Against the backdrop of escalating violence against religious minority communities, at least five Sikh families have left Pakistan for India, citing financial woes, a family elder revealed on Thursday.
Baba Amarjit Singh, a community senior in Peshawar, said that migrating families traded in commodities including textiles with India and had moved to seek better business opportunities.
“I don’t like going to India as our Guru was born and buried in Pakistan. The Indian government is always suspicious of our presence,” he said, expressing displeasure over their decision.
Members of the community have to meet stringent visa requirements for a pilgrimage to the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines, in Amritsar, India.
Most pilgrims are allowed to visit India after they submit a written undertaking that they would not seek asylum and would return to Pakistan within 30 days.
“We have to make a group of at least 200 people to visit the Golden Temple and our visas are limited to just one week,” Amarjit said.
Narrating the ordeal, he said, there is no respect for Sikhs travelling from Pakistan and it’s not easy for us to visit Amritsar, he added.
Sikhs form a tiny community in the country, with a sizeable number of them concentrated in Punjab and Peshawar. Despite efforts by Islamabad, the current wave of migration seems to be continuing as most minority communities leave the country bearing tales of discrimination, mistreatment and widespread uncertainty.
Citing financial difficulties, Baba Gurpal Singh, another elder in the area, said that several Sikh families have migrated to Hassanabdal and Nankana Sahib.
“There are a variety of reasons for leaving Pakistan but the main problem is financial uncertainty and the deteriorating law and order situation,” he said.
Despite Lahore being a larger city, he said that lack of security and the atmosphere of fear stalks minority communities, even in urban areas.
“Some people have gone back to Tirah in search of better business prospects and the number of Sikh families which was 700 has fallen to 450,” he explained.
“We are a peaceful community but the unrest in Peshawar is forcing us to leave, despite the attitude of general public towards Sikhs in the area being very supportive,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2014.
COMMENTS (56)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1729234806-0/Robert-Pattinson-(2)1729234806-0-165x106.webp "article")
1732151670-0/Untitled-design-(41)1732151670-0-165x106.webp "article")
@Zalim Khan: That comment explains your name, zalim. Stop all the Pakistanis migrating to usa and Canada. Every person have the right to love where they want to. This land where you live right now had the sweat and blood of our parents. Simply because you hold this right now, doesn't gives rights over others life. This is in spirit the land of Sikh gurus and you can't change it.
@Zalim Khan: Only the wearer knows where the she pinches you can spew your hate on any one think and keep your self in their place aand you will know how easy is it to leace ones own house but better comments can not be expected from people like you. I pray the Allah the great brings you in the same situation and compel u to leave ur home only then u will under stand their miseries.
@Omer:
"Can someone publish numbers of Indian “Sikhs” who have taken refuge in US, Canada and UK to avoid persecution in India?"
Those who took "refuge" in the West are members of Khalistani and other Sikh extremist terrorist groups.
@Omer: Even today many indians, sikh or hindu, will do anything to settle down in US, Canada or UK. Many sikhs took advantage of khalistan movement during 80s and settled down in west. When persecution happens, normally the people cross the borders and take refuge in nearby countries. If they were persecuted they would take shelter in Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan or Sri Lanka like Afghans took refuge in Pakistan and India. Pre 1971 east pakistanis took refuge in India.
We Indians have a deep rooted democracy and very well know whats happening in our country. Our constitutional values and fundamentals are very strong.
At least 90 percent of comments coming from Pakistanis accept that there is a problem in our country that needs to be addressed. Can someone publish numbers of Indian "Sikhs" who have taken refuge in US, Canada and UK to avoid persecution in India?
Needless to say that Indians are totally ignorant to whats happening in their country.
@Striver: 'Pakistanis have a tendency to always point the blaming finger at themselves first.' Good joke..Pakistanis first blame others for their miseries instead of taking responsibility for their own mistakes.The rest of your letter proves this point.Who supported and reared these snakes.Even today ,you have good snakes and bad snakes.If foreign countries (read India with 16 consulates LOL) are supporting these snakes ,then kill them all without distinction.US has been asking Pakistan to do this for a long time.Its about time you abandon this policy of strategic depth
@riya - "is anybody safe in pakistan…. stop looking it in terms of gender or community ….. no one’s safe in pak"
Hmmm... Please be large-hearted to extend this same logic whenever America bombs another Muslim country or Israel bombs the Palestinians.. Coz... America has killed Christians (WWII, Cold War), Buddhists/followers of Shintoism (Vietnam, Japan).... and Israel also doesn't distinguish and kills both Muslim & Christian Palestinians... Please don't wail about America/Israel being anti-Muslim...No one's safe in this world...
ET - Hope this gets published...
