E-Paper
Authorities trying to label me as ‘Anti-India’, says UK Sikh MP Dhesi
United Kingdom (UK) member of parliament Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi , who is the Labour MP for Slough, is accompanied by his family and is on a personal visit to his village Raipur Farala in Jalandhar district
A day after being stopped by immigration officials at Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport for two hours, United Kingdom (UK) member of parliament Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi slammed the authorities for allegedly trying to label him as ‘anti-India’ for being vocal on issues concerning minorities.
Dhesi, who is the Labour MP for Slough, is accompanied by his family and is on a personal visit to his village Raipur Farala in Jalandhar district. His family reached Punjab last week, but he was stopped at the Amritsar Airport on Thursday by the immigration authorities over validation of his OCI (Overseas Citizen on India) card.
“Going by Thursday’s events, I can only say that the authorities are trying to label me as ‘Anti-India’ for my vocal stance in favour of vulnerable sections, be it Sikhs or Muslims,” said Dhesi, who is presently a shadow minister (rail) in the UK parliament.
He added that he, along with other Sikh British MPs, are well-wishers of Punjab. “It was two hours of humiliation. Immigration authorities kept questioning my OCI card. I kept telling the authorities that I visit Punjab every year on the same documents and visa. They allowed me to leave the airport premises after questioning and cross-checking my documents,” he said.
He added that such tactics will not deter him from raising his voice against the authorities for their anti-minorities decisions. Dhesi is known for raising Sikh issues in UK Parliament and other platforms. He is also vocal about the concerns of minorities.
Dhesi said he had publicly condemned the violent protest at the Indian high commission in London by pro-Khalistan supporters on March 19 this year.
“However, targeting the families of those UK residents having extremist ideology in Punjab by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is completely unjustified,” he said.
