Who is Jaspal Atwal and Why did India blacklist him?

Jaspal Atwal was a convicted terrorist and supporter of Khalistan. He used to work in the banned Sikh International Youth Federation and he had the charges of plotting a conspiracy to kill former Punjab MinisterMalkit Singh Sidhu,who went to Canada in 1986. He got arrested for this but later he was released.

During the recent visit of Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau,he was invitedby the Canadian High Commissioner to have a formal dinner with him that irked the controversies in India. However, the invite was later withdrawn by the commission.

Jaspal was blacklisted by the home ministry on the charges of extremists activities in India. He is one of about 200 such individuals with whom the government has been engaging in the last three years. He got a visa to visit India, as part of the process, like many others. He was given a visa since he was found to have been reformed, and therefore has been taken off the blacklist last year.