Sikhs On Electoral List In Pak

[Greater-Punjab]

Jagjit Singh and his family are the only Sikhs in Tharparkar, the home of Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who have registered to vote according to the newly-published updated electoral lists which have evoked countrywide criticism for dropping more than 20 million voters from the lists on which elections were held in 2002.

Among those dropped, minorities and women voters have suffered most in every province.

There are a total of 2.7 million Hindus living in Sindh with a Sikh minority. The new lists show a total of 405,525 registered voters from district Tharparkar.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz contested election from Tharparkar on a seat specially vacated for him in 2003 to make him eligible for being Prime Minister.

Singh, 34, was originally a Hindu but decided to convert to Sikhism with his five children and his wife in opposition to the caste system. "Four years ago when I converted and started wearing the traditional dress, the locals, most of who are Hindus, were shocked. Now, however, they've accepted me," Singh told Daily Times.

Jagjit, a nurse by profession, works at a local hospital and has a small home in North Colony in Mithi Town, the district headquarters of Tharparkar. Tharparkar is supposed to be a Hindu stronghold. It has 163,316 Hindu voters, 122 Christians and 21 Qadiani voters, according to lists displayed by the election commission.

Singh converted to Sikhism four years ago. "I don't believe in the so-called caste system, so I decided to leave Hinduism and joined Sikhism," he told Daily Times. His father, Tarachand, a retired primary teacher, is part of the Hindu Menghwar caste and still visits his son. Menghwar (shoemakers) are regarded as a lower caste in Hinduism and are forced to occupy the lower rung in the Hindu social order.