Srinagar: As part of its protest programme the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) carried out a protest rally at Tral here in the afternoon.

Scores of Sikhs belonging to Tral and adjoining areas of Pulwama district took part in the protest programme. The protesters raised slogans in support of their demands and impressed upon the state government to fulfill demands of Sikh community.

According to a statement issued to KNS, addressing the protesters APSCC Chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina said that if government can give package to the Kashmiri Pandit community living outside the valley what is stopping the government in extending package to the Sikhs of Jammu & Kashmir. Raina said that National Minority Act should be extended to the Sikhs of state according to the provisions of National Commission for Minorities.

“The central government recently announced that 3,000 jobs would be Kashmiri Pandits so that they come back to Kashmir valley. We are not against any community but we want to make it clear that we would not allow injustice with the Sikh community. National Minority Act should be extended to Sikhs of the state and the same would be in tune with recommendations of National Commission for Minorities,” said Raina.

The APSCC Chairman said that the package announced for Kashmiri Pandits should be extended to other communities who had to migrate from rural areas to urban areas in Kashmir over the past couple of decades or so. He said the Sikh community would not tolerate any injustice and it would be ensured that the demands are met.

“On this day we are yet again reminding Peoples Democratic Party of its pre-poll promise of extending minority status to the Sikhs of Jammu & Kashmir. It is quite unfortunate that after assuming power the PDP has forgotten its promise of extending minority status to Sikhs of the state. We are yet again reminding the people at helm especially those belonging to PDP,” said Raina.

The APSCC Chairman said that if the state government does not fulfill demands the organization would be forced to intensify the agitation. He said following the agitation programme in Kashmir the agitation would be extended to Jammu division as well. He added that protest programme would be carried out in Jammu, Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Jammu division.

President Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (GPC) Pulwama, Dr. Joginder Singh Shan said that delaying the extension of minority act is equivalent to denial of just demands of the members of Sikh community. He said that since National Minority Act has been extended to the declared minorities in different states of India the same should be extended to Jammu & Kashmir as well.

Addressing the protesters senior Sikh leader, Principal Naranjan Singh said that Punjabi language has been neglected in the state. He said immediate steps need to be taken so that posts of lecturers and teachers are filled in schools and colleges so that Punjabi language is taught in the educational institutions in the state.

GPC member Surinder Pal Singh said that Sikhs have suffered huge losses since they were associated with horticulture and agriculture sectors in the rural areas. He said that since these Sikhs had to shift to urban areas the horticulture and agriculture losses grew enormously.

Among others the protest was attended by Dr. Mohan Singh, J D Singh, Avtar Singh Khalsa, Captain Ranjit Singh and members of GPC Pulwama. (KNS)