Armed militants occupy Sikhs' homes in Pak

[Singh]

Needless self-righteousness over Sikhs

After an Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman protested against the Taliban’s attempt to impose jiziya and other restrictions on Sikhs living in Orakzai Agency, Pakistan is supposed to have given to India what is mentioned in the Pakistani press as a “shut up” call. The reported reply was: “The Indians were clearly told that these Sikhs are citizens of Pakistan and India need not worry about them. They were also informed that this is tantamount to interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs.”

If this is what Islamabad has done then we think it should have taken a different line. It should have said that the government had been greatly concerned about the Orakzai community of Sikhs and has given the ousted families good shelter in the gurudwara complex of Hassan Abdal for the time being. Four hundred additional Sikhs have also moved from Buner to Hassan Abdal after being forcibly evicted from there by the Taliban. This should have been the reply.

India made the demarche on Sikhs because of a formal call made by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) of India, the highest religious body of Sikhs, in a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee regarding the development. The SGPC has sought permission from the prime minister to visit FATA in Pakistan to assess the condition of Sikhs living in the area. And SGPC has always had good relations with Pakistan.

The Taliban are not the enemies of Pakistan only. And they are no longer an “internal affair” of Pakistan. What they do threatens the world. The entire world is shaken by their potential to endanger international security. Religious minorities, when persecuted endlessly, tend to disturb bilateral relations. The persecution of Muslims in the Gujarat state of India has affected Indo-Pak relations; so has the persecution of the Shia community by extremists in Pakistan disturbed Pakistan’s equation with Iran. *

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Sailor]

Hey this is a new form of government with new taxation laws the Taliban are introducing.
Evict everyone from their houses at gun point and they have to pay to come back.
Seems like a system that has financial credibility for any government.

 

[Rage]

Needless self-righteousness over Sikhs

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

Thank you for that excellent opinion piece!

 

[Rage]

1,200 Sikhs take refuge in Punja Sahib

By Our Correspondent
Saturday, 09 May, 2009 | 02:58 PM PST |

Pakistanis from the Sikh community who fled Mingora and Buner in the troubled
valley of Swat, take refuge in their temple in Hasanabdal, 45 kilometers from Islamabad,
Pakistan, on Friday, May 8, 2009. – AP


TAXILA: The number of Sikhs taking shelter in Gurdwara Punja Sahib, Hassanabdal, has swollen to nearly 1,200 as more and more people flee the armed conflict in the north-western district of Buner, officials said on Friday.

Hundreds of Sikhs have been displaced by the fighting between the Taliban militants and the security forces in Buner and Dir districts, while hundreds more have fled their homes in the semi-autonomous Aurakzai tribal region due to threats from the Taliban after demands for Jizya, a tax imposed on non-Muslims.

The displaced Sikhs have preferred to stay in the temple instead of going to makeshift camps established by the government authorities with the help of international relief agencies.

Scores of Sikh families have moved from the militancy-hit areas of Pir Baba, Buner, Maidan, Lal Qila and Islam Dara of Lower Dir to safer places in the wake of the ongoing military operation.

These Sikhs had been living in the area since long and even after the partition of the sub-continent, they did not move and preferred to stay in the area.

Meanwhile, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Minorities Affairs Minister Nauroz Khan also visited Gurdwara Punja Sahib on Friday and expressed solidarity with the Sikh IDPs. They also distributed aid among the more than 300 Sikh families in the temple.

Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has made elaborate arrangements for the boarding and lodging of these Sikh IDPs.

Sardar Soran Singh, who is overseeing the affairs, told Dawn that all facilities were being provided to the Sikh families free of cost, saying 'We will allow them to stay here for as long as they want.'

Officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) told this reporter that influx of Sikh families was expected in the next few days as authorities again relaxed curfew in Swat, Buner and other troubled areas of the NWFP.


DAWN.COM | Pakistan | 1,200 Sikhs take refuge in Punja Sahib