Islamabad, May 7 Pakistan’s narrative of religious tolerance is a clear facade amid the persistent persecution, violence, and demographic extinction of the Sikh community, a report said on Thursday.
According to a report in Khalsa Vox, the recent case of Sarabjit Kaur, who went missing during a pilgrimage to Pakistan and later appeared as a convert to Islam, has been portrayed by Pakistani media as a “heartwarming tale of personal discovery".
However, it said, against the backdrop of the atrocities faced by Pakistan’s Sikh minority, this narrative lacks credibility.
“It serves not as a genuine reflection of religious harmony, but as a transparent public relations exercise, likely orchestrated to sanitise the image of a state consistently implicated in the systematic marginalisation of its non-Muslim citizens,” the report noted.
The report stated that since 1947, the once-vibrant Sikh population has declined to a few thousand, prompting many human rights activists to describe them as an “endangered” minority in Pakistan.
“The 2023 census recorded just 15,998 Sikhs — barely 0.01 per cent of the total population. This decline is not merely a byproduct of migration but is deeply rooted in a climate of fear, where the forced conversion of young Sikh women is a persistent and harrowing threat. When the state celebrates a singular conversion, it deliberately ignores the broader pattern of coercion and intimidation that forces families to live in perpetual insecurity,” it detailed.
The report further highlighted the poor condition of gurdwaras and other Sikh heritage sites in Pakistan — including pilgrim sites Kaur travelled to.
“While Pakistan occasionally showcases specific gurdwaras for diplomatic capital, like during World Bank President Ajay Banga’s recent visit, the vast majority of these historical sites are in ruins, suffering from decades of state-sponsored neglect, encroachment, or outright vandalism. The performative restoration of a few select shrines for international visitors is a thin veneer, masking the reality that the sacred physical footprint of Sikhism in the region is being systematically erased,” it mentioned.
Emphasising the broader concerns surrounding Pakistan’s treatment of minority communities, the report said that the incident involving Sarabjit Kaur appears to be a “calculated manoeuvre", designed to divert the attention of the international community from the ground realities.
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