@Amir:
Who is stopping you from moving to Pakistan? I am sure, once you are there, your fellow Muslim Pakistani brothers will welcome you with open arms and give you all the freedom to practice your religion. Just one caution. Don't be a Shia or a Ahamdi.
Jinnah's Two Nation theory of "we are different from you" continues to manifest itself.
Zalim Khan's comment is very appropriate for his name.Does he know the forceful conversion of minorities as reported in a British press?Does Mr. Khan know the number of Hindus who opted to stay in Pakistan in1947 and how many are left today.HE NEEDS to do some sole searching before posting such comments.
@Moiz Omar: this is exactly the outcome of his vision, or lack of it.
Another example of this government's failure. Its up to government to provide security for every citizen of Pakistan.
@Amir: I am really surprised at your comment that you are persecuted in India. Do you not know about the Indian constitution that gives you equal rights. Has any political party in India demanded that India should become a hindu nation? Pakistanis queue up for indian citizenship or refuge and bangladeshis just infiltrate. if there was persecution, why would they come? In India muslims have adorn the constituional positions like President, Vice President, Chief Justice, Chief Ministers in hindu majority states, head of Intelligence bureau, generals in army, foreign secretary etc etc. Perhaps you dont know the meaning of persecution.
If you are really waiting for an invitation from a pakistani to settle down there just ensure you are a sunni muslim and speak sindhi or punjabi.
We welcome our fellow Indians with open arms !!
@ Ali Ahmed. " Even Muslims are not safe in PAKISTAN ".
@ Amit. : and you want Indian Muslims to migrate to Pakistan. Indian Muslims are not FOOL. Pl before doing anything make your house in order.
It pains me as an Indian Muslim, that a Pakistani has never invited us to settle in Pakistan, while we are persecuted day in and day out. It seems as if the Indians have a larger hearts than the Pakistanis. This goes against the very concept of Ummah. It almost seems as if the Pakistanis are paying us lip service, while they are happy with their own brethren: sindhis, punjabis, pashtuns, seriakis, balochs, while we are left to the wolves.
Lets see the similar traffic from Indian side into Pakistan. Ahmad 41 , great idea , now all you have to do is to read your religious manual on how to treat Kaffirs so they feel subdued and convert as escape route.All Sikhs,Hindus, Buddhists,Zoroastrians, Christians and other Non Muslims are welcome to come and settle down in India. all Muslims are welcomed to migrate from India and settle down in Pakistan . Hope their Pakistani religious brothers welcome them.
@Kulwant Singh: hold on to your horses nugget,i am not here to make merry over their misery,i was just stating the obvious when you were sleeping through the years of blinding abhorrent maniacal hatred and you should be deranged to expect it to limit it's range to a certain country,religion,ethnic background.
A lot of Indian Muslims complain about religious persecution in India, but they never move to Pakistan. On the other hand the persecuted minorities from Pakistan move to India though, as in this article.
Pakistani Muslims continuously complain about the Muslim persecution in India, but they never invite them to settle in Pakistan. This is unlike the Indians who are pretty vocal about the minorities from Pakistan being settled in India as evidenced in this forum alone.
Cool.
ET please publish this factual information.
@am,
True. But, since Indian muslims will not move voluntarily to Pakista,, it is the duty of the Pakistani to invite their persecuted brethren from India to come to Pakistan.
@Afsar Ali Khan Yousafzai:
Afsar sahib,
"--- it should not have happened in the first place ---" Very true, indeed.
In an ideal world this " should never have happened ".
Since we have a situation , in many countries, and in almost human societies, where the minorities are looked at as " the other ' , " the outsider " , " the stranger ", it is the bounden duty of educators and social-scientists and leaders of society to ensure that " the other in our midst " is not crushed and eliminated.
Diversity is some thing to be celebrated and accepted with honour and generosity. .
@Arjun Reddy: Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches, it is easy to comment no one leaves his house happily they were living there for the last so many years and now when their lives , property every thing is at great risk they took this step. And the place of birth of our Guru is in Nankana Sahib which is in Pakistan. I pray that the Almighty God put you in a same position and than you will come to know how difficult it is. We have to pay the price for independence in 47 Panjabis both Muslims and Sikhs faced migration, you can not feel what is migrating leaving your fertile land big houses empty hand and most of them killed.
The true image if Pakistan beginning to emerge. I don't blame these people and encourage all minorities to find another home.
@Zalim Khan:
You must be retarded to describe fleeing Pakistan as "blackmail". Which sane person would like to live in a country that has become notorious for its barbaric treatment of minorities, particularly Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, for whom the real and natural motherland has always been India. Pakistan has been officially and unofficially persecuting and exterminating minorities who are forced to flee. But anyone coming from Pakistan is suspect in the eyes of any receiving nation -- they become automatically suspected of intending to carry out nefarious, violent and religiously extremist activities. Can you blame anyone for thinking so, even if the persons are innocent and just want to leave the country to save their precious lives and those of their families? That is also a reflection of what the world thinks of Pakistan which has fallen to the lowest level of a decadent, lawless, corrupt and violent state where blackmail and extortion rule supreme. Pakistan used to be compared in the past with Somalia but many say that the latter has a better standing today than Pakistan.
