Punjab: Canadian High Commission has refused visa to a former Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, accusing India’s paramilitary force of “war crimes“ and being a “notoriously violent force“.
In a communication addressed to retired BSF head constable Fateh Singh Pandher, a New Delhi-based Canadian High Commission diplomat has described the BSF as a “notoriously violent paramilitary unit“ which is “responsible for war crimes in India“.
Pandher had applied for an immigration visa in 2005 and had completed all paperwork. According to procedure, his medical tests were done in 2008 and he was called for an interview in April 2009.
The communication, having the signature of Eric Verner, First Secretary, Immigration, sent on December 8, 2009 to Pandher based in Siar village, 25 km from Ludhiana, has not accepted his permanent visa application while accusing him of not only working with “a unit engaged in systematic attacks on civilians“ but also of not providing any evidence in his visa application “disassociating“ himself from the Force.
Pandher, 60, retired from the BSF 10 years ago and applied for the Permanent Residency for Canada, where his daughter is married.
He said he had served in the BSF for 25 years and had been posted in West Bengal, Punjab and other border states but never indulged in any wrong practice. He said he was upset with the Canadian embassy as “they accused me of being a member of the BSF in such a way as if I had committed a crime. Even during the interview in 2009, I was asked irrelevant questions about the BSF. Canadian officials accused BSF of targeting a particular community for attacks and rapes“.
Source: HT
