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Journalism of Courage
Stories like Harjinder Singh’s are sadly almost a cliche in Punjab, where migration has been a way of life for generations. Villager spots poster that announces Canada khul gaya (Canada is open now), jumps at prospect of life overseas, sells ancestral land, borrows money at exorbitant interest rates, meets agent, gives him everything, never sees him again.
Harjinder from Khora met his dream agent at a gurdwara. Agent Dr Gupta promised him a ticket to Utopia, then took his passport and promised to meet him on Friday. Harjinder is in Delhi, still waiting, losing hope of getting his money and passport back, or of ever going to Canada.
Warns RS MP Balwant Singh Ramoowali, who has been crusading against fake immigration agents, ‘‘Punjab’s illiterate farmers are targets now and results can be disastrous.’’
Ramoowali says that with Canada opening doors to farmers, self-styled immigration agents have cropped up in Delhi and Punjab. ‘‘Everyday I receive five to seven cases of Punjabi farmers being duped by agents, who charge each of them about eight to ten lakhs. This means that by the end of this year, Punjabi farmers would lose about 500 crore to these agents.’’
Add to this, about 70,000 Punjabi women who have been dumped after short-term marriages to NRIs fixed through agents, for which parents often sell their land to pay the heavy dowries.
He has a long list of Punjabis lodged in jails in various parts of the world. ‘‘Only six months ago, I managed to get 15 Punjabis out of Mocha jail in Peshawar,’’ he adds. He alleged that the police in most cases do not cooperate.
The MP rues that exploitation of illiterate farmers by immigration agents following Canada’s recent policy announcement is going unchecked.
Ramoowali adds that Harjinder was among the less gullible because when Gupta told him he would be sent to Bahrain first and then Canada, he got suspicious and backed out.
The MP has now written to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to ask his public relations department to educate the public about fake agencies in the business of duping farmers.