I feel so sad to hear all this.It should not have happened in the first place.
Even Muslim are not safe in Pakistan.....
@Burjor Rustomji:
Thank you Burjor jee,
In India , Parsees are highly respected. Personally I owe a great deal of gratitude to Zorastrians who were my friends and bosses ( mentors )
@Amir. Honest observations.
Vvd : But fact is that no Muslim from India want to migrate Pakistan and lot of Muslims (some my friends from Lahore, karachi and Hyderabad ) want to migrate from Pakistan to India for peace and safety.
It is a sad thing for Pakistan. But, the minorities should stay in Pakistan just like all other Pakistanis who are struggling and striving for a better country . They should realise that they are as much responsible for Pakistan as all other Pakistanis are.
India should receive all Hindus,Sikhs,Parsis,Buddhist from Pakistan & send an equal number of Muslims willing to relocate to pakistan with all their property & money .This will reduce the problems in both the countries to a large extent.
It is sad that our citizens are migrating out of this country. The minorities in Pakistan are unfortunately have a very small say, they are discrimnated in jobs, education, right to work or do business, harrassed by incitmenent of the clergies in small rural areas, forced to convert, looked down by the "muslim" community that they are fit only for this role.
this sort of perception has mitigated people to leave for a place where such discrimination may not happen.
get these people interviewed on our side of the border,you would hear them say "cut them into pieces as it's the only way they would move from india".
and this is the gem "as our Guru was born and buried in Pakistan" your guru was born in punjab which happend to be on the both sides of the border today
Pakistanis have a tendency to always point the blaming finger at themselves first.
But we know there are foreign-agencies'-supported elements especially in Peshawar. These elements will target other religions in the area. Yes some can be traced back to our own "extremists" but the chances of them operating in Peshawar in this manner seem slim.
If we want to do justice then we must not ignore this element in our assessment.
@Moiz Omar:
No. Qaid would be very proud of Pakistan's state today.
This is exactly the reason why Pakistan was created.
And every Pakistani should be proud and in fact every Pakisani is proud, despite their crocatears.
I am so sorry to hear this sad news, but I am not surprised and would not blame them for leaving as things are getting from bad to worse. They are part of us and I wish and hope they will reconsider when society will give them assurance that they will be able to live safely in the country they loved. Killing of these brave Pakistanies may be part of a bigger game which is being played in this part of the world. But who ever is behind this we must try our best to protect these innocent citizens.
Whereas the Sikhs in Pakistan are forced to leave the country, the Sikhs in India at Amritsar Durbar Sahib/GoldenTemple are preparing food for one lakh people daily free of cost which is transported by IAF helicopters to Kashmir to feed their Muslim brothers and sisters stranded in floods.
"Despite the attitude of general public towards Sikhs in the area being very supportive,” he added." If is it, why you are leaving.
@Zalim Khan: the problem of minority slaughter is not tiny for Allah's sake! wake up and smell coffee.you are still in your deep slumber!
@Zalim Khan: Oh yes, Zalim Khan. They are really the ingrates. Even though we have not levied any Jazia tax on them, which we could have and may be should now, they are leaving with complaints.
Seriously???killing is a 'tiny'problem??@Zalim Khan:
Welcome , but here in India also business environment is very competitive . But one thing , here you are safe . You have to go through all security checks here , that's law of land . Only because you are Sikhs , we can't bend our rules .
We are sorry our brothers :(
@Burjor Rustomji: Bawaji, what are you doing there? You should also come to India and help increase the number of zoroastrians here. You are the only community for whose population growth, govt. of India has several schemes.
Welcome to India. you can settle here in any city or village.
is anybody safe in pakistan.... stop looking it in terms of gender or community ..... no one's safe in pak
for every tiny bit problem these Hindus n Sikhs leave for india. if that is the case then you should all leave for india. If Pakistan your country then stay n work towards progress. This blackmailing will not last longer
Country that was made on the name of minorities is driven its minorities to the same country it came out from.
What an irony.
We wish them best of luck, a good future for all of them and their families. We wish that this nation learns something. That for a nation to succeed all its citizens are equal. India should open its borders, so minorities who are threatened and treated with a bias, can leave and start a new life in a neighboring country, without hassles.
Have the muslims of Pakistan and the Pakistani government no shame at all? The Sikhs have been in this land longer than many other communities. Soon enough unless you are a sunni deobandi male, you will not be able to bear living in this country.
Bad for Pakistan.