New Delhi: The Indian government’s “Sikh blacklist” that has been in existence since the peak of the Khalistan issue in the 1980s is heading towards being eliminated, according to the Indian Home Ministry.
It is now down to 73 names after another 36 names were removed from it in recent months.
“We have pruned the list in the last four years and recently removed names of 36 Sikhs settled abroad,” a Home Ministry official said.
The names of the remaining 73 people on the blacklist are expected to be removed in phases, the official said.
At its highest, the list contained 298 names of people allegedly involved in subversive or “anti-India” activities. A total of 225 names have now been removed over the last four years.
The list was drawn up by various Indian security agencies and mainly contained names of Sikhs already settled abroad or who had sought political asylum abroad because they were being sought by India over their involvement in activities connected with the Khalistan issue.
Most of those on the list were from countries with large Sikh populations, including Canada, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
Among those who were reportedly on the list were some of those who had been implicated in the Air India bombing of 1985, including B.C. residents Ripudaman Singh Malik, Ajaib Singh Bagri and Inderjit Singh Reyat.
In fact, including Malik himself, 10 members of his family were reportedly on the list at one time, although the names on the list have never been officially revealed. And according to reports, those 10 names were among the 36 removed from the list recently, meaning Malik could in theory now visit India if he chose to do so.
Malik and Bagri were acquitted of being responsible for the bombing in 2005 after a trial in Vancouver while Reyat served time in prison for manslaughter and perjury.
People on the blacklist were barred from visiting India.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he assumed office in 2014 to regularly review the list to see if those on the list were still considered as being deserving to be on it..
Badal had said he wanted removal of the names of those on the list against whom no cases or legal proceedings were pending.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal too had written a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to review the blacklist and delete names of the persons who were not wanted in any criminal case in the state.
A delegation of British Sikhs too had urged the Prime Minister to remove the names of Sikh individuals from the list.
