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Govt asked to help avert Sikh exodus from J&K

All-India Akali Dal President G S Tohra today urged the central and Jammu and Kashmir governments to ensure the protection of the minuscule Sikh minority in the Kashmir valley to retain the pluralistic and democratic set-up of the country.

Tohra, who yesterday visited the Kashmir valley and met the bereaved families of the Chhatti Singhpora massacre, said if appropriate steps were not taken soon, the Sikh community would be left with no option than leave the valley.

He said if the Sikhs too left like the Kashmiri pandits who fled from there a decade ago, it would amount to a failure of India's democracy, founded on multi-religious and secular principles with effective constitutional safeguards for the minorities.

Tohra, along with former Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president P S Sarna had long deliberations with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and senior officials. He expressed dismay that no central government minister, particularly Union home minister L K Advani, had visited the valley to console the families.

He said this smacked of callousness on the part of the central government, which should have immediately taken action since the massacre involved a small minority. He said that such a move would have been proof of the Indian state's oneness, he said.

Tohra said he was at a loss to know who could be behind the massacre since the Sikhs had never felt even threatened during the decade-long violence there. He said the government should identify the culprits to end the confusion among the valley's Sikhs.

Tohra reminded the Hurriyat and other Muslim political organisations that both minorities had a long tradition of coexistence and that the harmonious relation between both communities in Punjab was testimony of that. Every village in Punjab has one or two Muslim families. The jathedar gave the example of Malerkotla, a township in Sangrur district of Punjab that is dominated by Muslims.

Tracing Muslim-Sikh historical ties, Tohra said, "The whole Sikh community feel indebted even today to Nawab Melerkotla who opposed the execution of the minor sons of Guru Gobind Singh in 1706. As a measure of gratitude none of the subjects of the Nawab Malekotla's princely state was harmed even during the communal riots during the Partition in 1947. Another testimony to that was that during the recent two-decade bloodshed in Punjab, no member of the Muslim community member was made a target.

In this context, the Sikh leaders observed that politicians from the valley "see to it that the Sikh minority there should feel safe and secure."

They felt that Sikhs should not migrate from the valley as it would send wrong signals to minorities in the country.

Former Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh told the Sikhs in the valley yesterday that the Sikhs minority had "to learn to live on their on and never seek borrowed crutches and consider the country as their natural home."

Tohra and other Sikh leaders who will join the Bhog ceremony on March 31 of the massacred Sikhs, gave away a cheque of Rs 51,000 to each of the next to kin of the 35 dead and a cheque of Rs 11,000 to the injured.

He also criticised the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee for not having done anything for the bereaved families.

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