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Pressure on US to grant visa to Akal Takht jathedar

Irked over the denial of visitor's visa to Akal Takht chief Jathedar Ranjit Singh by the United States embassy in New Delhi, several Sikh organisations abroad have mounted pressure on the US government to immediately grant visa to the jathedar who is scheduled to address congregations at many places there.

The visa to the Akal Takht jathedar, supreme temporal authority among the Sikhs, granted last week, was cancelled on Wednesday, a couple of hours before he was to fly to the US.

According to sources close to the jathedar, the embassy personnel conveyed that his visa was rejected as the visitor is a "convict" as shown in a column of the visa application form submitted by Bhai Ranjit Singh.

Following pressure from the Sikh organisations, the embassy officials have begun fresh examination of the visa application of the jathedar, and have sought a number of clarifications from various quarters.

When contacted, the jathedar refused to comment on the episode. But his aides again got in touch with the embassy officials and said they were hopeful of getting the visa issued.

Meanwhile, the jathedar, at his camp office in the capital, was flooded with overseas calls, making frantic queries about the proposed visit. The callers, sources said, apprised the jathedar about "efforts" being undertaken to facilitate granting of the visa to him.

The jathedar was invited by Sikh organisations from California and New York to deliver religious discourses. But some other US-based Sikh organisations opposed his visit and sent missives to the US embassy to stall the visit.

The jathedar's visit has become controversial in the wake of his recent hukamnama (religious edict) prohibiting taking part in langar ( community eating) at dinning tables in Sikh shrines abroad and asserted that the langar, as per tradition, should be served only in pangat (sitting on a floor mat), the sources said.

The hukamnama triggered off violent incidents in Canada and the country has already refused visitor's visa to the jathedar.

UNI

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