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With
the ascent of the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal borderlands and some
adjoining districts of the NWFP, turbans, particularly of the black
variety, invariably elicit fear.
��������But
not the saffron turbans of the Sikhs, who have been living peacefully
in the so-called wild west of Pakistan for ages, and conducting
business. The two communities do not seem to fear each other - in
fact, they have learnt to coexist.
����������The
target-killings and beheadings by the militants do not seem to scare
the Sikhs. And understandably so. Militants can be, and have been,
ruthless with minority sects but, surprisingly, they have provided
protection to the Sikh minority living in their midst.
��������Be
it the vigilantes of Mangal Bagh's moral brigade or the more fearsome
and ruthless local Taliban in Orakzai's tribal region, Sikhs have
little reason to fear them. "We are grateful to the Taliban
and Mangal Bagh for giving us protection and a sense of security,"
remarked Sahib Singh, a community leader and councillor in Peshawar
District Council.
�����������When
criminals abducted two members of the Sikh community from Bara for
ransom in May, the Taliban chased the gang and tracked them down
in Doaba in the Orakzai Agency. The ringleader was publicly executed
and eight houses of the rest of the gang members were set on fire.
The Sikhs were freed unharmed and allowed to return home.
��������Mangal
Bagh of the banned Lashkar-i-Islam went on his FM radio to warn
criminals to stay away from the Sikhs, and community members say
incidents of kidnapping for ransom have come to a halt.
����������Sikhs
in the tribal areas and the NWFP reportedly form such a small fraction
of the total population, that they do not find a mention in the
1998 national census. However, community representatives say their
members total about 20,000, most of whom live in the beautiful and
picturesque, remote Terah valley on the border between Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
����������Numbering
about 700 families in all, most Sikhs who have taken up residence
in the Bara sub-division of Khyber under Mangal Bagh's control,
own shops in Peshawar's famous Karkhano Bazaar, a market notorious
for smuggled goods. Most of them sell cosmetics, while others practice
herbal medicine.
����������
There is a small Sikh community in the largely ungoverned Orakzai
tribal region, while a few live in Kurram's regional headquarters
of Parachinar.
����������
They consider themselves "sons of the soil" - Pashtuns
to be more specific - and are identified as such. "We are proud
to be Pashtuns," says Sahib Singh. "Pashto is our tongue,
our mother tongue - and we are proud of it."
����������Sikhs
are a closely knit community, and being in a minority, they tend
to live close together. In Peshawar, the community is mainly concentrated
in Mohalla Jogan Shah, in houses running alongside a narrow but
newly paved and seemingly endless street.
���������With
a total population of around 5,000, the Sikh community in Peshawar
has two religious schools, Bhai Joga Singh Khalsa Dharmic School
and Guru Angat Dev Jee Khalsa Dharmic School, as well as a community
boarding house.
����������Most
of the Sikh girls don't go to school and acquire religious education
at home. "There are no obvious reasons for not going to school
except that girls get married early," says 11-year-old Harmeet
Kaur. Incidentally, there is no concept of divorce in their religion.
"We consider it very bad and that is why we never divorce our
wives. Our elders are there to resolve all domestic disputes in
a peaceful manner," says another Sikh.
����������There
are two Sikh temples in Peshawar - Gurdwara Jogan Shah and Gurdwara
Beeba Singh (currently under the government's control) - which community
members consider as sacred and hold in high esteem as, according
to them, all their 10 Gurus had made a sojourn to them.
����������The
century-old Gurdwara Jogan Shah, located in the midst of Peshawar,
is beautifully inlaid with mirror work and is very spacious. The
community members gather at the temple twice a day to recite verses
from the Guru Granth Sahib. A relic of pre-Partition India, it was
handed over to the Sikh community 27 years ago to enable them to
perform their religious rites.
����������The
Sikhs complain that the government has been dragging its feet on
handing over Gurdwara Beeba Singh.
����������"We
had requested the former president, General (retd.) Pervez Musharraf,
to hand over this century-old temple to us. It is sacred and it
belongs to us. Besides, our population is growing and we need another
place to worship," argues Amar Jeet Singh. What hurts him more,
he says, is the attempts by the government to demolish this temple
and convert it into a multi-storied market.
����������The
NWFP Auqaf Department, however, has its own version. "The Gurdwara
is located in the midst of the Muslim population. It is in a dilapidated
condition and we had no other option but to close it down in order
to avert any mishap," contends Munawwar Khan, deputy administrator
of the Auqaf Department.
����������He
acknowledged that the issue of its custody was still under discussion
at the top-tier in the government and a decision regarding its fate
had yet to be taken.
����������As
with every religious minority, Sikhs too have their share of grouses
against the government. "There is very little money allocated
for our welfare," complains one community member. Consequently,
they have had to set up their own fund to raise money and spend
it on the welfare of their poor.
����������The
government has allocated a job quota for us in the army, the motorway
police and the traffic police but we are not inclined towards any
government service. We are happy the way we are," remarked
Sahib Singh.
����������"Our identity as Sikhs never bothers us. This is our land and
these are our people. We never feel threatened or intimidated. Honestly
speaking, religion has never stood in the way," a community
member remarked.
����������"Most of the Sikhs who lived in Afghanistan have either migrated
to India or to America and Canada. But we have never felt the need
to go anywhere else. Taliban or no Taliban, we are here to stay.
It's our land and we are proud of it," he asserts..
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