In Valley seats, Sikh faces flag ‘govt raw deal’, pitch for jobs, Punjabi recognition

While the candidates of both the Congress party and Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) in Tral are from the Sikh community, the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) – an umbrella organisation of J&K’s Sikh bodies – has also fielded a Sikh nominee in the seat.

“For the last 25-30 years, no body has listened to our problems,” says Jagmohan Singh Raina, the APSCC chairman. “We have decided to field our own candidates. We have already two candidates in the fray (Tral and Shalteng) and are considering a proposal to back a third one (Baramulla).”

Ravinder Singh, Independent candidate from Baramulla. (Express Photo)

Of Tral’s 97,477 voters, 8,800 belong to the Sikh community. In the constituency, the Congress has put up Surinder Singh Channi, while the AIP has fielded Harbaksh Singh Sasan.

Elected to the District Development Council (DDC) as a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in 2020, Sasan recently left the party after being denied the Assembly poll ticket, to join Rashid’s party.

The APSCC has fielded Pushvinder Singh as its candidate from Tral. As it is not an Election Commission-recognised party, the APSCC-backed candidates are contesting as Independents.

The 65-year-old retired zonal education officer, Pushvinder Singh is also the vice-chairman of the Citizens’ Council in Tral. “We have given immense sacrifices for this country right from 1947 but we have gained nothing,” said Singh, a resident of Saimoh in Tral. “We have been ignored… Punjabi was one of the recognised official languages in J&K before the abrogation of Article 370 (granting the erstwhile state a special status), but it has been excluded from the official list now. Our language is our identity.”

Under the now-revoked J&K constitution, there were seven recognised official languages, including Punjabi, which would be taught in schools as well as colleges. This constitution was invalidated in August 2019 when Article 370 was scrapped by the Centre, which led to three of these languages, including Punjabi, losing their official status in J&K.

Pushvinder Singh, Independent candidate from Tral. (Express Photo)

“After our protests, the government said we will continue the teaching of Punjabi in colleges but since this is a de-recognised official language, they don’t advertise posts for it and hence there are no teachers in colleges for its teaching,” said an APSCC leader.

While the Sikh candidates hope to get the support of their community, they are also seeking votes from the majority community.

“We Sikhs and Muslims are standing together. I have helped each other in good and bad times,” says Ravinder Singh, 49, a Sikh candidate in Baramulla. A resident of the Sangri colony in Baramulla, Ravinder said, “I am banking on the votes of Muslims community.”

Raina said: “The Sikh-Muslim brotherhood is intact. We are hopeful the majority community will support us. We are asking them to vote for our candidates, which will be a fitting response to forces raising questions on the Sikh-Muslim unity.”

As per the 2011 Census, Sikhs make up 1.87% of J&K’s population as compared to 68.3% Muslims and 28.4% Hindus.

Harbakhsh Singh Sasan, AIP candidate Tral. (Express Photo)

The APSCC is supporting Indomeet Singh’s candidature in the Shalteng seat.

In their campaigning the Sikh candidates are mainly raising three demands – a reserved seat for Sikhs in the 90-member Assembly, a special job scheme for the community on the lines of one meant for the Kashmiri Pandit migrants, and the official recognition of the Punjabi language.

The APSCC camp admits that its candidates’ chances in the polls may not be bright, but they are still in the fray as a “mark of protest” on such issues.

Raina said the APSCC has decided to back the Sikh candidates who do not have a political baggage. “We couldn’t support the Congress candidate in Tral because Sikhs have not forgotten what happened in 1984,” he said.