SRINAGAR, India (June 12, 2014)—All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) that represents the community here has demanded that the Union Government of India should grant minority status to the Sikhs of Jammu and Kashmir. The committee has hoped that the BJP-led NDA government will resolve the pending issues concerned with Sikh inhabitants of the militancy stricken state.
In a press statement issued here, Jagmohan Singh Raina, chairman of APSCC, said, “We hope that the NDA government will solve the pending issues of the Sikh community of Jammu and Kashmir and grant minority status to the community.”
“It must be kept in mind that members of the Sikh community have been fighting hard for their rights and their problems need to be addressed at the earliest,” he said, adding, “Sikh community should be granted the status of a minority community since they very much fall under the provisions set out in this regard. The Minority Act as framed by the National Commission for Minorities should be extended to the State without any dilution whatsoever.”
He further added, “In case there is any dilution to the Minority Act, the members of the Sikh community will come out and lodge strong protests in support of their genuine demands… We will not desist from carrying out a full-fledged agitation.”