Honoured by Pravasi award, not upset for being sent back from airport: Dhaliwal

Dhaliwal said he had decided to organise the langar for farmers after “watching what all they were going through”. He said, “I was not involved in the farm laws.”

The NRI businessman also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “He did a lot for the country. He did great things for Sikhs and I wish he continues doing so.”

Dhaliwal’s selection for the award, it is learnt, was part of a rapprochement exercise by the Government for the Sikh community after the farm protests ended. An influential member of the Indian American community, Dhaliwal had hosted a few events in the Chicago area, and an outreach exercise was carried out by Indian functionaries as well. The award is the culmination of that outreach, sources said.

Sources said Dhaliwal’s name was finalised by the jury and awards committee, which has the Vice President as its chair and the External Affairs Minister as the vice-chair. The panel unanimously selected the final list, they said.

Dhaliwal has been an influential NRI businessman for several decades, with businessescutting across petrol stations, trucks and real estate in the US.

Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and DSB Group CEO Piyush Gupta are among the other recipients of the awards, which will be handed over during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention to be held in Indore between January 8 and 10.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Dhaliwal’s younger brother Surjit Singh Rakhra, who was a minister in Punjab’s previous SAD government, described the award as “a blessing from Guru Maharaj”.

According to Rakhra, the Prime Minister had met Dhaliwal in Delhi last April. “PM Modi had invited around 100 eminent personalities, including him (Dhaliwal). He attended the event,” he said.

Asked about Dhaliwal’s support for the farm agitation, Rakhra said, “We had only arranged for a langar for the protesting farmers but the Government thought we could help mediate and end the stalemate. My brother was given three options, either to stop the langar, or help with a compromise with the farmers or return to the United States.”

Their family hails from Rakhra village near Patiala. Rakhra said Dhaliwal would arrive in India on January 7 for the convention in Indore.

In 2021, after Dhaliwal was sent back from the airport, Rakhra had told The Indian Express: “My brother landed at 7 pm on October 23, 2021, in a United Airlines flight and after quizzing him for 5-6 hours he was sent back in the same flight to the US.”

Punjab’s former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had at that time sought the intervention of the Prime Minister. Requesting Modi to personally invite Dhaliwal as a “goodwill gesture which will send a great positive signal to NRIs”, Badal had also sought “stern action against the erring officials who brought a bad name to the country with their action”.

Dhaliwal migrated to the US in 1972. He is married to Debra, a Wisconsinite, and the couple has three sons and three daughters.