JALANDHAR: The visit by a four member British High Commission team to certain villages of Punjabis causing consternation in the intelligence and security circles.

‘They claim that there was more to the visit than the ostensible purpose of studying the problems of immigrants from Punjab particularly the Doaba region comprising districts of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala.

The team led by Richard J.Burns, Second Secretary (Immigration) in the High Commission at New Delhi, visited Pakhowal, Naarala and Bharowal villages in Hoshiarpur district on Oct.27, according to a team member.

Talking to journalists here Wednesday, Burns said they had come to process certain complicated immigration cases,” He said they processed three such cases Wednesday and one the day before that.

But intelligence sources said it was possible that the British team had come to study the human rights Situation in Punjab in view of the forthcoming visit of British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd. To New Dethi in the second week of November. India and Britain were scheduled to exchange the instruments of ratification of the Indo UK extradition treaty during his visit.

Although the treaty had a smooth passage in the House of Lords, there was criticism of India on its human rights record before the house accorded its unanimous approval. The treaty also evoked strong criticism in the House of Commons, where not one Labor member voted for it

The sources said the visit by the British team, therefore, could not be merely dismissed as concerning the problems of immigrants alone as stated by the team Leader,

Bums, while admitting that it was the first visit of its kind to Punjab since 1982, said they would be undertaking at least one more Visit to the state before the year end, He said it might become a regular feature in the future but declined to answer when asked as to why no high commission official visited Punjab all these years when immigrants had been facing worse problems as every visitor to Britain was treated as a “suspect” when he or she went to the high commission fora visa.

Bums said their visit was not a follow up of the British High Commissioner’s meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh at Chandigarh recently.

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 5, 1993