MP Obhrai fumes at NRI summit snub
Fri, January 11 2008
By Gurmukh Singh
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MP Obhrai |
Obhrai, who is an MP from Calgary East and parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, said the Punjab government has invited other MPs and legislators from Canada to attend the =conference, but not him.
The most prominent invitee from Canada was former B.C. Ujjal Dosanjh.
He asked: “Why not me? Am I not a Punjabi? Is it because I am a Hindu Punjabi, not a Sikh Punjabi? Or who according to them qualifies to be called a Punjabi. If this is a Punjabi NRI (non-resident Indian) conference and they are inviting all prominent Punjabis from Canada and elsewhere, then why was I ignored?”
Obhrai added angrily: “Of course, it is their prerogative to invite anyone. But it rankles because I represent Punjabis at the highest level in Canada today. I am proud to be Punjabi like any other Punjabi MP or legislator in Canada. The whole thing seems to be biased.”
Asked whether he will raise the issue with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during his upcoming visit to India, he said Punjab was not on the itinerary during his short visit as he was accompanying his minister for foreign affairs.
However, he said, he would like to bring this to the notice of the organisers of the Punjabi NRI Sammelan (conclave)“Such gatherings are for promoting our brotherhood, and this spirit should be respected in the future,” he said.
The two-day event, in Chandigarh and Jalandhar, saw the likes of top hotelier and Clintons’ fund raiser Sant Singh Chatwal, Rana Diljit Singh, Usha Parashar, European Union MP Neena Gill and Dosanjh in attendance.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced at the opening day of the summit
That his government is setting up six police stations for NRIs and a fast track court to deal with issues related to them.
The six NRI police stations will be set up in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Moga, Nawanshahr and Ludhiana districts. All of them will have web-enabled hotlines and each will have jurisdiction over the entire state.
Among other incentives announced by Badal for NRIs from Punjab is the setting up of a fast track court at Jalandhar to deal with their property and revenue cases.
Dosanjh expressed concern over the ‘attitude’ of Indians living abroad which, he suggested, disfavoured the girl child at the meeting
“Whether the Indians are living in India or abroad, the problem remains the same,” Dosanjh said referring to the issue of discrimination against female child.
“Indians living abroad have adopted such an attitude that the numbers of females was going down as compared to males. The mindset of Indians must change so that imbalance in sex ratio is corrected,” he said.
“The neglect and torture of females from birth should end,” he said, adding that a campaign was needed to educate the Indians against ‘female foeticide’.
Dosanjh said that his wife was running a programme on sensitising people about the girl child in British Columbia. The member of Federal Parliament in Canada said lack of basic infrastructure had prevented NRIs in Canada from investing in India, even as he stressed that the number of those who could actually invest was very less.
“Investment which can come from abroad is not coming due to lack of basic infrastructure, including roads, communication, hospitals etc,” Dosanjh said.
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