Pakistan has a Muslim-majority population with a decreasing minority community made of Sikhs, Hindus and Christians

Sikh’s in Pakistan are demanding a seat in the Senate or upper house of parliament. They are requesting that a seat be reserved for minorities in the country to have some hope for their community to be represented even in the smallest possible way.

Sardar Ramesh Singh, chairman of Sikh Naujwan Sabha, Pakistan, said that the Sikh community currently has no representatives in the National Assembly of the government. A delegation representing minority communities met with the new minority affairs secretary demanding that the one seat be reserved for the minority community.

Four new seats have been added to the 100-member Senate. They have been added and will be reserved for the minority community during the upcoming March election.

The lawmakers of the four provincial assemblies elect majority of the Senate representatives while a few seats are left to be filled based on recommendations of the government.

During the meeting with the minority affairs secretary, Michael Javed, a Christian representative and leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf brought to attention the fact that the government was not able to keep its promise of reserving 5 % of jobs for non-Muslims.

He further stated that after this known fact he finds it hard to accept and believe that four seats will in fact be saved for minority representatives in the March election. He fears that even if a minority is selected, he/she will be forced to resign due to discrimination, and harsh treatment by other government officials and representatives. He also brought to attention the fact that in the minority affairs department in Sindh, the secretary has no place to sit.

Mangla Sharma, member of the Pakistan Hindu Welfare Council stated that although parliamentarians are given financial aid for minorities, it is never used properly and hardly reaches the community members at all.

A Indian Sikh Wedding Ceremony

The government of New Delhi recently accepted an eagerly awaited enactment of a separate Sikh Marriage Act.  The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (DSGPC) stated that the Delhi government would soon fulfill the demand for the implementation of the Sikh Marriage Act

DSGPC delegate met with Law minister, Salman Khurshid recently according to the president of DSGPC, Paramjeet Singh Sarna.

Sarna expressed his gratitude for a long awaited act to come into effect. He is content with the governments fulfilled promise. He is convinced that nothing will now come in the way of the full enactment process as 9 ministries have cleared and approved the “Anand Marriage Act.” He further stated that he is for the inclusion of religious institutions under the Lokpal because of the greater transparency it provides to the public.

After this plan goes into action to create the Anand Marriage Act into reality, the DSGPC has planned to provide free medical insurance to all Sikh families who live below the poverty line all across Delhi. An approximate number of 25,000 people would benefit from such an initiative.

Gatka - Sikh Martial Arts

(CHAKRA) The Sikh community is holding its first martial arts competition in the Silicon Valley. The Sikh community is not unfamiliar to battle—both physical and political—in California and is ready to take on this competition with skill and strength.

The event is taking place at the San Jose Gurdwara Sahib in the Evergreen hills.

The competition will be over who can master the use of a sword, a shield and a stick to be named the “gatka” expert. The proud winner will be heir to the reputation of being the best combater as per the ancient rite of Sikh combat.

Sukhdev Bainiwal, a member of the San Jose Sikh Temple said that this will be the first competition of its kind in California. He has taken part in the organization of and is in charge of the battle taking place. The first battle of this type was held in Toronto, nine years ago and was a great success.

About 200 competitors from California, New York, Maryland, Houston, New Jersey, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and India will be participating in four different age group categories that have been created. The four age categories are from the under 7 age group, with two other groups comprising of participants up to 60 and a group for participants over 60.

The prize that will be granted to the winners is a shared prize of $9000 in a variety of prizes.

The martial arts of the Philippines called the eskrima, is most comparable to the “Gatka” battle. Bainiwal said the Gatka form of martial arts is very influenced by the Sikh religion. The sixth guru used this type of technique on the battlefield. Many competitors attend for the significance, meditative and spiritual aspects of the battle rather than for the prizes.

The members of the Sikh community had to lobby their global community to be granted permission to host such a competition. In April, the second phase of construction of the Sikh temple was completed making it the most expensive and largest Sikh temple in the country. The temple is a 110,000-square-foot complex and is large enough to host such an event.

Deserted Sikh Gurdawara in Abbottabad, Pakistan due to fear of attacks from Islamic extremist

Lahore, Pakistan (CHAKRA)— A prominent Sikh Businessman has been receiving threats from religious extremists who have been attacking his business multiple times in the eastern city of Lahore.

