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Pakhtun first and Sikh later
by Kamal Siddiqi
HASANABDAL: Gurdwara Panja Sahab, located in Hasanabdal, has so far
received 340 displaced families from places as far away as Swat and
Malakand. Many of those who turned up at the Gurdwara fled their
homes with only their clothes on their back.
Dr Ashok, a six-foot-tall man hailing from Pir Baba village in Buner,
says he decided to leave his home when there was a lull in the
fighting. “We headed for Hasanabdal because this is the only place
we know,” he added.
While children play in the courtyard of the Gurdwara and women wash
their clothes in the water channel down below, Dr Suran Singh of the
Pak Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee worries about how to cater
for the growing number of arrivals. Dr Singh, a homoeopathic doctor,
left his clinic in Buner and fled with six family members packed in
his small Suzuki on April 28. Back home, he was an elected member of
the local council. Since his arrival in Hasanabdal, he has taken
charge as the spokesman and chief organiser of the group. He says
the only thing people want now is to go home.
Many people are still left behind in the troubled areas. The
fighting on the main highway has discouraged them from travelling
and there is hope that they will come once there is a break in the
curfew and fighting. Dr Suran says that in many ways the Sikhs have
been lucky to have a place to come to.
“Many of our Muslim neighbours and friends have ended up in tents,”
he says, adding that the reason why most have fled is the fear of
shelling. When asked about the Jaziya tax that the Taliban are
believed to have imposed on the Sikhs living in areas controlled by
them, Dr Suran Singh says that the reports are untrue.
“I have not been approached. In fact, the Taliban came to my area on
April 4 and for almost a month we lived under their control. We only
fled when the fighting intensified.”
However, others say that they have indeed heard of the tax. “I know
families in Tirah who were told to pay,” said one young man. Others
say that the Taliban have held some Sikhs against their will and
have imposed a levy on the community. One man said that the Taliban
confiscated the homes of people who fled rather than pay the tax.
Most of the Sikh families that have arrived in Hasanabdal have left
behind a family member. Many of them were in areas which are under
intense firing and shelling. Others have closed their homes, shops,
clinics and offices and moved out.
Many worry about their family members back home. Others say that
they fear the worst once they get back. Almost all of the men and
women from the Sikh community who have arrived from the troubled
areas are educated and from middle-income backgrounds. Most of them
speak Pushto fluently and feel at home in the wider Pakhtun
community.
Some worry that their properties would be targeted and looted once
the violence dies down. Others hope and pray that they get the
opportunity to rebuild their homes and lives. One sign that their
stay at Hasanabdal would be longer than expected is that the
children are being offered admission in the school adjoining the
Gurdwara.
Some Sikh women are already spending time at the school teaching for
a few hours because they say this helps release their stress. As the
capacity of the Gurdwara to accommodate reaches its limit, Sikhs
have started to rent places around the town. But rentals have also
gone up given the unexpected demand. Locals also worry that the
arrival of so many Sikh families may upset the ethnic balance of the
little town.
Manzoor Bhatti, the caretaker of the Gurdwara, belongs to the
Evacuee Trust Property Board, says the Sikhs, many of whom are
professional doctors and engineers, are happy to run their own
affairs. So far, both the government and the United Nations have
helped with supplies.
However, to sustain such a large number over a longer period would
be difficult. He says he is hoping for the best.
This optimism is shared by people like Sandeep Kumar, a student of
the Edwards College in Peshawar. Kumar says that his family never
migrated to India after partition “because the Muslims in our area
begged us to stay on.” Now, however, “we have been forced out by
extremists, not our neighbours.”
Asked to comment on the offer to migrate to India, Dr Suran Singh
says with a smile: “We are Pakhtuns first and Sikh later. These
times are troubling for all Pakhtuns not just the Pakistani Sikhs.
We need to fight this challenge together.” This is a sentiment
shared by many of the people who have taken refuge in the Gurdwara.
The News :Friday, May 15, 2009
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