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TORONTO: An immigration tribunal in Canada has ruled that a Sikh man who “housed and fed Khalistani militants in India” should be allowed into the North American country as he did so “mostly out of necessity” and fear of retribution, a media report said.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had argued that Indian citizen Kamaljit Ram is ineligible to come to Canada as the immigration law prohibits individuals who engaged in or instigated the “subversion by force of any government”. Ram had told CBSA that he sheltered and fed armed Sikh militants at his farm in India on-and-off between 1982 and 1992, the National Post newspaper reported. He also told them that he supported the ideas promoted by the followers of late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a leading figure of the pro-Khalistan movement, for a separate Sikh state.
However, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) tribunal said in a recent ruling that the federal government did not have “reasonable grounds” to stop Ram from entering Canada, the news report stated.
IRB tribunal member Heidi Worsfold said the government failed to note in its assessment that Ram repeatedly said he accepted to host the armed individuals because he “feared the consequences” of being on the wrong end of the group.”The atmosphere in the Sikh community of the 1980s was rife with militancy where groups of militants, including the Bhindranwale followers, as well as the police created an atmosphere of fear and distrust among many of the local residents,” the ruling read, according to the Post.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had argued that Indian citizen Kamaljit Ram is ineligible to come to Canada as the immigration law prohibits individuals who engaged in or instigated the “subversion by force of any government”. Ram had told CBSA that he sheltered and fed armed Sikh militants at his farm in India on-and-off between 1982 and 1992, the National Post newspaper reported. He also told them that he supported the ideas promoted by the followers of late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a leading figure of the pro-Khalistan movement, for a separate Sikh state.
However, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) tribunal said in a recent ruling that the federal government did not have “reasonable grounds” to stop Ram from entering Canada, the news report stated.
IRB tribunal member Heidi Worsfold said the government failed to note in its assessment that Ram repeatedly said he accepted to host the armed individuals because he “feared the consequences” of being on the wrong end of the group.”The atmosphere in the Sikh community of the 1980s was rife with militancy where groups of militants, including the Bhindranwale followers, as well as the police created an atmosphere of fear and distrust among many of the local residents,” the ruling read, according to the Post.
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