Canada denies visa to former Indian BSF head constable
May 22, 2010 03:55 pm
New Delhi: Canada’s decision to deny a retired head constable of the BSF a permanent visa on grounds that it was a “violent” and “notorious” force has vitiated relations with Ottawa barely weeks before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is due to visit that country.
“I received a letter from the Canadian High Commission on
December 8 last year. It said that visa was being denied to me since I was a
member of the BSF which is a violent and notorious paramilitary force,” Fateh
Singh Pandher, now in his late 60s, told The Hindu on Friday on the phone from
Mr. Pandher said he, along with his wife, had visited
Indian officials told The Hindu that the Canadian letter was
an affront to the country and the government and that a serious view had been
taken of it at the highest levels. “The decision to grant or deny a visa is
The officials said the letter, signed by a consular official
in the Canadian High Commission in
“We are not keeping quiet about this,” an official said,
adding the issue had already been taken up with the Canadian government. There
was added sensitivity because Dr. Singh was due to visit
On record, all that the spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry was prepared to say was “the matter has come to the attention of the Ministry and has been appropriately taken up with the Canadian side.” – (The Hindu)