Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, a non-resident of India (NRI), was sent back to the United States from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, Delhi, on October midnight. This action was taken against him “as a punishment for organising langer for agitating farmers at Dehli borders”.
After this incident, five-time Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the matter.
Who is Darshan Singh Dhaliwal?
Darshan Singh Dhaliwal is a 71-year-old Milwaukie based NRI who has roots in Rakhra village near Patiala. In 1972, he migrated to the US at the age of 21. He then studied mechanical engineering in the US and began his career with some odd jobs initially. In 1977, he had started a gas station and petrol pump business.
Dhaliwal then got married to Debra, a third-generation Wisconsinite with roots in Holland, in 1974. The couple has three sons and three daughters.
Dhaliwal now owns petrol pumps and gas stations across several US cities. His younger brother Surjit Singh Rakhra, a former minister in the previous SAD government, said Dhaliwal had supplied relief material and sent a team of health workers to Tsunami-hit Tamil Nadu in 2004.
He had donated $1 million to Milwaukee to develop a soccer ground. Dhaliwal is a regular donor to the University of Wisconsin, where a chair in the name of his father Bapu Subedar Kartar Singh Rakhra was made. At Milwaukee, Rakhra and Dhaliwal also built a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
Dhaliwal’s father served the British army and had fought in World War II.
Why was Dhaliwal Sent Back to the US?
According to Rakhra, airport authorities asked Dhaliwal to refrain from helping the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws. Dhaliwal was only organising ‘langar’ at the Singhu border, Rakha was quoted as saying, “My brother landed at 7 pm on October 23 in 989 United Airlines flight. After quizzing him for 5-6 hours, Dhaliwal was sent back to the US in the same flight.”
Dhaliwal had visited four times over the past year, and during each visit, he was harassed at the airport for 1-2 hours, claiming Rakhra. However, he had never faced any such harassment in the past. His family is a SAD supporter, but he has never participated in any political activity here, added Dhaliwal’s brother.
