KARACHI: The Sikh community of Sindh on Sunday demanded their representation in the assemblies and requested the provincial government to award a piece of land for the construction of a large gurdwara in an upmarket neighbourhood of the teeming metropolis.

The community’s representatives furnished such demands before Sindh Minority Affairs Minister Hari Ram Kishori Lal, who was the chief guest at the inauguration of a 60Kv generator installed in the Guru Nank Darbar on the premises of the Swami Narain Temple.

The minority affairs department had funded for the purchase of the generator, officials said.

Speaking to reporters, the provincial minister said several properties belonging to the minority communities had been encroached upon where multi-storied buildings had been constructed.

The same fate was meted out at the sites of the worship places of Hindus, Sikh, Parsi and other non-Muslims which had been demolished and where buildings had been constructed.

He said those properties had been placed under the control of Evacuee Trust Board, which had completely failed to manage them properly. As a result, he added, those properties were in a shambles.

Mr Lal said Sadho Belo in Sukkur, where renovation work had been started by the Sindh government, could not be completed despite the passage of a decade due to hurdles created by the Islamabad-run Evacuee Trust Board.

He said the evacuee properties had become a provincial subject after the 18th Amendment, yet, the federal government was reluctant to hand control of the Evacuee Trust to the provinces despite repeated reminders by the Sindh government.

He said the provincial government had decided to set up a Sindh Evacuee Trust Board and its draft had been approved by the Sindh cabinet recently.

The draft bill would be presented in the provincial assembly for the final nod very soon. “After its approval Sindh government will take over all evacuee properties located in the province.”

He added Sindh was the only province where minority affairs department had existed and its credit went to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s far-sighted vision, who in 1993 felt the urgency of a separate body for focusing the welfare and protection of the minorities.

Mr Lal said PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was following the legacy of his mother and taking keen interest in issues relating to minorities.

He said that on the directives of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah a competent team had been selected at the minorities affairs department to transform the department on modern lines.

He announced that an ambulance and a bus would be given to the Guru Nank Darbar in the next financial year.

He assured the Sikh community every possible support for the construction of a gurdwara in any of the areas like Clifton, Defence or Saddar Cantonment as demanded by the community.

Earlier, Sardar Ramesh Singh thanked the minister for providing the generator for Darbar, adding no other party in the country could compete with the PPP in terms of taking care of the communities practicing minority faiths.

The president of the managing committee of the Darbar, Suresh Peswani, vice president Jawahir Lal, general secretary Kailash Kumar, Surjeet Kumar and Nanak Ram also spoke.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2019