Dal Khalsa calls name-scrap­ping of names off the In­dian Home Min­istry’s Black­list of Sikhs a po­lit­i­cal ex­er­cise whereas ac­tu­ally the very ex­is­tence of such a list is against norms of in­ter­na­tional free move­ment of peo­ple, even if they are dis­senters.

Dal Khalsa calls name-scrap­ping of names off the In­dian Home Min­istry’s Black­list of Sikhs a po­lit­i­cal ex­er­cise whereas ac­tu­ally the very ex­is­tence of such a list is against norms of in­ter­na­tional free move­ment of peo­ple, even if they are dis­senters.

In a mis­sive to Capt. Amarinder Singh, the chief min­is­ter of Pun­jab, Dal Khalsa spokesper­son Kan­warpal Singh has ques­tioned the tim­ing and ac­tual rea­son for tak­ing up the is­sue of the black­list of Sikhs, pre­pared by the gov­ern­ment of In­dia bar­ring those on the list from com­ing back to Pun­jab even as vis­i­tors.

Dal Khalsa has termed this move as a cover-up af­ter Amarinder’s fi­asco on the Har­jit Singh Saj­jan visit and his pub­lic call not to meet him.

The let­ter says that the black­list is noth­ing but a tool for witch-hunt­ing of Sikhs who live over­seas and who hold di­a­met­ri­cally op­po­site views than those held by the gov­ern­ment of In­dia on the ques­tion of Sikh iden­tity and as­pi­ra­tions. Kan­warpal Singh has also ques­tioned the mak­ing of the list on whim­si­cal and grudg­ing grounds by dis­grun­tled po­lice and in­tel­li­gence per­son­nel. He has said that scrap­ping names from lists is a po­lit­i­cal ex­er­cise whereas ac­tu­ally there should not have been such a list at all.