Sardar Bishon Singh claims to have been threatened a multitude of times ranging from threats of death and financial loss. He served as President of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. The threats have been in regards to staying quiet over issues.

In addition to the threats, textiles worth up to Rs 7 million was looted from his shop in Azam Cloth Market. He was very upset at the loss but even more upset after hearing threats of death numerous times thereafter.

Singh moved to Lahore from the tribal areas of Pakistan in 1993 and since has been very vocal for Sikh rights and has spoken against the Pakistani government making unjust decisions against Sikhs. Singh has been selling imported textiles in the province of Lahore since he moved there.

When Singh went to open up his store and start his daily operations as every day, he entered his store to find that the building landlords had cut off his power and constructed another shop, blocking the way to his shop.

Singh decided to look into this matter and see if the building of such a shop blocking his was even legal. He found that there was no designated space for the new shop and approached the court where he obtained a stay order. After receiving a stay order, and presenting it to his shop building owners, they threw him out of the tower and closed his shop yelling racial slurs, he stated.

When he attempted to report a complaint with the local police, instead of looking into the issue at hand, they instead looked into whether Singh belonged in Pakistan or not. They simply decided to inquire on his residency in Pakistan because he was not Muslim, implying that Pakistan is only for Muslims.

He even tried to reach Malik Owais, the Superintendent of Police of Model Town, but Mr. Owais simply stated that he had no time entertain Sikhs and had to deal with more important issues.

Singh said the next step he took was he contacted Zahid Aslam Gondal, the Deputy Secretary for law and order in Punjab but said he was not treated well.

Singh is mortified by the number of steps he has had to take yet no action has been taken to consider his safety in the country. He is upset that even when living in one of the safest cities in Pakistan, he has no protection. If this is the way he has to live, he hopes to be allowed to migrate out of the country so that he does not have to feel trapped for years to come. He says he will continue to fight for what is right and belongs to him.

Indarjit Singh

Dr. Indarjit Singh, who is the director of a charity which brings together many Sikhs in the UK, is the first turbaned Sikh to be voted into the British Parliament.

The Director of NSO (Network of Sikh Organizations) said he is extremely pleased and honoured to be the first turbaned Sikh in British Parliament ever. He will be entering the House and sitting as an independent. The 79-year-old was recommeded by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

He is especially honoured to obtain such a position because he will get the opportunity to take part in something he has always wanted to do. That is to work with people of all beliefs, working towards a goal of increased tolerance and understanding. He says his goals and aspirations in turn will contribute towards to greater good of society, helping to maintain political justice in society. In 1996 he was appointed OBE and in 2009 he was appointed CBE.

PM Harper celebrated with the Sikh community in British Columbia

Prime Minister, Stephen Harper celebrated with the Sikh community for the 100th Sikh Temple anniversary in Abbotsford, B.C. He praised the Sikh community of the province for overcoming discrimination and having such great levels of success in all areas of Canadian society.

Harper along with another dignitary, B.C. premier, Christy Clark, attended the Gur Sikh Temple celebration. There were several other dignitaries present to show their support as well.

The Gur Sikh Temple is North America’s longest existing Sikh temple in Canada and one of the reasons Harper attended was because he believes a hundred years in existence is a historic milestone which should be recognized.

Clark stated that she was pleased to attend such an event and especially respects the community for their fight against racism and discrimination for years. She respects that the community and temple have survived so many years despite the battles the Sikh people came face-to-face with.

In 2002, the Gur Sikh Temple was designated a national historic site.

Pro Muslim Activists Attack Kashmir Police and Shops

By Jagmit Singh

After receiving letters that were being circulated throughout the Rawalpora village of Kupwara, Sikhs feel threatened and fear attacks from local Muslims in the area. The letters were demanding that Sikhs in the district the valley within five days or else their lives would be at risk.

The letters commenced circulation after a Sikh girl was recruited as a teacher under Rehbar-e-Taleem scheme in the village which had upset some people of the Muslim community leading to the tension in the surrounding area.

The majority community in the area was upset with the hiring of a Sikh girl even though she was hired with merit. After this incident, five letters were delivered to five Sikh homes asking the families to leave the valley within five days. Jagmohan Singh Raina, president of All Parties Sikh Coordination, said that the distribution of such letters caused unrest among the Sikh community since Jammu and Kashmir is a very sensitive state.

