NEW DELHI: Militant violence may be a thing of the past in Punjab but extremist groups continue to nurture their links with foreign sources for financial support. This is claimed in the confidential report of the Joint Intelligence Committee prepared last year. The report lists six such fundamentalist and 17 extremist groups, many of whom operate from India as well as USA, UK, Canada, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Apart from diversion of ‘golak’ collections from Gurdwaras whose control had been seized by Sikh extremist organizations, the JIC claims that large sums continue to be collected by extremists and expatriate leaders during their visits abroad or through direct appeals made at congregations and annual conventions held in these countries. While the JIC admits that it is not possible to precisely quantify the extent of foreign funding, it estimates that Rs 600 crore had come in from Pakistan and other countries into Punjab between 1981 and 1991. Legal channels like the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) were reportedly being used for the inflow of funds. In fact, Punjab topped the list of states receiving contributions between 1989 and 1992. Some important cases of funding mentioned in the JIC report are.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 2, 1996
