CHANDIGARH: Ahead of the assembly election, the Central government has deleted the names of 142 people out of the total 169 from the "blacklist" of Sikh NRIs following the pleas of the Punjab government. The issue of blacklist, which was one of the major political demands of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and formed a part of its poll promises in February 2007, was a key issue troubling the NRIs, it said.
The Punjab government had been demanding that the list should be regularly reviewed and the names on it should be made public so that "the unjust denial of access to common and innocent NRI Sikhs should stop", the release said.
It further claimed the Union government's earlier refusal to do so had become a major source of harassment and exploitation of NRI Sikhs - many of whom were denied access to the country even though their names did not figure in the list. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also holds the state home portfolio, demanded that all the details, including the names of the remaining persons, should be put on the official website of the ministry of home affairs "to eliminate any further exploitation of Sikhs in the matter."
"There should be an automatic mechanism for periodic review of these lists. While those facing criminal charges should be brought before the law, there should be no harassment of the innocents," the release quoted Badal as saying.
The issue of the revision of the blacklist was raised by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal at the 'All India Chief Ministers' Conference on Internal Security' in New Delhi on February 7 last year.
Move welcomed
The step will enable the earlier blacklisted people to visit India. The Centre's decision has been welcomed by the ruling party and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Most of those figuring on this blacklist were NRIs from Punjab who were accused of having links with the separatist Khalistan movement in the 1980s and 1990s. Majority of them live in the US, Canada and some European nations.
"This initiative on the part of the GoI (Government of India) would be instrumental in assuaging the bruised feelings and tormented psyche of Sikh community and their families," a resolution said. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh had earlier sought the pruning of the 'blacklist' of the Sikh immigrants living in various countries.
"All those who went abroad for political asylum were not anti-national as most of them were actually the job seekers. Barring some anti-national elements, those who used the alibi of political asylum actually wanted to seek jobs and there is nothing wrong in allowing them to visit India," Amarinder had pointed out.
