Sikhs feel being ‘left out’ of population census

islamabad — Members and leaders of the Sikh community in Peshawar expressed their disappointment at being “left out” of the national census, saying they feared their community would not be adequately represented in Pakistan’s first national headcount in 19 years.

“The concerned department has not included the Sikh minority in the ongoing count. It is not only unfortunate for us, it is also a point of great concern for the community to have been missed out in the counting exercise,” Radesh Sing Tony, chairman of a Sikh committee, told Dawn on Saturday.

He complained that a sizeable number of Sikhs was living in Pakistan, but the community was not counted among the religions included in the census form.

He noted that Sikhs would be counted under the “other” religion

20k Sikhs live in Pakistan, mostly in northwest

category in the form, which would not provide an accurate picture of the Sikh population. “This is an injustice, we are being deprived of our rights,” he said.

Tony said he had written to the Supreme Court and high courts of Sindh and Peshawar requesting that the community be counted as an official religion.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the census exercise, Habibullah Khan, admitted that it was a mistake on the part of the census authorities. —