New Delhi: US-based billionaire Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, who was deported from the Delhi airport in October 2021, was one of the 21 recipients this year of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award. This is the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians.When he had been deported, Dhaliwal had said he was being targeted ever since he funded a langar at the farmers’ protest against the Narendra Modi government’s farm laws. “When I asked why I was being denied permission to enter India, the immigration officials asked the same questions that they had been asking earlier too – why I organised the langar at Singhu border and who is paying for it. They said if I wanted to enter India, I should stop funding this langar,” he had told The Wire.Speaking to the Indian Express after he received the award, Dhaliwal said. “I was not disappointed when I was sent back. I bow in front of the Almighty and believe that whatever is done by Him is always for the good.” He also praised the Indian prime minister, saying, “He did a lot for the country. He did great things for Sikhs and I wish he continues doing so.”Dhaliwal left India in 1972 and is based in Milwaukee, US. He owns thousands of petrol pumps across the US, according to The Hindu.After the farm laws had been repealed, Dhaliwal had been seen at an event in Chicago when two books on Modi were unveiled by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. According to The Hindu, one of the books, Heartfelt: The Legacy of Faith, had highlighted Modi’s work for the Sikh community.