Immigration Minister Diane Finley says the letter from the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi to one applicant, "Unless he provided an additional surname (besides Singh)... his application for permanent residence may not be processed... doesn't reflect the policy of Canada's [Images] new government."

Her statement issued July 26, after 2 days of storm in the media, implies that the officer concerned who wrote the letter has been snubbed, "I can assure you I have directed the department to ensure that this type of erroneous letter is not sent again."

Finley has obviously realized the serious consequences of action by her department asserting that 'Singh' and 'Kaur' are common surname and 'do not qualify for immigration purposes'.

The letter on these lines was written to one Jaspal Singh, whose wife, Tarvinder Kaur, an Indo-Canadian, sponsored him. He was told in an official letter, "The names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada," rather audacious and atrocious and for the convenience of the immigration officials, people are being asked to change their names.

Finley said "the policy of Canada's new government is that applicants with the surnames 'Singh' and 'Kaur' may, but are not required to, provide an additional surname," and she clearly asserted that 'no application for permanent residence will be rejected if the applicant chooses not to provide an additional surname."

The Toronto Star carried a front-page report on July 26, 'Singh ban denounced,' it said in a banner head line, with a very large photo of Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla, who reportedly said she has received over 500 complaints from visa applicants with Kaur or Singh as surnames.

All baptized Sikh males have Singh as their surnames and women have Kaur as their surnames.

Another Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal took this complaint publicly and that's how media attention was drawn to its larger implications. "The letter that was previously used to communicate with clients (like Jaspal Singh) was poorly worded,' Citizenship and Immigration Canada also admitted.

Several years back, when Chinese first started coming to Canada, immigration officials on port of entry would just pull Christian names from their file and say, 'From today you are John, Smith, Martin and so on and that's how you are being registered." They had no option to continue to use the name that was given to them at birth.

"Such a surname ban is unacceptable in Canada," Dhaliwal said in a strong statement on July 24. H said he was "trying to imagine (such a ban) ever occurring for European surnames at any point of our country's history."

"I believe the thinking behind it in this case is because it is so common," Karen Shadd-Evelyn, spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada is quoted as saying. "With the sheer number of applicants that have those as their surnames, it's just a matter for numbers and for processing in that visa office."

Finley may have for the time being saved herself from this major political embarrassment due to very negative attitude of her immigration officials in New Delhi.

What has not been stated so far is whether there are cases in which applicants were either denied permanent visas because of their names 'Singh' or 'Kaur', or were forced to change their surnames.

Finley should come out with a statement what she would do in case where visa was denied because of the applicant's name Singh or Kaur. Would you order her department to reconsider those applications?