United Kingdom (UK) Member of Parliament Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, known to be vocal on various ‘Sikh’ issues, was stopped by immigration officials at Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport Amritsar for about two hours today before being allowed to exit. Expressing complete ignorance about the reasons Dhesi briefly said it was MHA’s jurisdiction.
A senior immigration official on condition of anonymity revealed that he was questioned for about two hours primarily over his purpose of visit. He is on India tour and landed in India at around 9:00am.
Owing to increased Khalistani activities in UK and recent attacks and vandalisation of diplomatic buildings has brought many UK Sikh leaders under Indian Agency’s scanner.
Dhesi is Labour MP for Slough and has been an MP continuously since June 8, 2017.He currently undertakes the role of shadow minister (rail) in this country. Though popular in UK for raising Sikh issues in UK Parliament and other platforms and being vocal for concerns of minorities Dhesi came in line of fire for raising questions on mode of crackdown on Khalistani radical Amritpal Singh. He had through series of tweets objected to internet ban of gatherings and alleged mass arrests by Punjab police. Various Punjab politicians had then taken to twitter accusing him of being Khalistani sympathiser and their promoter in UK. He was earlier honoured by farm unions for his massive support during their stir against the agri-laws and was ridiculed by BJP.
According to media reports, Dhesi attacked India at the Referendum 2020 rally in London, a pro-Khalistan movement, organised by the banned terrorist outfit Sikhs for Justice. Dhesi, however, termed the allegations to be a part of the campaign to stop his entry in Punjab and malign the Sikh community in general.