U.S.-based billionaire Darshan Singh Dhaliwal who was denied entry into India because of his support to the 2020-21 farmers’ protest has been honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA), the highest government award for overseas Indians. Mr. Dhaliwal’s name features in a list of 27 awardees that includes Israel-based restauranteur Reena Pushkarna and Chairman of Fedex Raj Subramaniam.
Mr. Dhaliwal has been selected for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Samman Award. The award will be given during the PBD Convention to be celebrated during January 8-10 in Indore.
Out of all the names, it is the inclusion of Mr. Dhaliwal that has surprised many. Mr. Dhaliwal left India in 1972 and has been based in Milwaukee, U.S. In 2004 India Today magazine described him as the “largest petrol retailer” in the U.S. Mr. Dhaliwal, a self-made billionaire reportedly owns thousands of petrol pumps spread across the United States.
Also Read | 2020: Farmers take the country by storm
Mr. Dhaliwal began running a langar (community kitchen) in early 2021 as thousands of farmers parked themselves at the Singhu border near the capital demanding the withdrawal of three controversial farm laws. He landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on October 23, 2021, but was denied entry by the immigration officials who had questioned him for several hours. The issue snowballed with Mr. Dhaliwal hinting that he was denied permission to visit India because of his support to the farmers’ protest.
The officials at the IGI Airport had allegedly asked Mr. Dhaliwal to stop supporting the farmers’ protest that ended after the farm laws were repealed by the Parliament on November 29, 2021. Subsequently, his younger brother Surjit Singh Rakhra, a former minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government in Punjab, had come out in his support.
Mr. Dhaliwal went back to the U.S. even as leaders of the SAD including the patriarch of the Badal family Parkash Singh Badal had come out in his support. Mr. Badal had asked PM Narendra Modi to invite Mr. Dhaliwal as a “goodwill gesture”.
After the repealing of the farm laws, Mr. Dhaliwal was seen at an event in Chicago in June last year when two books dedicated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi were unveiled by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Indian ambassador to the U.S. Taranjit Singh Sandhu. One of the books — ”Heartfelt- The Legacy of Faith “ — highlighted PM Modi’s work for the Sikh community.