:dateline:A bill has been approved by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani�s cabinet that will allow reservation of a seat for Sikhs and Hindus in the country�s parliament.� The bill was approved on September 18.
Although at one time, there was a sizable Sikh population in the country, there are roughly 5,000 Sikhs left here.� Due to increasing attacks by the Taliban and the ongoing conflict, Sikhs have been migrating out of Afghanistan.
Just in the past year alone, almost 75�families migrated out of the country.� While most have now settled in India, some have made Pakistan their home. �Sikhs and Hindus are�Afghanistan�s only religious minority and�are often put together in the general perception as Ahl-e Hunud.
While the bill has been approved by the cabinet, Sikhs in the country are not hopeful of a big change.� Similar initiative was taken by the cabinet in 2013, however it was rejected by the lower house of the Afghan parliament on basis of legality and respect for country�s constitution.� Article 22 of the Afghanistan constitution forbids any privilege or discrimination amongst Afghan citizens. �73 out of 130 MPs voted against the bill back then.
In 2013, MP Ahmad Behzad was a campaigner for a reserved Hindu-Sikh seat. Behzad held that it was responsibility of lawmakers to assist the nation’s minority�groups. �He stated that the current approach to not allow a reserved seat was hypocritical. � �He questioned why 10 seats were reserved for�Kochis (nomads) and none for the Sikhs and Hindus.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee appreciated reservation of a seat for Sikhs and Hindus in the country. �SGPC spokesperson Diljeet Singh from Sri Amritsar told Sikh24 that Afghan Sikhs were going through critical times and this bill has come as a relief to them. �”This will allow Sikhs there to raise their issues directly in the parliament,” he added.
While a similar reservation is also available in Pakistan, there is no such provision�for minority groups in India.
