Chandigarh, Feb. 20: The Union government will help Sikhs living in exile return home provided they are prepared to renounce their demand for a separate state on the lines of the amnesty package currently being drafted for Kashmiri youth who crossed over to Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"If Sikh youth want to return, having given up militancy, giving up violence and giving up the demand for Khalistan, we will certainly facilitate their return," Union home minister P. Chidambaram told reporters at the Attari-Wagah border where he laid the foundation of a new land port on Saturday.
Apparently revising his earlier position where he had reportedly sought to exclude Sikhs listed on the government of India’s "blacklist" of separatists living in exile in Western countries, Mr Chidambaram clarified that the surrender policy for Kashmiri militants opting for peace was being prepared in response to a proposal from the Jammu and Kashmir government.
Notably, both Punjab’s ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress party had demanded
the inclusion of Sikhs in the amnesty plan being worked out for Kashmiri youth. Mr Chidambaram’s remarks come two days after Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal had asked, "When the country is one, what is the harm in giving general amnesty to Sikh youth wanting to shun violence and join the mainstream?"
"If the government of Punjab wishes to draw up a similar scheme, I would be happy to consider it," the Union home minister said.
Earlier on Saturday afternoon, Mr Chidambaram unveiled the foundation stone for the new Rs 150-crore integrated check post at Attari. The first of 13 ICPs, or land ports, planned to overcome trade infrastructure bottlenecks on the international border with neighbouring countries, the Attari ICP is slated for completion in just 14 months and expected to provide a major boost to trade and commerce between India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Age Correspondent