Amritsar: Following the brutal beheading of two Sikhs by Taliban in Pakistan, refugee Sikhs, hailing from Peshawar in Pakistan living in Amritsar have demanded that they should be given
citizenship so that they can live in India safely with their families. The refugee Sikhs expressed that their families and relatives in Peshawar and other tribal
areas are under severe threat from Taliban and repatriation will cost them their
lives as well. About 60 Sikh families from Pakistan have taken refuge in Amritsar
for the last couple of years. Fearing intimidation from Taliban, the minority
community has asked for adequate security from the Indian Government. "Our
mother,
father, brothers and sisters are still living in Peshawar. It has been almost
15-16 years that we have been living here in India. We are happy here but our
relatives back home are facing a tough time," said Sardar Singh, a refugee. "It
has been 15 years since we came to Punjab, but we haven't got citizenship as yet.
Thus we can't even bring our relatives from Pakistan here," he added. A few Sikh
families hailing from Pakistan, particularly from the rebel-controlled areas of
Peshawar, have settled in India's northern Punjab state and established their
business here. "People there tell our folks to leave and go to Punjab and people
in Punjab say that you are foreigners. I ask which is my country. Am I a citizen
of Pakistan, India or Afghanistan?" Sardar Singh questioned. The Sikh refugees
said that they approached the government several times and even sent request letters
but many of them are still to get the Indian citizenship. "We demand that the
Indian government should give us citizenship so that we can bring our relatives
here from Peshawar. We want them to live a safe and secure life, with their brothers
here," said Satbir Singh, another refugee. Thousands of Sikhs living in Pakistan's
tribal belt adjoining Afghanistan have been trading in the region for generations.
In May 2009, the Sikhs joined an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing
the Taliban stronghold of Swat Valley, when the army launched an offensive in
as a peace pact with the militants broke down.
