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Chandigarh August 19: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, S. Sukhbir Singh Badal today thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the much needed decision to prune 212 names from the 324 strong black list of the Union of India.
In a statement here, the deputy chief minister said this this measure would go a long way in assuaging the feelings of the Sikh community as well as families affected by the creation of the black list. He said the bold manner in which the NDA government had taken this step spoke volumes about its pro Sikh and pro Punjabi attitude.
While congratulating the Punjabi community worldwide for this welcome step, he said it had come about because of the persistent efforts of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who had taken immense personal interest to make this happen. He said not only had Badal Sahab taken up this issue with the PM a number of times but had also created a wider consensus on this issue. “Today everyone realises that this list needs to be pruned down severely to bring everyone back into our fold”, he added.
The Deputy Chief Minister said he had also took up the issue with the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in his capacity as Home minister and apprised them of the problems being faced by the NRI Sikhs in visiting their country as a result of the list prepared during Congress regime.
Expressing gratitude to the Union Government especially PM Modi, the Deputy Chief Minister said that now the NRI Sikhs would get a chance to visit their country and be in touch with their roots. S. Badal expressed strong hope that the list would be further reviewed so that the discrimination meted out to the Sikh community net its natural end.
