Sikhism in Pakistan

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Sikhism is a very small minority religion in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan but has many cultural, historical and political ties to the country, and to the historical region of Punjab.

Today, Pakistan, a nation of over 150 million, is 96% Muslim, with Christians and Hindus making up the largest minority faiths, each absorbing about 1.5% of the population. Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, members of heterodox (according to Pakistani law) Islamic faiths and some adherents to animist religions make up the remainder. Information is scarce on minority adherents.

Before the Partition of India and Pakistan

Prior to the Partition of India in 1947, which divided British India into its successor states of Pakistan and India, Sikhs were spread all across the region of Punjab and played an important role in its economy as businessmen and traders. Lahore, the capital of (now Pakistani) Punjab was then and still is today the location of many important religious and historical sites for Sikhs, including the Samadhi_of_Ranjit_Singh. The nearby town of Nankana Sahib has nine gurdwaras, and is the birthplace of Sikhism's founder, Guru Nanak Dev. Each of Nankana Sahib's gurdwaras are associated with different events in Guru Nanak Dev's life. The town remains an important site of pilgrimage for Sikhs worldwide.

Population by region

Province Sikh Population
Punjab ca. 6,000
North West Frontier Province ca. 10,000
Baluchistan ca. 3,000
Azad Kashmir NA
Sindh ca. 8,000
  • Karachi - Some 3500 Sikhs, from whom around 2500 are registered voters.

After the creation of Pakistan

Nationwide, there are no reliable numerical figures for Sikhs in the country. Estimates vary wildly, from 200,000 nationwide to around 2000 families, with little methodology or scientific technique cited by sources. The largest Sikh population in Pakistan is found in Peshawar, in the Northwest Frontier Province, which was spared the scale of violence during partition that raged in Punjab. [1] Sikhs are also found in sizable communities in Waziristan and Swat of the Northwest Frontier Province. There are also pockets of Sikhs in Lahore, Nankana Sahib, and Hasan Abdal in Punjab, and Gwadar, Kalat, and Quetta districts of Baluchistan. The (West) Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan were mostly emptied of their Sikh and Hindu population in the communal massacres of partition, with nearly all fleeing for India. Today, very large segments of the populations of East Punjab and Haryana states and Delhi in India can trace their ancestry back to towns and villages now in Pakistan, including current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

There has been a minor influx in the population of Sikhs in Pakistan due to the turbulent civil war and conflicts that have ravaged neighboring Afghanistan. [2] Afghanistan, like Pakistan, has had a very small Sikh and Hindu population. There has been a massive exodus of refugees from Afghanistan into Pakistan during the past 30 years of turmoil up to the reign of the Taliban and the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. Due to Pakistan's porous borders with Afghanistan, large numbers of Afghanistan's minority communities, based mainly around the cities of Kabul, Kandahar, and Jalalabad have fled, and some Sikhs have joined their kinsmen in Peshawar and Lahore. Others have emigrated to India and abroad.

The Sikh community in Pakistan in modern times

Until today, Sikhs have mainly kept a low profile within the monolithic population of Pakistan. [3] Pakistan, as a constitutionally Islamic state, has had inconsistent and often intolerant relations with its minorities. Until 2002, Pakistan held a system of separate electorates for all its national legislative assemblies, with only a handful of parliamentary seats reserved for minority members. Minorities were legally only permitted to vote for designated minority candidates in general elections. The regime of President General Pervez Musharraf has professed an agenda of equality for minorities and promotion and protection of minority rights, however, the implementation of corrective measures has been slow.

The historical and holy sites of Sikhs are maintained by a Pakistani governmental body, the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, which is responsible for their upkeep and preservation. Nonetheless, many Sikh shrines have fallen into disrepair since 1947,[4] as the remaining Sikh population and its corresponding manpower, economic power and political influence is minuscule compared to that of the pre-1947 community.

The emergence of the Sikh community within Pakistan

After the creation of Pakistan, the Sikh community's rights were diminished.[5] Recently the Sikh community within Pakistan has been making every effort possible to progress in Pakistan. For example Harcharan Singh became the first Sikh to join the Pakistan army.For the first time in the 58 year history of Pakistan there has a Sikh been selected into Pakistan's army. Prior to Harcharan Singh's selection in the Pakistani army no individual person who was a member of the Hindu or the Sikh community were ever enrolled in the army, but there are reports which states that the Pakistani Christian community has served in the army and some had even reached into to the ranks of a Brigadier in the army. Moreover, members of the tiny Parsi community have some representation in the Armed Forces. [6]

Pakistani Sikh diaspora

Although Sikhism is due to Pakistani religious laws an monotheistic religion and therefore secured from violence beside the government, Pakistani Sikhs have to suffer discrimination in their Homeland. Therefore many Pakistani Sikhs immigrated to the United Kingdom and Canada, there is a growing Pakistani Sikh community in Dubai. In the United Kingdom there are approximately 40,000 Pakistani Sikhs, in Canada around 18,000. The Pakistani Sikh communities are often more likely to be integrated into the Pakistani community life than into the Sikh community, as many Indian Sikhs are patriotic to India, and Pakistani Sikhs often see the Khalistan movement as the most important Sikh movement. As Pakistan, ruled by Zia Ul Huq, supported the Khalistan movement from day one, many Pakistani Sikhs see theirself more on the Pakistani than on the Indian side.

