Srinagar: All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) has sought reservation for the Sikh community in the legislature of Jammu & Kashmir.
In a press release here, the Sikh body said it has impressed upon the Chairperson of Delimitation Commission, Justice (retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai to deliver justice to the Sikh community and ensure that it gets representation in the form of reservation in the legislatire.
The demand was made by an APSCC delegation which met the members of Delimitation Commission in Srinagar, the press release sid.
It said the delegation led by APSCC chairman, Jagmohan Singh Raina presented said that over the past seven decades or so the Sikhs of Jammu & Kashmir have been denied representation by the successive central and erstwhile state governments.
“Since you have been a judge and delivered justice to the deserving, time has come that you should do the same with the Sikhs living in Jammu & Kashmir. We have been denied representation in the legislature and it is due to this reason that the burning issues confronting the community have not been addressed so far,” said Raina while pleading the case of the community.
He said the politicians at the centre as well as in Jammu & Kashmir have “ditched” them and as such there in trust deficit. He said the members of the community have pinned their hopes on the Delimitation Commission chairperson since she has been a judge and delivered justice to the people.
“We are living in a jungle without any political representation and a reservation for the community would go a long way in fulfilling the political aspirations of the community members. Neither the erstwhile state government nor the central government has ever thought of giving political representation to Sikhs in Jammu & Kashmir. Five seats; three in Jammu division and two in Kashmir valley should be reserved for Sikhs,” the APSCC demanded.
It said that Sikhs are living in scattered areas across 126 villages in Jammu & Kashmir. He said that once some seats are reserved for the community, Sikhs would be able to elect their own person who can then go on to project their demands and solve the burning issues confronting the community.
