ISLAMABAD: Dozens of baton-holding protestors from the Sikh community pushed past the front gate and entered the grounds of parliament on Friday, protesting recent attacks on their houses of worship.
Sikhs from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had gathered outside parliament to protest against what they claimed was the alleged desecration in Shikarpur of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikh community.
Senior police officer Aftab Cheema said the Sikh leaders were also protesting against several attacks on their worship places in Sindh.
After successful negotiations, the protestors left the grounds of parliament peacefully.
According to sources, the Leader of the House in the Senate, Raja Zafarul Haq has spoken to Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, asking him to provide better protection to the Sikh community and their places of worship.
Police officer Cheema said investigators would look into how protesters made it past the gate.
They were almost knocking at the doors of the Parliament House. A severe breach of security measures. The government must take a serious notice of what the Sikh community was protesting against and make sure that every religion is fully respected and its followers fully protected.
Nisar Khan is pretty upset about the security breach. he took 'noticed' of the incident and an investigation has been ordered. typical response!
btw, what's the Sikh population in Pakistan and in which province most of them are found?
Sikhs are a tiny minority in Pakistan, shouldn't be over 30k IMO. Mostly settled in Punjab and perhaps the second largest contingent is based in KP.
Based on my limited interaction, I can say that Sikhs are lovely people, very passionate, loving and lively. I hope the interior minister looks into their complaints on urgent basis and does not hand over the matter to a committee then a sub-committee then a fact-finding committee and a sub-fact-finding committee.
In fact, I would like to see the state putting special emphasis on bringing different minorities in the mainstream by supporting and enhancing their roles in government functioning at the federal and provincial levels. Political parties in the country could play a big role in promoting religious harmony and by enhancing roles of minorities in their own folds. It should be their political and social responsibility to help minorities grow in every walk of life. It's not a favour, it's a responsibility.
Pakistanis badly need to work in their daily lives with people from different faiths to better understand that Muslims are not the only human being created by the Almighty. Interaction with minorities is the best way for a common man in Pakistan to see how simple and pleasant it is to coexist with minorities who may not share their religion, but they are as Pakistanis as anyone else.
Minority religious groups are as much Pakistani as the majority group.
Unfortunately, this is merely a slogan. Minorities are living scared and are frequent victims of abuse.
The state supports violence against minorities with laws like blasphemy law.
Even daily killings of minority Muslim sects have been ignored by Taliban Nawaz government.
So reality is painful in Pakistan. In fact, shameful is the word.
Unfortunately, this is merely a slogan. Minorities are living scared and are frequent victims of abuse.
The state supports violence against minorities with laws like blasphemy law.
Even daily killings of minority Muslim sects have been ignored by Taliban Nawaz government.
So reality is painful in Pakistan. In fact, shameful is the word.
Abuse of blasphemy law is unacceptable and should be strictly punished.
I believe this law applies to all religions equally. Doesn't it ?
Interesting that the MLA in the last video I posted is praising NS. :)
Nisar Khan is pretty upset about the security breach. he took 'noticed' of the incident and an investigation has been ordered. typical response!
btw, what's the Sikh population in Pakistan and in which province most of them are found?
There are Sikhs in KPK who speak much better Pashto than some of the second generation city born young Pakhtoon. Though tiny, but a very established and appreciated business community of KPK. There's Sikh NA member from PTI, Swarn Singh and before that we had a Singh member from PMLN - I can't recall his name.
Not that contemporary Pakistani politics has any tradition of intimidating and exploiting minority groups and using them as punch bags for electoral gains like you see in other countries, but that doesn't mean they don't exists and their welfare isn't important to government. The state of Pakistan must provide extended co-operation and goodwill to all minority groups in Pakistan, and solve their issues.
A big well done to Sikh community for carrying out peaceful protest to register grievances - it's their democratic right and a moral duty to speak up.
Yahi hona reh gya tha.