MT News Service
Jammu, October 13:
While addressing the Press Conference S Balvinder Singh President Sikh Progressive Front along with S. Manjit Singh Gen Secretary, S Harmohinder Singh President Displaced Kashmiri Sinkh Conference along with S Rajinder Singh, S T. P Singh, S Sharanjit Singh Shunty, S Iqbal Singh expressed deep concern regarding the step motherly treatment in respect of the micro minority Sikh community of the UT of J&K.
They said that during the recent past the existing UT administration and the earlier BJP PDP alliance Govt. have been discriminating against the Sikh Community in all the spheres of the benefits of the govt which were rightly deserved by Minority Community (Sikhs) like any other minority of the UT of JK.
Singh said that the high discriminatory attitude of the BJP –PDP alliance first observed in 2017, when with the intention to debar the educated youths of Sikh Community from the package of Special drive for Non Migrant Kashmiri, amended the J&K Migrant (Special Drive) Recruitment Rules 2009 in terms of SRO 425 Dt 10th October 2017 and thereby added a clause stating that Non Migrant Kashmiri means “Kashmiri Pandit”. There is no doubt that Kashmiri Pandits deserved all the benefits given to them by the Central as well as by the UT administration from time to time due to their miseries and sufferings due to exodus from Valley, but it is unfortunate that Sikhs who didn’t migrate were excluded from all such benefits.
While narrating their woes all present there said that while constituting the Public Service Commission the present UT administration, under direct control of MHA, deceived the Sikh Community by not including their member in it which was continuously been there in the PSC since its inception.
S Manjit Singh & S Harmohinder Singh said that once again the community was totally neglected when Punjabi language was not included in the JK Official Language Bill 2020 although large population of not only Sikhs but non Sikhs also used to speak Punjabi in the State. This speaks of discrimination towards the Sikh community .
The latest example of State’s discriminatory attitude toward Sikhs were seen in the order issued on 06.10.2020, by All India Council For Technical Education A statutory Body of the Central Govt. of India (Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India), by giving certain concessions for admission in Higher Educational Institution of India for non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits/Kashmiri Hindu families (non-migrant) but non-migrant Kashmiri Sikhs have again been excluded.
All present there stated that the Sikhs of the UT feel betrayed and left out depriving of their legal & legitimate rights. Therefore the UT administration is urged upon to take all possible steps to redress our genuine demands and a fervent appeal was made to the Hobble Lt. Governor Sh Manoj Sinha to personally intervene in the matter to give justice to the community as they have been suffering during the past three decades especially the Sikhs of Kashmir who have not only sacrificed precious lives, but also suffered economically as well. Those present said that by ignoring the microscopic Sikh community a grave injustice is being done with them and in case steps are not taken to assuage the feelings there would be no option but to lodge strong protests as a last resort.
