Chandigarh, July 20 (IANS) The relatives of people who have left India and sought political asylum abroad can now easily return to their home country to attend family functions and other ceremonies, a Rajya Sabha MP who had lobbied for this, said Tuesday.
So far there were unwritten rules directing all consulates to deny visas to children and close family members of people who had sought political asylum abroad but now there would be a change in these guidelines, Tarlochan Singh, an independent member of the upper house of parliament, said.
He also expressed happiness over the positive response from the union home ministry in this direction.
‘A few days back, I had approached union home minister and urged him to intervene in this issue. I am very happy that he has responded positively and instructions have been issued to all Indian consulates to grant visas to children and relatives of people who had sought political asylum in a western country many years back,’ Tarlochan Singh told IANS here Tuesday.
‘In one of the recent cases, Kuljeet Chahal, whose father had taken asylum in the US, was granted a visa to visit India. There are so many similar cases where people were denied visas and in some cases even their applications were not entertained,’ he said.
This was the second attempt of Chahal as earlier her visa was denied by the Indian consulate in San Francisco. She wanted to bring the ashes of her husband to Punjab. Following this, she wrote a letter to Tarlochan Singh, who subsequently raised the issue with the home ministry.
‘We cannot punish a child for a crime that was committed by his father or mother. They are not culprits and therefore should have full freedom, just like any other citizen of a free country. Now I am very hopeful and optimistic that things will certainly improve from here,’ Tarlochan Singh said.
‘Still if anybody faces difficulty, I would strongly raise the issue before the officials concerned,’ he added.
