[Reader-list] Mann ready to talk to Taliban on 'jazia' on Sikhs

[Kshmendra Kaul]

"Mann ready to talk to Taliban on 'jazia' on Sikhs"
Sangrur | Saturday, Apr 18 2009 IST
 

In an apparent attempt to win the votes of the Sikh community, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann today said that he would talk to the Taliban leaders and ask them to lift the 'jazia' (religious tax) imposed on the Sikh community in the Aurakzai tribal region near the north western city of Peshawar in Pakistan. 
 
'' I will go to Pakistan and talk directly to the Taliban for lifting this tax'', Mr Mann declared before mediapersons prior to filing his nomination papers from the Sangrur parliamentary seat which he has represented once in Parliament. 
 
At the onset he said that he would go to Pakistan in a day or two but then on the advice of some of his party colleagues Mr Mann said that he would cross over after May seven, the day of polling for the Sangrur seat which goes to the polls in the first phase alongwith Bathinda, Patiala and Ferozepur. 
 
Mr Mann's announcement is an apparent attempt to score over Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former CM Capt Amarinder Singh of the Congress who have appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up the 'jazia' issue with the Pakistan government and ensure the protection of the Sikh community residing on the other side of the border. 
 
The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandak Committee (SGPC) controlled by the Badal-faction of the Akali Dal has also urged the Prime Minister to take up with the Pakistan government the issue of safeguard of minority communities threatened by the Taliban. 
 
In a recent letter addressed to the PM, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar expressed concern about reports pouring in from across the border that minorities, particularly the Hindus and Sikhs were being threatened by the Taliban in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In the letter the SGPC chief referred to reports that 'jazia' had been imposed on Sikh families in areas dominated by the Taliban. The letter pointed out that a large number of Hindu and Sikh families had fled their homes in the Taliban dominated areas and sought refugee in Gurdwaras in Nankana Sahib and other shrines in Pakistan.
 
The SGPC chief urged the PM to take appropriate diplomatic steps with Pakistan to ensure he protection of minorities across the border. 
 

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