Can Sikhs claim minority status in Punjab? issue for Constitution Bench

[RAM]

The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it would refer for adjudication by a Constitution Bench the issue whether Sikhs, who form a majority population in Punjab, can claim 'minority' status in that State.

A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar gave this indication during the course of arguments on a batch of appeals from the State of Punjab and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) against a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which held that Sikhs were not "minorities" in Punjab and could not claim minority rights. In May 2009, the court stayed the operation of the judgment.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 17, 2007 struck down a notification issued by the Punjab government on April 13, 2001 permitting the SGPC to give 50 per cent reservation to Sikh students in colleges run by it on grounds that Sikhs were a minority community.

"Parameters not applied"
The High Court was of the view that the impugned notifications had not applied the relevant parameters for declaring a group of individuals to be minority. "The country could not be taken as a unit, as has been done. There is no material to substantiate that "Sikhs" are a non-dominant group in Punjab apprehending deprivation of their rights at the hands of "dominant" groups, who may come to power in the State in a democratic election. The notifications are clearly ultra vires the jurisdiction of the State government, violating right of equality and public interest."


The State and the SGPC argued in the Supreme Court that the High Court erred by striking down the minority status of the Sikhs. They said that going by the definition of Sikhs as explained in the Sikh Gurdwaras (SG) Act, 1925, only about 53 lakh, roughly one-third of the electoral college of the SGPC, were Sikhs as against the 1.66 crore total voters in the State. They disputed the High Court's reasoning to conclude that Sikhs were a majority by virtue of a Census report that pegged their population in the State at 59.2 per cent.


The State said this figure, taken from the 2001 census, was based on a counting of all sects belonging to Udasis, Nirmala Sadhus, Sant Nirankari Mandal, Dera Sacha Sauda, Radha Soami Satsang. "They are not Sikhs within the meaning of 'Sikh' under the SG Act, 1925, since they believe in living gurus."



http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article894468.ece

 

[anoop_mig25]

whats is this some kind of joke or what punjabis not minority in Punjab.:angry_10::angry_10:

few years back there was news that upa government was not implementing minorty definition because Christian in some north-east state would loose their status as minority tag in this state

 

[pmaitra]

whats is this some kind of joke or what punjabis not minority in Punjab.:angry_10::angry_10:

few years back there was news that upa government was not implementing minorty definition because Christian in some north-east state would loose their status as minority tag in this state

I get your point and you are right in what you mean (or what I think you mean).

I just wanted to clarify that all Punjabis are not Sikhs and all Sikhs are not Punjabis.

Other than Sikhs, there are Hindus, Muslims and Christians among Punjabis. Similarly, among Sikhs, there are Punjabis, Haryanvis, Kashmiris and Afghans as well.

Given the demographics, I doubt if Sikhs can get minority status in Punjab when they are the largest religious group, even if they are not in absolute majority, i.e., at least 50% of the population.

 

[S.A.T.A]

The pertinent question is what process does the government adopt in order to classify an individual or a group of people as belong to a religious group.In the case of Sikhs is it according to the definition of the 'Sikh Gurdwara Act' or is it left to the individual themselves to decide if they are Sikh's or not.The Punjab and Haryana high court in its order, has probably given weightage to the later.

 

[Singh]

The pertinent question is what process does the government adopt in order to classify an individual or a group of people as belong to a religious group.In the case of Sikhs is it according to the definition of the 'Sikh Gurdwara Act' or is it left to the individual themselves to decide if they are Sikh's or not.The Punjab and Haryana high court in its order, has probably given weightage to the later.

According to SGPC guidelines.

 

[Tshering22]

Another poor attempt to divide Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu "religions" after what was tried in 80s by Congress goons. If you notice, everytime the bloody UPAs come to power, they try their colonial divisive policies to make this sort of thing happen. How the f*** should we tell them that we are not RELIGION!!? We are One Dharma with Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism as different "branches"? This is the main reason I despise this bloody government. Everytime trying to create an image of "melting pot of religions" which is not since we don't have this dogmatic "religion" concept in south Asia.


About that Northeast status,

At least some people here realize what dangerous demographic designs these UPAs have for non-Abrahamic faiths. There was no question on minority rights in northeast because Christians would lose the status. Same reason why Kashmir is not given that sort of debate or Kerala not given that sort of debate because again UPA's "minorities" will lose their special status who keep them alive through votes.

Now another BS tactic to make "religions" out or our "way of life". :angry_10:

Everytime this f****** UPA comes, it plays religion card in the name of secularism.

India doesn't have secularism; Secularism doesn't mean forcefully re-writing a country's history and changing demographics; it means separating religious laws from national civil laws.

I wish all Indians could understand this.

Example:

Turkey till now has been a Secular state where their government doesn't run on Islamic laws; It doesn't mean that Turkish people are brainwashed 24/7 with cheap-aimed missionary work to convert (example, Zakir Naik's PEACE TV).