Akal Takht Jathedar condemns denial of visa to Canadian Sikh lawmaker; Terms it part of ill-treatment of Sikhs by India

Amritsar, Punjab (December 30, 2013): It is learnt that the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh has criticized the Government of India for denying visa to Jagmeet Singh NDP, a Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario) in Canada.

Jagmeet Singh, who is descendant of freedom fighter Sewa Singh Thikriwal, was selected for “Sikh of the Year” award by an NGO – Sikh Educational Welfare Association (SEWA) and he was to visit Amritsar in Punjab to receive this award but the Indian High Commission categorically denied him visa.

According to information it’s for the first time in history that any Canadian official has been denied entry visa.

Jagmeet Singh, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament. MPP Singh represents the electoral district of Bramalea—Gore—Malton for the Ontario New Democratic Party, the 4th largest riding (by population) in Canada. The 34 -year-old MPP is a lawyer and outspoken advocate for a number of human rights issues in Canada and globally. He had been actively taking up the issue of denial of justice to the victims of Sikh genocide of November 1984 in India.

Giani Gurbachan Singh said that Sikhs were being subjected to ill-treatment in India and denial of visa to Jagmeet Singh is just an extension of it. He said that the central government of India has once again expressed it’s anti-Sikh mind-set by denying visa to Jagmeet Singh.