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Sikhs in Pakistan seek
representation in government
Sikh youth need support for higher education
WSN Network
LAHORE:
Political
voices within the Sikh community in Pakistan are getting louder with
Sikh leaders now seeking representation in the government, saying it
will help ease its social and political problems.
‘’The Sikhs’
problems could be solved if the community is given representation in
the government or if a Sikh is appointed an adviser to the prime
minister,’’ said Swaran Singh, candidate for the post of president
of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. He suggested
that an adviser to the prime minister should be appointed to attract
Sikhs from other countries to invest in Pakistan. Christians and
Hindus have representations in the government, but Sikhs have yet to
reach the national or provincial assemblies, he said.
There are about
12,000 Sikhs in Pakistan who have been facing several social and
political problems. Singh said every community has its own problems
and its representatives take them up, but the Sikhs of Pakistan have
been ignored so far.
‘’Christians and
Hindus do not have any idea about the problems faced by Sikhs,’’ he
said.
He said many
Sikh youths were deprived of quality higher education because they
did not have any scholarship quota in the Higher Education
Commission.
While Christian
and Hindu widows receive Rs 5,000 a month as financial aid from the
government, Sikh widows are not given such assistance, he pointed
out.
7
May,
2008
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