355 Sikh NRIs’ entry into India cleared

Nearly 18 years after the government had banned entry of some 489 Sikh NRIs into the country, the Home Ministry has removed curbs on 355 of ...

Nearly 18 years after the government had banned entry of some 489 Sikh NRIs into the country, the Home Ministry has removed curbs on 355 of them.

The move comes after years of hectic lobbying by Sikh leaders and the latest response is on an initiative taken by the National Minorities Commission (NMC) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

According to an NHRC spokesman, the Home Ministry had informed the commission that in July it had deleted 355 names from the ‘‘black-listed’’ category of Sikh expatriates, leaving only 149 of them as marked men. The issue was taken up initially by the NCM, who later forwarded the petition seeking revocation of the ‘‘black-listed’’ status of the Sikhs to the NHRC.

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The ban of issuing visas to these NRIs was on their suspected involvement in anti-India activities following Operation Bluestar on Golden Temple in 1984. As the government had allowed one time Khalistani exponents to return to India, it seems to have reconciled to removing the last of the ugly memories of Punjab’s most turbulent phase.

The NHRC had issued notices to the Home Ministry in May asking it to furnish details about the black-listed Sikhs. It has also taken cognisance of a letter written by MP Simran Jeet Singh Mann about denial of visa to a UK-based Norwegian Sikh. The Commission has asked the ministry to give reasons for denying visa to the said NRI identified as Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeet, within two weeks.