2 Sikhs in Afghan poll fray, want to be first elected non-Muslims

Election campaign posters plaster Kabul’s traffic circles these days but one face stands out. Of a Sikh. But he is not the only Sikh candidate in the fray — there is another, a woman.

Pritpal Singh Pal and Anarkali Kaur Honaryar are running for positions in Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga, the 250-seat lower house of parliament, elections for which are scheduled on September 18.

If they win, they will become the first democratically elected non-Muslim parliamentarians in the country — Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have held parliamentary positions before through nomination.

Both are Independent candidates from the Kabul province and are up against Mohammad Mohaqiq and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, former Mujahideen commanders who are now established politicians.

“I want to serve people regardless of religion. I’m an Afghan,” says 44-year-old Pal, a native of the Pashtun-majority province of Paktia where his parents were also born.

With thanks : Indian Express : Link in headline above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia