Revision of Black List of Sikhs overseas by India does not impact Sikh religio-political discourse in Punjab.

Overseas Sikhs who are being added to the Black List by India is more vital dimension.

A story was released today afternoon quoting Home Ministry sources regarding the 314 more Sikhs from the Diaspora having been dropped from the so called Black List- the people who are not granted visa to visit India. The report also stated that only two more people remain on the list.

More important dimension is the remaining last two persons.

The list of organisations associated with the Sikhs and carrying on the struggle for separate homeland include the Babbar Khalsa International, International Sikh Youth Federation and the Sikhs for Justice, the last being the latest addition.

As these organisations are banned, their activists obviously can’t enter India. And in case they have been banned, these organisations might be having considerable members to invite such drastic action by Government of India. As the SFJ is the latest to be banned, the government should at least disclose as to the number of its activists  who have been included in the banned list.

The revision of this Adverse List is a continuing process. It may be recalled that the last time such exercise was undertaken, the government did not disclose that such large number of Sikhs were still on the Black List.

It is in this context that the list being ‘down to two’ is important.

There is another dimension that has been raised earlier too. Who are these people who were banned for their activities during the period of militancy in Punjab?

Dal Khalsa leader Manmohan Singh died months back as a stateless person settled in England. He never  even applied for citizenship of any country. Manmohan Singh had escaped from India before 1984. It may be mentioned that Dal Khalsa was the first organisation during that period to hijack Indian Airlines plane to Lahore on September 29, 1981 to protest against the arrest of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the case of assassination of owner-editor Lala Jagat Narain. That was also the action that globalised the struggle for Khalistan.

Another Dal Khalsa leader Gajinder Singh who was one of the hijackers completed his prison term in Pakistan where all five of them were convicted. He is now a stateless person, not willing to return.

There was another category that mainly formed the Black List. They were the Sikhs ambitious of settling down abroad. They procured the certificates from the human rights organisations of being the victims of state repression to seek political asylum. Some people in Punjab are known to have been issuing such certificates for a price.

Then there are those who are seen participating in demonstrations abroad in support of Sikh homeland demand. Their names are noted down. They get permission to visit India on undertaking. The undertaking paves the way for the dropping of their names from this list.

It may be mentioned that the issue of black list had repeatedly been raised by the Akali Dal leaders at one time but the activists who were involved in the struggle at that time and escaped never raised the issue. Several of them are living incognito overseas as cases still stand against them.

The revision of this list would not make any impact on the present political discourse in Indian Punjab, the only state where Kashmiris have some support despite the  Akali Dal having voted for the  revocation of Article 370.