Karachi Sikh Community

When the gurdwara (Sikh temple) reverberates with sounds of "Sut siri akaal," and "Vahiguru ji ka khalsa," it is hard to believe that one is not in Indian Punjab but Ranchore Lines in Karachi.

With approximately 3500 members of sikh community residing in Karachi, the Narain Pura Compound in Ranchore Lines houses almost 300 followers of Guru Nanak. The rest of the devotees can be found in the areas surrounding Kohinoor Centre, Jubilee Cinema, Garden Road and Manora.

With six gurdwaras in different parts of the city, Karachi has its fair share of temples of the world's fifth largest religion. Nevertheless, the Gurdwara Sikh Sangat in Ranchore Lines is the only centre of all religious activity since the gurdwaras at Preedy Street, Saddar and Arambagh have been sealed due to disputes. The temples at Manora, Bandar Road and Lee Market are not large enough to cater to the entire community.

The small-roomed Sikh Sangat Gurdwara is thus the place where devotees from all over the city convene during festivals. Around 80 worshippers can be accommodated in the room while the rest are hosted in the adjacent veranda and the langar khana (free-kitchen).

Built in 1910, the blue-walled gurdwara located off the congested and dilapidated roads of the compound exemplifies the basic principals of Sikhism - simplicity and modesty.

North West Frontier Province Sikh Community

Persecuted by Aurangzeb in the 17th century, or sent scurrying to the hills for refuge twice in the twentieth century, the Sikhs who have joined the Pakhtun tribes in these mountain regions are a breed apart. The tribal principle of sanctuary to the Amsaya, or protected one, was what eased them into a region known for its traditional and rigid view of Islam. These anomalous "tribesmen" - their beards rolled, wearing distinctive colourful turbans - are now part of the landscape, under the protection of one Pakhtun clan or another.

Says Charanjit Singh, a Sikh trader: "The Sikhs have an ability to completely integrate into the local culture." Jadran Afridi, a medical practitioner affiliated with the Pakhtunkhwa Qaumi Party (pqp), says that the Sikhs here speak local Pakhto dialects fluently, treat their womenfolk as tribal Pakhtuns do. "They are as illiterate and hard-headed as Afridis and Orakzais, and they are just as dependable in personal loyalty. Their hospitality is proverbial; every household keeps separate utensils for their Muslim friends."

"There was a time when hardly any Sikhs remained in Peshawar," says 70-year-old Gian Singh, visiting old friends. He's from Tirah, also in NWFP, where he moved in from Jalalabad after Najibullah's fall. "But now their families in places like Tirah are growing large, and business up there is shrinking." This has pushed many Sikhs down into Peshawar or nearby areas. "There must be close to a thousand Sikh families - about 10,000 people - living in Peshawar and the tribal areas," estimates Sona Singh, head granthi of Gurudwara Bhai Joga Singh in Peshawar's old Dabgari district.

Saroop Singh, who owns two shops and eight acres in Bara, is typical of the new generation of Sikhs who have discarded their roles as Amsayas in search of independence and a better lifestyle. "Economic pressures have weakened the ability of tribal clans to prevent outsiders from acquiring land," he says. "Many Sikhs who made money in trading have bought land; but agriculture is rain-fed, and there isn't enough arable land to go around."

The first casualty, even for the new generation, is education. Five years of religious schooling in Gurmukhi is about all the education most tribal Sikhs have had, and it's promptly discarded when the exigencies of practical life take over. According to Sona Singh, the head granthi, every Sikh settlement has at least one mohalla school to teach the Granth Sahib, though not science, history or other subjects. "The aim is mainly to keep the religious rituals alive," he explains.

But the Frontier Sikhs believe they have had a better deal than the Mona Sikhs in Pakistan. They feel particularly indebted to General Ziaul Haq, who gave them the Gurudwara Bhai Joga Singh and allowed them to buy property in Pakistan. Some have been to India, but have chosen not to settle there.

"Life in Pakistan is better," says Saroop Singh, who has visited Delhi and Ambala several times. "There is more respect for the Sikhs here." Like most of the Frontier Sikhs, he believes that Khalistan will become a reality some day. When that happens, they say, they will gladly begin the long trek back.