Spread out through eight districts of Kashmir valley, there are 80,000 Sikhs living in 121 villages. Traditionally Sikhs and Muslims have lived in harmony in the past in the Kashmir Valley aside from the massacre of 34 Sikhs in Chattisinghpora village of Anantnag district on March 20, 2000.

In the last few years though there have been many similar letters mailed anonymously to Sikh households, asking them to join pro-Islamic protests in the valley or leave Kashmir altogether.

Since the late 1980s, Kashmiri Pandits of the Hindu community were literally threatened to leave Kashmir and were targeted by mobs and physically assaulted. This public outrage against the Kashmiri Pandits resulted in a huge exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.The population of Kashmiri pandits which was 55% in 1941 reduced to 0.1% in 2001. Nearly 400,000 Hindu Kasmiri Pandits were hence rendered homeless.

There is a vibrant Sikh community in Australia - Parkea Gurudwara

Victoria, Australia (CHAKRA) - After a hate crime against a gurudwara in the state of Victoria in Australia, the Sikh community has appealed for security, fearing that further attacks will take place against the minority community in the area. Sikhs from Shepparton, Northern Victoria have appealed to the assailants, that their place of worship be left alone.

A local Sikh, Kuldeep Singh said that he thinks the vandalism could have partly been done due to racism but he does not know or understand why anyone would want to put the Sikh community to harm.

After various incidents of vandalism at the Gurudwara in addition to a car smashing into the fence surrounding it, security has been upgraded to surveil the area. The Sikh community is both surprised and hurt by these acts of vandalism and hope that their pleas for peace will not go unnoticed and ignored completely by other nearby dwellers.

Singh said that the Sikh community is hard working and very good to others around them. He further stated that his community’s belief in God should not be a reason for such consequences.

On another note, a Sikh boy, in Grade 11, attending a Christian school in Melbourne, was forced to shave off his beard if he wanted to continue attending the school, according to Harkirat Singh, a member of the Sikh Federation of Australia. The Indian community surrounding the school is outraged and greatly upset with the mockery of a symbol of the Sikh religion. They accused the school and board of institutionalized religious discrimination.

Over the last few years, in Australia, more than 100 incidents including those of hatred and racism have occurred. Various organizations have formed such as the National Council of Indian Australians, in response to the hate crimes. These groups hope to come together to raise awareness of the Indian religions so that incidents of such a nature disappear altogether.

Afghan-Sikhs are faced with the problem of not having proper burial places for deaths of Sikhs

By Tan Ong

Afghanistan (CHAKRA) — On a two day visit to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met members of the Afghan-Sikh minority community in Kabul. He listened to their issues with regards to obtaining Indian citizenship and other problems the Sikh community was facing such as threats and killings in Muslim-majority Afghanistan.

To hear the problems, the Prime Minister met members of the community in the presidential palace complex.

The community members stated their concern about their community’s population decreasing because of migration out of the country, including India. Over 90 percent of the Sikh Afghan community has migrated out of the country.

The lack of a proper cremation ground in Kabul and constant attacks by Islamic extremists has caused an issue for the Sikh community to complete their funeral rites.

In total there are 531 Afghan-Sikh families in Afghanistan of which 143 families reside in Kabul.

An orange-coloured “robe of honour” was presented to the prime minister, know as a siropa. Thereafter, the prime minister was introduced to members of the Indian embassy, the Indo-Tibetan border police, as well as to the Indian Medical Mission.

Manmohan Singh praised the community for staying strong during hard times. He saluted their courage and was pleased to see the community creating goodwill for India.

A typical Sikh Turban worn by men

By Jagmit Singh

UK (CHAKRA) — During an incident, involving racial abuse, at a bus stop in Southhampton, a Sikh man had his turban stolen.

The 29-year-old man was waiting at a bus stop outside of the Civic Center when three Caucasian men approached him swearing and shouting racial remarks.

The man turned away ignoring the trio but they approached him from behind, pulled off his turban and ran off towards the Central train station.

Turban’s are a representation of a Sikh man’s identity because according to Sikhism the men are required to have their head covered at all times.

The Sikh man is upset that he cannot walk around and feel safe in the city of the place he calls home.