Author: Correspondent
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: May 11, 2009
Scores of Sikh and Hindu families who have
been rendered homeless by the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat territory want Indian
visas to seek shelter with relatives living in Amritsar.
Essentially tradesmen, Sikh and Hindu families
in Amritsar, Pakistan's frontier provinces and further westwards in Afghanistan,
have sustained mutual links despite being divided by political boundaries.
The age-old trading in dry and fresh fruits, woollens and green tea has also
helped keep these relations strong.
"We moved here from Peshawar during the
tabaadla (exchange) of 1956. But many of our people stayed back in Pakistan
and they have now landed in great trouble," said Mr Anant Ram, a Sehajdhari
Sikh who works at the local gurdwara at the Peshauri Mohalla in Amritsar.
The old Peshawar families of Amritsar say
they are appalled at the persecution of their brethren, many of them blood
relatives, in Pakistan.
"I have many relatives who are suffering
over there. The Pakistan government is doing nothing to help and they have
been calling every day saying they fear even more persecution. My people have
lost everything but the clothes they are wearing. There is simply no sense
of security even though they have moved out of Swat," said Mahant Lal
Pishauri.
"These people are desperate to move out
of Pakistan. Their homes were razed to the ground by Taliban and they can
expect nothing from the government there.
They are ready to come to Amritsar but say
Indian visas are not easy to come by under the present circumstances,"
said Mr Anant Ram who, like the others, is looking forward to host his Swat
relatives.
