Just up on ARRSE from Kieran:
This is the official Press Release from Mr Pun VC, which I will send to the Press Association and Reuters after it is posted here:-
PRESS STATEMENT BY VICTORIA CROSS HOLDER TUL BAHADUR PUN VC
WHEN I ARRIVE IN THE UK I WILL NOT LEAVE MY GURKHA COMMRADES BEHIND
2 June 2007, Pokhara, Nepal
First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the British people for granting me the privilege to come and live amongst them in a country which I have fought for and love. I am overjoyed to learn that I have finally been allowed the right to settle and live in the UK. I could not sleep last night, as I was so happy with the news that Great Britain would be allowing me to come and get the medical treatment which is so lacking for many veteran Gurkhas in Nepal.
I would also like to make it clear that this victory would not have been made possible without the overwhelming and generous support of the Great British Public; my brothers and sisters in arms in the British Armed Forces both past and present; the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO); Joanna Lumley; Jay Miller; the British press and media; and my solicitors Howe & Co . I am humbled by the thousands of emails in support of me and the Gurkhas, that continue to flood into the website set up for me:
www.vchero.co.uk . I have been moved of the accounts of the very many the telephone calls and letters of support sent by those, who like me, do not have access to computers.
I will never forget the 45,000 Gurkhas killed in battle fighting along side our British friends, nor will I ever forget my British brothers and sisters who have laid-down their lives fighting alongside the Brigade of Gurkhas in numerous theatres of war over the last 200 years. In life it is the greatest honour to be a Gurkha, because it is the greatest honour to serve the British people and our Brigade. When I come to be with the British people, I will do my best to be a credit to Britain and to help the plight of my fellow Victoria Cross winners who live in poverty in Nepal. It is saddening that so many brave men of my Brigade have to rely on charity to get their basic living and health needs.
I do not ask anything of Britain, or its people, save to help me get a little medical care now that I am old. However, I do have one request for your country, a country which I love so much, and that is to ask if your great country can please look at the plight of my veteran Gurkha comrades in arms, and the injustices they continue to face when asking for their rights to come to Britain and the continuing injustice of unequal pensions for those, like me, who have fought for British freedom against the forces of tyranny but happened to have retired from the British Army before 1997.
I never left any of my comrades on the battlefield, British or Gurkha, and I will not abandon my veteran Gurkha comrades now in their hour of need, when I come to live in Great Britain.
From the bottom of my heart, I am deeply touched by the support shown to me by the people of Great Britain, and across the world, and I give you my most solemn thanks.
Sincerely,
Tul Bahadur Pun VC
Pokhara, Nepal