E-Paper
Reserve 2 seats for Sikhs in J&K House: Sukhbir Badal
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal also asked the Union government to de-freeze eight seats of Pak Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in favour of displaced persons of PoK living in J&K.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday demanded reservation of two seats for the Sikh community in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) legislative assembly, on the lines of reservation to Kashmiri Pandits.
“Sikhs in the Valley have endured the same destiny as their fellow minority community members in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state. As such, they deserve and need to be treated at par with their fellow sufferers,” he suggested.
Badal also asked the Union government to de-freeze eight seats of Pak Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in favour of displaced persons of PoK living in J&K.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union home minister Amit Shah, Badal said Sikh community has been residing in J&K since 1947 and have suffered the same hardships and torture as endured by the Kashmiri Pandits.
He welcomed the move of granting two seats to Kashmiri Pandits, stating that this would propagate inclusion of displaced persons into the mainstream.
The SAD chief pointed out that Sikhs have always been at the forefront of the fight against the Pak Army and infiltrators from across the border, defending Kashmir as well as the country’s territorial integrity against foreign invasions for a long time.
“During extreme militancy, Sikhs of J&K did not flee the state. Instead, they paid a heavy price for their patriotism, sacrificing 200 lives, 36 of these in the Chittisinghpura massacre alone,” he added.
