Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, July 21: The All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) criticized the delimitation commission’s proposed reservation for the Kashmiri Pandit community while excluding the minority Sikh community.
A spokesperson of the committee said the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s proposal for the Kashmiri Pandit reservation while excluding the minority Sikh population was both startling and puzzling.
“The members of the Delimitation Commission met political parties, religious groups, social groups, and individuals before submitting the report to the Home Ministry. There was no role of the Union Territory administration proposing or recommending anything to the Commission,” he said.
He, however, said that the operation of the Delimitation Commission appears to have been influenced by the Union Territory administration, and this influence appears to have been successful.
“The Delimitation Commission has proposed two seats for the Kashmiri Pandit community and also reservations for SC and ST communities, while no such provision has been made for the Sikh community. This is despite the fact that the Sikh community has been classified as a minority by the National Commission for Minorities,” he said.
He said they met the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Desai twice and projected the demands, but the plea fell on deaf ears. “We at APSCC had demanded reservation of some seats in Jammu as well as Kashmir divisions, but to our dismay and disappointment, no seat has been reserved for the Sikhs of Jammu and Kashmir, thus leaving the community members disenfranchised,” he said.
He added that the Home Ministry should order a probe into the role of the Jammu and Kashmir administration in proposing reservations for Kashmiri Pandits even though they are not mandated to do so.
He said that Sikhs have a sizable population of 3.5 lakhs in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. According to the 2011 Census, he said, the population is 80,000 in the Kashmir valley, while in the Jammu division, the population of the community is 2, 70,000.
“This constitutes two percent of the total population of Jammu & Kashmir. The Sikh population of Kashmir is dispersed in 127 villages across eight districts of the valley,” he explained.
He said that because of the misrepresentation of the community in Jammu and Kashmir’s political system, pressing issues such as Sikh minority status and the lack of promotion of the Punjabi language exist. “Even though Jammu & Kashmir is a union territory, the National Minority Act has not been extended as yet since the same recognize Sikhs as a religious minority,” he said.
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