Officials had snubbed heartbroken Dhan Bahadur Pun’s request to settle here despite his family’s sacrifice and his own 16 years of impeccable service to this country.
But after relentless pressure from The Sun, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last night ruled that ailing, 63-year-old Dhan will be allowed to settle in the UK.
The U-turn is a major victory in The Sun’s campaign to win equal residency rights for Gurkhas.
Dhan, his wife and children had been granted only short-stay visas to be at RAF Lyneham, Wilts, to see the coffin of Gurkha Corporal son Kumar, 31, flown back.
Global gathering on nutrition
Dhan believed he was condemned to go back to an old age of penury and pain in a small third-floor flat in the Nepal capital of Kathmandu.
But Ms Smith told The Sun: “We owe this man and his family a huge debt of honour. Dhan Bahadur Pun will be granted right of settlement in the UK.”
Proud Dhan had applied to live here on medical grounds — and it looked as though his rejection would be the cruellest snub to Gurkhas yet.
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He served with the 6th Queen Elizabeth’s Own Gurkha Rifles from 1966 to 1982, fighting in Malaysia, Brunei and Cyprus.
Ex-comrade Tul Bahadur Pun, 61, said in Kathmandu: “He started complaining of knee problems, the result of his years of service.
“Now his situation is very dire. He can’t walk without support or climb stairs. He always needs a stick for support.
“He applied for UK residency after his son joined the army but his application was rejected.”
Dhan’s daughter-in-law Sita Pun said: “He has been taking medicine for 10 to 12 years. His pension from the British Army is only enough to pay for all that.”
The veteran’s son was the third Gurkha soldier to die in Afghanistan.
Kumar, who served with the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, leaves a wife Parbati, who is in her 20s, and daughters Klaudine, six, and Petrina, 18 months.
Kumar’s commander, Colonel David Haye of the Ghurka Brigade, paid tribute to Dhan’s son.
He said: “Kumar was a very distinguished man who was quiet yet extremely competent. He was a very self-assured leader and I am sure he will be sorely missed by all those who knew him.”
The Colonel spoke after a minute’s silence was held in Wootton Basset, the Wiltshire town where locals always turn out to honour fallen heroes flown back to nearby Lyneham.
He said: “This is a very important ceremony and it shows the public that the Ghurkas fight alongside British troops and, like them, are making the ultimate sacrifice.”
Harka Gurang, 44, who was Kumar’s sergeant, said: “He was a very intelligent man, extremely trustworthy, and had the respect of everyone who met him.”
Kumar’s wife, who lives in Dover, Kent, has been told she can stay in the UK.
Campaigner Joanna Lumley repeated her pleas for the Government to scrap the barriers to Gurkhas entering Britain.
She said: “The Gurkhas are, and always have been, part of our armed forces.”
