Kashmir Sikhs urge PM to associate them with all-party Kashmir talks
NEW DELHI: The Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) on Wednesday urged the Modi government to honourably include Sikh representation in the ongoing all-party talks over the restoration of the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We hope our appeal will be considered positively,” Mr Sarna said.
Mr. Sarna also expressed shock over a section of mainstream Indian media for continuing to twist history about Sarkar-e-Khalsa’s reign of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. “This section of the media, like its several other nefarious propaganda programs, attempts to show the Dogras as the original rulers of the region when international authoritative historical sources show how the great Maharaja extended the Khalsa Raj up to the Khyber via Ladakh.
The Sikh community in Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh feels increasingly side-lined in the region, which was a proud part of Sarkar-e-Khalsa of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) observed.
Early last year, the exclusion of Punjabi in Jammu and Kashmir’s new official language law came as a rude shock to the Sikhs in the region, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) (SADD) chief Paramjit Singh Sarna said.
“Now, again the Sikh community which didn’t desert its native land even when the unrest in the late 1980s unfolded in the Kashmir valley, finds itself completely side-lined in the talks over restoration the democratic process in the region,” Mr. Sarna pointed out. “There’s not even a single representative from the JK Sikh community called to participate in the talks with the prime minister. Why?”
Mr. Sarna also expressed shock over a section of mainstream Indian media for continuing to twist history about Sarkar-e-Khalsa’s reign of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. “This section of the media, like its several other nefarious propaganda programs, attempts to show the Dogras as the original rulers of the region when international authoritative historical sources show how the great Maharaja extended the Khalsa Raj up to the Khyber via Ladakh.
However, the treachery by the local Dogras in fact led to the fall of a sovereign J&K state into the hands of the British rulers. That is the unfortunate fact of history but some vested interests in the Indian media try to distort history and cover up the treacherous role played by Dogras in J&K for the fall of the Sikh Raj. They also do not want that the Sikhs to become a stakeholder in the present and future talks regarding the Kashmir region.”