The Canadian High Commission in India has come under fire for making sweeping allegations of human rights violations against police officers and a soldier from Punjab saying the units they had worked for were engaged in torture and systematic killings.
The assertions made by the Canadian officials which led to the refusal of visas to Canada has triggered a diplomatic uproar just as India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans a historic visit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the G20 summit next month.
The latest case involves the rejection of a visa application by a former constable of India’s Border Security Force (BSF).
The Canadian High Commission had rejected in December a visa request from retired constable Fateh Singh Pandher, accusing the paramilitary force of “war crimes” and being a “notoriously violent force”.
Pandher had wanted to move to Edmonton to join his daughter who lives there.
In a communication to 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 was also accused working with “a unit engaged in systematic attacks on civilians” and not providing any evidence in his visa application “dissociating” himself from the force.
The BSF is responsible for guarding India’s borders. But it is often deployed for internal security duty across the country, including in the strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir areas.
Canada is now “reviewing” the rejection of Pandher’s visa while saying New Delhi has raised the issue with Ottawa.
India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the visa officer’s description.
BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: ‘We condemn the remarks made by the Canadian authorities. We will not accept any remark like this against a soldier of our country.’
Indian officials said this is not the first time India’s pride is being wounded by callous statements from Canadian officials who reject visas.
Sources in India told the South Asian Post that about two months ago, a visa application by Rajan Gupta, an additional director-general (crime) of Punjab police was rejected because he was associated in “anti-military activities”
Gupta, who is also president of the Punjab Volleyball Association, was forced to cancel his private visit to Vancouver.
Similarly, Indian media reported that the Senior Superintendent of Police in Patiala, Punjab, R.S. Khatra, was also denied entry to Canada.
The officers have taken up the matter with the Union home ministry and wonder if “the fact that an officer was posted in a district during militancy has became a ground for the rejection of a visa”, Indian media said.
Sources, according to a report in India, said police officers applying for a Canadian visa now need to fill a separate form mentioning the places where they were posted. It is learnt that the Canadian embassy has identified six districts, including those on the Indo-Pak border, where the police have come down heavily on militants to quell violence.
Police officials feel the commission’s decision may be due to pressure from Canada-based Sikh human rights organisations, which had been taking up the cause of Punjab militants from time to time. They described this is another attempt by some organisations to run them down for their fight against militancy.
In 2008, The South Asian Post reported, civil liberties watchers, rights activists and even Canada’s opposition government were all alarmed over a probing Canadian questionnaire.
The three-page document requires Indians in Punjab to answer questions about their political affiliations and religious beliefs – as well as those of their families – during their screening for a travel visa for Canada.
Initially used for permanent resident applicants, the questionnaire was later extended to mere travellers to Canada. A number of politicians, police and members of the armed forces in India have all been refused entry to Canada, reportedly because of the High Commission questionnaire.
In comments that sought to distance the Canadian government from the latest visa rejection of Pandher , Catherine Loubier, a spokesperson for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, said decisions on visa applications were usually taken by individual officials.
“Decisions on visa applications are made by public servants following an independent process governed by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,” Loubier said in a statement mailed to IANS.
“We are reviewing the situation. Due to privacy reasons we cannot comment further,” Loubier added.
She stressed that Canada had “great respect for India’s armed forces and related institutions”.
She mentioned the strong ties and friendship between Canada and India, which she described as a “country with growing influence on the global stage”.
Loubier mentioned the commonality of democratic values between the two countries, and said Canada had the “highest regard for India’s democratic institutions and processes”.
She also referred to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “very successful visit” in 2009. “One of our greatest strengths is the vibrant people-to-people connections between Canada and India,” said Loubier.
Pandher, meanwhile, told Indian media that Canada should apologise to Indians and to the Border Security Force (BSF) for using “insulting” language.
“They have not said anything against me. But the Canadian officials have insulted the BSF and my country. I want the Canadian government to apologise to the people of India and to the BSF,” Pandher told IANS at Siahar village, 25 km from Punjab’s industrial city of Ludhiana.
Pandher said he was “very happy” and “satisfied” with the media coverage of the case. “I and my family are very happy at the way this has been highlighted,” Pandher said.
According to Pandher, he applied for an immigration visa in 2005 and completed all the paperwork. His medical tests were done in 2008, and he was called for a personal interview in April 2009.
“They accused me of being a member of the BSF in a way that sounded as if I had committed some sin. Even in the interview in April 2009, I was asked irrelevant questions about the BSF. They even accused the BSF of targeting a particular community for attacks and rapes.”
An upset Pandher said he told the Canadian diplomat that the BSF never committed atrocities on innocent people and did not target any particular community since the force itself had people from all religions.
“But the official refused to agree with any of my comments,” Pandher told IANS.
Pandher said that he had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and BSF director general after which the issue came to light.
International human rights groups including Amnesty Internation have said allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir primarily implicate the BSF.
The Border Security Force (BSF) is responsible for guarding India’s land borders during peacetime and prevent trans-border crimes. It has an extensive intelligence network to support these missions.