Akali Dal MP from Anandpur Sahib in Punjab Prem Singh Chandumajra today sought relief for the Punjabi settlers abroad who had emigrated seeking greener pastures as political sufferers due to push factor to settle abroad.He said this issue in the Lok Sabha as special mention to draw the attention of the government todays this more than two decade old problem faced by the Punjabis. Many of the young men went abroad under the garb of political sufferers but they had nothing to do with any political cause. However, as they sought political asylum, they were included in the black list prepared by the government of India and thus their return to their native land was barred.Chandumajra said this was entirely a different problem and needed humane approach and change in the attitude towards these people.
The problem should be resolved at the earliest and with entirely a different and broader outlook.He also demanded that more branches of consulates be set up in countries like USA and Canada where people of Indian origin have to travel hundreds of kilometers to renew their passports or seek visas. He argued that the number of Punjabis settled in some of these countries was quite large. The people faced enormous problems to get their papers updates. This unnecessary harassment must go, he added.It may be mentioned that Chandumajra has been taking up the issue of treating political asylum settlers as economic settlers as they had only used this route. He pointed out that hundreds of Punjabi youth went abroad during that period to seek political asylum but the fact was that they had nothing to do with any political struggle.