The recent bilateral air service agreement between Indian and Canada has disappointed Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Punjabi diaspora in Canada as there has been no announcement of direct air connectivity between Punjab and Canada. SGPC and Punjabi diaspora are irked with no flights being started from Canada to Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport Amritsar.
The SGPC spokesperson and general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal said, “This is discriminatory attitude towards the Guru Nagari (the city of Guru) Amritsar, due to which there is resentment among the Sikhs in India and abroad. Under the new agreement, airports have been included for flights from many cities in India, but Punjabis and especially Sikhs have been discriminated against by ignoring Amritsar”.
He said that during the budget session of the SGPC on March 30, 2022 led by SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami, a special resolution was passed for demanding direct flights from Sri Amritsar and was sent to the relevant ministries of the Government of India, but still the government deliberately did not give its due share of flights to Punjab. This is unfair to Punjabis, he said.
Grewal said that there are a large number of Sikhs living all over the world and the number of Punjabis and Sikhs is not small even in Canada. “People living in Canada related to Punjab face many problems with regard to travelling. While they have to bear the loss of their valuable time to reach Punjab from Delhi, this also puts a huge financial burden on them,” Grewal said.
{{/usCountry}}Grewal said that there are a large number of Sikhs living all over the world and the number of Punjabis and Sikhs is not small even in Canada. “People living in Canada related to Punjab face many problems with regard to travelling. While they have to bear the loss of their valuable time to reach Punjab from Delhi, this also puts a huge financial burden on them,” Grewal said.
{{/usCountry}}He appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the due share of flights from Canada to India should be allocated to Amritsar airport.
Meanwhile, the Global Convener of FlyAmritsar Initiative, Sameep Singh Gumtala and Canada-based North American Convener Anantdeep Singh Dhillon said that new bilateral air service agreement between Canada and India only changes number of flights that can operate from 35 to unlimited (for airlines of both countries) but it doesn’t benefit the Canadian Punjabi community that have been pressing for direct flights to Amritsar.
“Under the new agreement, Canadian carriers are restricted for operating direct flights to only 6 major metro cities in India. The other cities can be served indirectly through code-share services with Indian airlines. Due to this, if the Canadian airlines are willing to start direct flight to Amritsar in the near future, they won’t be able to begin direct operation”, he said while speaking over phone.
Dhillon said, “Earlier in the year, over 19000 Canadian citizens and permanent residents signed an official Parliament of Canada petition calling for government to assist in starting direct flights from Canada to Amritsar. After the petition, the demand had also come up during the talks between Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and India’s Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on May 4 during the latter’s visit to Canada”.
“It is unfortunate that despite this strong demand by over million strong Punjabi Diaspora in Canada, the name of Amritsar Airport is missing from the list of airports included in the updated bilateral air service agreement. The long-awaited demand and sentiments of Punjabi diaspora in Canada is once again being ignored by either Canadian or the Indian government”, he added.