Indian Consulates to abolish blacklists of Sikh asylees |
In an eagerly-awaited move, the Government of India has urged local consulates to grant consular services to Indian American political asylees. The new policy would abolish blacklists maintained by local consulates, which identified those who had obtained residency abroad by asking for political asylum. It will allow asylees to be granted Indian passports. If they are U.S. citizens, the policy will allow them to be granted visas to visit India.The move was heralded by the Indian American Sikh community as well as U.S. consular officials.No official announcement had been released by the Ministry of External Affairs as of press time May 2. But Sanjay Panda, consul general of India in San Francisco, said that India`s missions throughout the world have been instructed to extend their services to asylees, who are primarily Sikhs from Punjab.“We welcome the new policies which have been undertaken,” said Panda, a fierce advocate for extending consular services to all citizens of India residing abroad. Panda added that asking for asylum is not always anti-Indian. There are many reasons for seeking asylum,, citing personal enmity, local and economic issues, among other factors. Anyone who is not patently anti-India should be given a visa.
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