75K Af-Sikhs to get citizenship: Sukhbir

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, Delhi 20

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal today welcomed the Union Government’s decision to allow citizenship status to persecuted minorities of three countries — Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

There are some 75,000 Afghan Sikhs who had come to India over the past 40 years. Though Badal did not mention it, the reference point for exodus is the Soviet Union invasion in Afghanistan in 1979, which was followed by ‘Mujahideen’ fighting the Soviet army. The Taliban took control of the country and the trickle of migrants became an exodus and some of these Sikhs had to flee overnight.

Badal welcomed a delegation of Afghan Sikhs at his home here and explained how they would be facilitated to become Indian citizens. Families had expanded, some of these migrants had even become grandfathers, but did not have citizenship, said the Ferozepur MP.

“These migrants are the people who controlled the Afghanistan economy. The Taliban came and they started kidnapping them. Now they are proud Indians.”

These Afghan Sikh families are settled in parts of Punjab and Delhi. The Akali Dal has been taking up the matter of these Sikhs and had sought their inclusion in the list of citizenship beneficiaries.

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjinder Singh Sirsa said: “These people have been suffering for long. The amendment to the Citizenship Act is welcome.”

Badal, who during the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha had spoken about the need to also allow Muslims, today said the ‘Ahmadiyya’ sect, which is present in big numbers in Punjab’s Qadian, also had community in Pakistan. They faced problems in Pakistan and were not allowed to follow their faith and should also be helped.