New Delhi | Jan 12, 2011
Source: Outlook India
A delegation of Sikh community leaders met the Prime Minister here to press for granting citizenship to Afghan Sikhs and Hindus of Indian origin and passage of Anand Marriage Act to make registration of Sikh marriages compulsory.
The delegation led by President of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee Parmjit Singh Sarna and senior congress leader from Punjab R S Jaura met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday and put forward their long pending demands.
“After resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan and because of their cruel communal acts, Sikhs and Hindus of Indian origin were left with no choice except to flee from there to save their religion. They have been living in India for last 15 years but Indian citizenship has not been granted to them till,” the leaders said.
They said that the Sikh marriages are solemnised under Anand Karaj rites and cannot be registered under Hindu Marriage Act. They said that Law Minister M Veerappa Moily had informed them that Anand Marriage Act has been cleared by the Law Ministry and forwarded to the Cabinet.
Anand Karaj rites were legalized in the form of Anand Marriage Act in 1909.
“To maintain our independent identity and existence, Anand Marriage Act should be passed and rules should also be framed so that all the matters of the community are settled under Sikh family law and not any other law,” the leaders said.
They also sought removal of names of 174 NRI Sikhs from the blacklist.
Afghan Hindus and Sikhs 
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