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Sikhs are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism,a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent,based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit word śiṣya,meaning 'seeker','disciple' or 'student'.
The Khalistan movement is a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno‐religious sovereign state called Khalistan in the Punjab region. The proposed boundaries of Khalistan vary between different groups;some suggest the entirety of the Sikh-majority Indian state of Punjab,while larger claims include Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh,Haryana,and Himachal Pradesh. Shimla and Lahore have been proposed as the capital of Khalistan.
Ranjit Singh was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire,ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. He ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye. He fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10.
Dal Khalsa is a radical Sikh organisation,based in the city of Amritsar. The outfit was formed in 1978 by Gajinder Singh,the hijacker of Indian Airlines Flight 423. It came to prominence during Insurgency in Punjab along with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in 1981. Members of the Dal Khalsa have also been accused of the assassination of Lala Jagat Narain. The primary aim of Dal Khalsa is to form a Punjabi Sikh nation state called Khalistan.
The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799,when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore,to 1849,when it was defeated and conquered by the British East India Company in the Second Anglo-Sikh War. It was forged on the foundations of the Khalsa from a collection of autonomous misls. At its peak in the 19th century,the empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet in the north to the deserts of Sindh in the south and from the Khyber Pass in the west to the Sutlej in the east as far as Oudh. It was divided into four provinces:Lahore,which became the Sikh capital;Multan;Peshawar;and Kashmir from 1799 to 1849. Religiously diverse,with an estimated population of 4.5 million in 1831,it was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to be annexed by the British Empire.
Hinduism in Afghanistan is practiced by a tiny minority of Afghans,about 30-40 individuals as of 2021,who live mostly in the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad. Afghan Hindus are ethnically Pashtun,Hindkowan (Hindki),Punjabi,or Sindhi and primarily speak Dari,Pashto,Hindko,Punjabi,Sindhi,and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu).
The National Assembly,also known as the Parliament of Afghanistan or simply as the Afghan Parliament,was the legislature of Afghanistan in various forms from the monarchy,republican,communist and liberal democratic periods between 1931 and 2021. It was a bicameral body,comprising two chambers:
Sikhism in Pakistan has an extensive heritage and history,although Sikhs form a small community in Pakistan today. Most Sikhs live in the province of Punjab,a part of the larger Punjab region where the religion originated in the Middle Ages,with some also residing in Peshawar in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Nankana Sahib,the birthplace of Guru Nanak,the founder of Sikhism,is located in Pakistan's Punjab province. Moreover,the place where Guru Nanak died,the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib is also located in the same province.
Indian Sikhs number approximately 21 million people and account for 1.7% of India's population as of 2011,forming the country's fourth-largest religious group. The majority of the nation's Sikhs live in the northern state of Punjab,which is the only Sikh-majority administrative division in the world.
Sikhism is the fourth-largest religious group in Canada,with nearly 800,000 adherents,or 2.1% of Canada's population,as of 2021. The largest Sikh populations in Canada are found in Ontario,followed by British Columbia and Alberta. As of the 2021 Census,more than half of Canada's Sikhs can be found in one of four cities:Brampton (163,260),Surrey (154,415),Calgary (49,465),and Edmonton (41,385).
British Sikhs number over 535,000 people and account for 0.8% of the British population as of 2021,forming the United Kingdom's fourth-largest religious group. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census,British Sikhs numbered 535,517,with 520,092 in England,10,988 in Scotland,4,048 in Wales,and 389 in Northern Ireland. The largest Sikh populations in the United Kingdom are in the West Midlands and Greater London.
Awtar Singh or Awtar Singh Khalsa was an Afghan politician. He was the Sikh representative to the Loya Jirga from Paktia Province,the only non-Muslim representative there. His native tongue was Punjabi. He was in charge of the main Sikh temple (Gurdwara) in Kabul.
Sunni Islam (Hanafi/Deobandi) is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. According to The World Factbook,Sunni Muslims constitute between 84.7 and 89.7% of the population,and Shia Muslims between 10 and 15%. Other religions are followed by 0.3% of the population.
Sikhism inAfghanistan in the contemporary era is limited to small populations,primarily in major cities,with the largest numbers of Afghan Sikhs living in Jalalabad,Ghazni,Kabul,and to a lesser extent in Kandahar and Khost. Sikhs have been the most prevalent non-Muslim minority in Afghanistan,and despite the many political changes in recent Afghan history,governments and political groups have generally not indulged in openly discriminating against the Sikh minority;however,their status have been severely impacted amid the country's conflict since 1978.
Afghan Indians are Indian citizens and non-citizen residents born in,or with ancestors from,Afghanistan. As of early 2021,there are at least 15,806 Afghans temporarily residing in India under a special protection and care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Apart from citizens and expatriates,there are a number of communities in India who trace their ancestry back to Pashtun forefathers of Pashtunistan.
Anarkali Kaur Honaryar is a Sikh Afghan politician. She is also a women's rights activist and a dentist,as well as a medical doctor.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is a centre-right Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab,India. The party is the second-oldest in India,after Congress,being founded in 1920. Although there are many parties with the description Akali Dal,the party that is recognized as "Shiromani Akali Dal" by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The party has a moderate Punjabi agenda. On 26 September 2020,it left the National Democratic Alliance over the farm bills.
Harjit Singh Sajjan is an Indian-born Canadian politician and Army veteran who has served as the minister of emergency preparedness and the president of the Privy Council since July 26,2023. A member of the Liberal Party,Sajjan represents the British Columbia (BC) riding of Vancouver South in the House of Commons,taking office as Member of Parliament (MP) following the 2015 election.
Punjabis in Afghanistan were residents of Afghanistan who were of Punjabi ancestry. There was historically a small Punjabi community in the country,mainly consisting of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.
Khalsa Aid,founded in 1999,is a UK based international non profit humanitarian organization providing support to victims of natural and man made disasters around the world. The organization has been acknowledged for providing relief during 2016 London floods,in war-affected Syria in 2015,setting up refugee camps for Rohingyas on Bangladesh-Myanmar border in 2017,helping in rebuilding Kerala after 2018 floods,and feeding NHS workers in the UK and the poor in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
- ↑ "All achievements of last 20 years lost; painful to leave country: Afghan lawmaker". The Hindu. August 22, 2021.
- ↑ "Final parliamentary election results for 5 provinces and Hindus/Sikhs community". Khaama Press. March 20, 2019.
- ↑ "Situation is serious, says Afghan Sikh MP Narendra Khalsa". WION. August 24, 2021.
- ↑ Goswami, Sohini (August 22, 2021). "Afghan Sikh MP expresses his gratitude to India for Kabul evacuation". Hindustan Times.
- ↑ Bhattacherjee, Kallol (2024-04-12). "India welcomes steps by Taliban to restore assets to minorities". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X . Retrieved 2024-04-17.
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