Same past, similar present?

 

 

Attitude of Pakistan government

Towards Sikhs

The Pakistani government has worked on minorities, be it Hindu, Sikhs or Christians. The rights of minorities are no different than that of Muslims and I haven’t seen any kind of atrocities committed on minorities. And I didn’t establish this Sabha to retaliate or claim any rights. This Sabha includes the young generation so that young people can get involved in doing good work for our community.

Sikhs, Taliban and

Afghanistan

Around 2,400 Hindus and Sikhs resided in Afghanistan. It was not just the Sikhs or Hindus who fled from there. Of the 90% Muslim population in Afghanistan, there were many who ran away from there. Afghanistan is a disturbed area. Who would want to live in a place, especially with family, where there are bomb explosions every other day and people are being killed. So not just Sikhs, even the Muslim population had migrated from there.

Khalistan and

Pakistan

Belonging to the Sikh community in Pakistan and having worked for Sikhs there, I have never seen Sikhs raising their voice to demand for a separate state. But I feel that people of all religions and communities can demand for their rights. If Sikhs are demanding for Khalistan and feel that this is their right, then this issue should be given some consideration because it’s not just a handful of them but Sikhs around the world who support this. I can’t say if it is right or otherwise to demand for a separate state, all I can say is that it is for political parties to consider this issue and do what is right instead of ignoring the issue. I have interacted with the people of my community in the US, the UK, Malaysia etc, and I haven’t heard any of them demanding a separate state for the Sikhs. After 9/11, it was reported that Sikhs in the US had to go through a lot just because they wore turbans. Instead of agitations the world-over, one must understand that there are good people and bad people. The so-called bad people were basically ignorant and just because of a handful we can’t go ahead and blame the US for being unfair because of the torture the Sikhs had to go through. People who spread terror and hatred do not belong to any religion or community. They do this only for selfish reasons.

Situation of Sikhs

in Pakistan Very recently, the former President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, had passed laws for the protection of the rights of minorities in Pakistan. With that, Sikhs can now join the Pakistan Armed Forces. This is a very positive step which proves that the minorities are taken care of. Now 5 per cent quota exists for minorities in every department. However, these steps have come a little late because our representatives did not really do much about the issues earlier. The talks of our welfare were not brought to the Assembly floor. Now, in Pakistan, with people becoming more active, aware and responsible, we have a good number of Hindus and Sikhs in the Parliament. So we don’t see the minorities being deprived of any rights. We believe in peace and all across the world, Sikhs have progressed because of that.