UK Sikhs push back against Khalistani elements, laud Modi's steps for community
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Jan, 2022 12:34 PM
New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) Amidst heightened activities by Khalistanis, the Sikh community in the UK has started pushing back against anti-India forces in country.
At the heart of this push back is Southall in London, which remains among the largest hubs of Sikh community in the UK and has a distinction of hosting the country's largest and most prominent gurdwaras.
In an unprecedented move, the community leaders gathered at Gurdwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha, Park Avenue, and challenged the prevailing anti-India narrative propagated by Khalistanis and their backers.
They passed an unprecedented resolution thanking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for doing so much for the Sikh community and helping to bridge the misunderstandings.
They especially thanked Modi for announcing December 26 as Bir Bal Divas and declaring it as a public holiday.
In a congregation, community leaders and gurudwara committee office bearers challenged those who are pushing factually incorrect narrative about India and the Modi-led government.
They also challenged them to disprove their views, which has no political agenda or motive.
Sikhs in the UK consider this as a bold step within the community, which had so far kept silent and chose to not to confront a handful Khalistanis propagating anti-India narrative without any consequences from the local agencies.
The community, which is broadly fed up with Khalistani lies, have been fearful of bullying by Khalistanis and have been desisting from speaking up openly against them.
The White House has formally received the proposed changes in the existing regulations to end the work authorization for certain categories of H-1B foreign work visas.
At least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on February 14 in a suicide attack claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group.
Even through JeM, responsible for the Pulwama terror attack, and LeT, responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, were banned by Pakistan, heads of both the terrorist groups -- Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed respectively -- roam freely in Pakistan.
H-1B Visa Rules: The White House will take a final call on it, before a formal regulation in this regard could be issued and the Department of Homeland Security can inform a federal court, where a lawsuit on this issue is pending. The entire process could take from a few weeks to several months.
The international terror financing watchdog FATF on Friday condemned the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans and decided to continue the ‘grey’ listing of Pakistan for its failure to stop funding of terrorist groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamat-ud-Dawa.
A statement issued by the Interior Ministry also said the crackdown on Jaish "has been taken in line with the decision of the National Security Committee meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan".
