But well-known Sikh-Canadian journalist Harkirat Singh Kular, who was denied entry at New Delhi in January, says his own ordeal is typical of the troubles facing his Punjabi-origin colleagues as they try to return to India for business or pleasure.

Kular says his last visit to India was meant to be a pleasure trip to attend his niece’s marriage.

“My wife is Canadian and she was allowed to go in, but not me,” he said. “I had to get back on the same plane, after two hours. They didn’t even allow me to get a drink. I asked can I speak with the Consulate or a lawyer, they said, no, I can’t talk to anybody.

“The cost, the harassment, I was sick after that, it was so long to travel.”

Kular, who has been active in journalism for the past 20 years and is the publisher and editor of Surrey’s Punjab Guardian newspaper, has published or written controversial pro-Khalistan articles in the past, articles in support of an independent Sikh homeland in India.

But as a Canadian, Kular says he is well within his Charter Rights to express a colourful opinion.

“It’s a human rights issue,” he told the South Asian Post, adding he’s spent the past 10 months trying to get answers.

“I tried to get people there to say what is the reason for not allowing to enter the land of my birth and they say I should take it up with the Consulate people here in Vancouver but the Vancouver people say that they have no control and it is a matter for Delhi to deal with,” said Kular, who immigrated in 1987 and still has “properties and interests” in Ludhiana and visited there several times up until 2007 without incident.

“This shouldn’t happen to journalists, especially those working in Canada. But the ironic thing is that journalists in India . . . are doing much more criticism of the government but there is no such punishment meted out to them.

“I feel that it is being done here and on behest of certain people who want to hurt the members of the Punjabi press and stop them from practicing the freedom of the press which is a given right in this country and also in India. I just want India to do the right thing and resolve the matter against me so that I can visit my family there.”

Lucky Sahota and other Indo-Canadian journalists suggest “active touts” of the Indian government in Canada are supplying Indian officials with misinformation and propaganda to create trouble and instability in the community.

“Maybe someone is feeding them wrong information,” Sahota tells the South Asian Post. “We need to sit together and clear the misunderstandings. They’re putting bad feelings to the Consulate.”

Contacted by the South Asian Post, Consul S.K. Makhijani, with the Consulate General of India in Vancouver, denied there is any conspiracy or blacklist affecting Punjabi journalists in B.C.

He said he and Consul General Ashok Das are as confounded as anyone by the entry denials.

“Fifty-six thousand visas are issued each year and some are being turned back,” he said.

“We met with the (Punjabi) media fellows last week and the Consul General told them the same thing - this is only one or two per cent and we have written to New Delhi to determine what is happening.”

The issue of so-called blacklisted B.C. journalists has already caught the attention of rights groups abroad.

One Sikh organization in the U.K. said: “This matter is a complete disgrace for India as it is undemocratic and is a clear sign of trampling on press freedom and practicing lynching of NRI journalists.”

Kular has warned Punjabi and Indo-Canadian journalists to be vigilant on the matter citing a “new trend” by Indian officials to silence NRI critics, writers and journalists who have been critical of India.

And with the news of a second B.C. journalist being denied entry, he said it shows that a dangerous pattern is emerging – one that needs urgent address from not only India but also the Canadian government.

In light of the most recent case, the Punjabi Press Club says it will continue pushing Consul General Ashok Das for answers, while lodging protests directly with the Indian government in New Delhi as well as through Canada’s Foreign Affairs ministry.

The Punjabi Press Club will also be sending letters of protest to Reporters Without Borders, the Canadian Journalists Association, United Nations department monitoring freedoms of the press, Human Rights organizations and, if necessary, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.