's appeal.

You can sign a Gurkha Petition: HERE

And you can find your MP: HERE

Gurkha with Victoria Cross is denied entry to the UK: UPDATE

Tul Bahadur Pun VC won the Victoria Cross fighting for Britain in the 3rd Battalion 6th Gurkha Rifles. However, the British Government has refused 84 year-old Mr Pun's application to settle in the UK, to seek urgently needed medical treatment, on the grounds that Mr Pun VC "failed to demonstrate strong ties with the UK".

45,000 Gurkhas have died fighting for Britain. 150,000 Gurkhas have been seriously wounded on battlefields defending our freedom. The Gurkhas have given 200 years loyal service to the British people. If there was a minute silence for every Gurkha wounded in World War II alone, we would have to stay silent for 2 weeks!

You can email words of support to: support@vchero.co.uk . All your emails will be put before the Immigration Judge considering Mr Pun VC's appeal.

You can sign a Gurkha Petition: HERE

And you can find your MP: HERE

Gurkha with Victoria Cross is denied entry to the UK Petition

There is not an E-Petition set up yet for Mr Tul Bahadur Pun VC, but there is one for Gurkhas in general. These are the details of the Downing Street Petition:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to immediately and retrospectively give all Gurkha servicemen and their immediate families past and present British citizenship.

Gurkha's have served the British forces with loyalty and dedication for many years, yet we as a country treat them poorly and with inequality.
members of the regiment who served in the Falklands are not entitled to a pension, after service they are treated like illegal aliens.
This it totally wrong and unacceptable.
I ask that they willingly risk their life for our well being and should be given citizenship as a matter of principle as no country could ask more from an individual and these people are proven good members of our society and we will deeply benefit us as a nation if we give these men and women automatic British citizenship.

You can sign this Petition by clicking HERE

I understand that a Petition for Mr Pun VC is being set up. I will post details when I get them.

You can find your MP by clicking HERE

To remind us of what Mr Pun VC did for us, here is a copy of his Award Citation:

“No. 10119 Rifleman Tullbahadur Pun, 6th Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army.In Burma on June 23rd, 1944, a Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles was ordered to attack the Railway Bridge at Mogaung. Immediately the attack developed the enemy opened concentrated and sustained cross fire at close range from a position known as the Red House and from a strong bunker position two hundred yards to the left of it.So intense was this cross fire that both the leading platoons of 'B' Company, one of which was Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun's, were pinned to the ground and the whole of his Section was wiped out with the exception of himself, the Section commander and one other man. The Section commander immediately led the remaining two men in a charge on the Red House but was at once badly wounded. Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun and his remaining companion continued the charge, but the latter too was immediately wounded.Rifleman Tulbahadur Pun then seized the Bren Gun, and firing from the hip as he went, continued the charge on this heavily bunkered position alone, in the face of the most shattering concentration of automatic fire, directed straight at him. With the dawn coming up behind him, he presented a perfect target to the Japanese. He had to move for thirty yards over open ground, ankle deep in mud, through shell holes and over fallen trees.Despite these overwhelming odds, he reached the Red House and closed with the Japanese occupations. He killed three and put five more to flight and captured two light machine guns and much ammunition. He then gave accurate supporting fire from the bunker to the remainder of his platoon which enabled them to reach their objective.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.”

'The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war,no matter how justified,shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation'' --George Washington--

Mr Pun I'm so very very sorry.

Gurkha with Victoria Cross is denied entry to the UK

The man in the picture above is one of this country's greatest living Heroes. This is from the Daily Mail: (Hat Tip: Iain Dale)


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 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. 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." 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 single handedly 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."

I wish I could apologise to Mr Pun for the disgraceful behaviour of the country he fought for.

The Ministry of Defence is to pay ex-Gurkhas the same pensions as British soldiers. Ex-Gurkhas Currently receive just a sixth of the average army pension (£984 a year) and many ex-Gurkhas say they are left destitute. The new pension deal will not apply to Nepalese soldiers who retired before July 1997, leaving many disappointed.

Padam Bahadur Gurung, President of the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation, said: "This is good news for serving Gurkhas, but not for the Gurkhas who fought in the Second World War and the Falklands."There are currently about 3,500 Gurkhas serving in the Army and close to 20,000 former soldiers living in Britain and Nepal."

Read the full story HERE