The rejection of the immigration application of former Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Fateh Singh Pandher, 60, by the Canadian high commission was not an isolated incident.
The rejection of the immigration application of former Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Fateh Singh Pandher, 60, by the Canadian high commission was not an isolated incident.
A few Punjab police officers have been meted out similar treatment by the commission, which called the BSF a notoriously violent force engaging in systematic torture on Friday.
The requests of additional director-general (crime) Rajan Gupta and Patiala SSP RS Khatra for a Canadian visa were turned down by the mission as they were involved in “anti-military activity” and therefore, party to human rights violations in Punjab.
The officers sought the visa for a personal visit. Top police officers in Punjab say the commission has made sweeping allegations against the officers without verifying if there was any case of human rights violation against them.
The officers have taken up the matter with the Union home ministry and wonder if “the fact that an officer was posted in a district during militancy has became a ground for the rejection of a visa”.
Sources said police officers applying for a Canadian visa now need to fill a separate form mentioning the places where they were posted. It is learnt that the Canadian embassy has identified six districts, including those on the Indo-Pak border, where the police have come down heavily on militants to quell violence.
IPS officials feel the commission’s decision may be due to pressure from Canada-based Sikh human rights organisations, which had been taking up the cause of Punjab militants from time to time. Police officers feel this is another attempt by some organisations to run them down for their fight against militancy.
In its rejection letter to Pandher, the Canadian high commission claimed the BSF was “responsible for committing crime against humanity” and he was part of it. Pandher, who retired from the BSF a decade ago, had applied for a visa in April 2005 as he wanted to be with his only daughter, who lives in Canada.
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