New Delhi: Pakistan might soon have a Sikh man at the helm of a province that has ‘active’ Taliban presence. Provincial President of Jamaat-e-Islami, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, on Saturday announced that a Sikh young man named Hardeet Singh will be the party’s candidate for local body election in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district.
The local government polls in 17 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are slated to begin on 19 December. According to Senator Mushtaq, there are several other minority candidates fielded by his party in KP province, but he picked Singh because he will be contesting elections in one of the most radicalised regions of Pakistan, which has an active Taliban presence.
Very happy to know that Jamat e Islami, Pakistan nominated a Sikh young man Hardeet Singh as a candidate for local bodies election in KPK.@JIPOfficial https://t.co/X9hV0GgSQG
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) December 4, 2021
“We have a very strong Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minorities’ Wing that works 24 hours and have several minority candidates contesting local elections. The reason I chose to tweet about the young Sikh candidate Hardeet Singh is because he will be fighting elections from Khyber district, which is a traditional Pashtun area with a majority Afridi population. A non-Muslim candidate running election there needs to be highlighted as the region, falling adjacent to Afghan border, is orthodox and susceptible to terrorist activities,” Senator Mushtaq told ThePrint.
Pakistan journalist Hamid Mir who lauded Jamaat-e-Islami’s decision and tweeted about it said that there was a political strategy behind Jamaat-e-Islami’s nominating a non-Muslim candidate, despite being a prominent Islamist/radical party. “There are seats reserved for minority communities in Pakistan’s provincial elections. Several parties field minority candidates for these seats. Even Jamaat-e-Islami would want to win these seats and are thus nominating a Sikh candidate,” he said.
Pakistan’s civic information portal states that the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees the political inclusion of minorities by reserving a quota in Provincial Assemblies. “Article 51(4) of the Constitution reserves ten national assembly seats for minorities. Article 106 also guarantees non-Muslim reserved seats in all Provincial Assemblies. Section 48 of the Act asks for special measures for the enrolment of non-Muslims and bounds institutions to give priority to any activity related to this effort,” according to the website.
Users from Twitter were quick to point out that the KP seat was reserved for minorities, and therefore, the Jamaat-e-Islami’s announcement of a Sikh candidate was “nothing new” and suggested that those rejoicing must “check the poster”.
You shouldn't be that happy Mir Sahb. @JIPOfficial hasn't nominated this young Sikh man on a General Councillor's seat or for a Mayor.
It's a minority seat and should have been given to a person from amongst the minorities.
There is nothing new in this announcement sir.
— Raheem Ullah (@raheem_wzr) December 5, 2021
They had to because it's a minority seat. Atleast check the poster Mir sb. https://t.co/RpcTU80OUK
— Shakir Alam (@ShakirAlam149) December 4, 2021
For those who are objecting.. This person is going to represent non muslim minorities in pakistan. Obviously there is supposed to be someone from the minorities to represent minorities.
— Slave Of Allah (@Jundullah37469) December 5, 2021
Mir added that it was still an “extraordinary” decision because it is unexpected coming from a largely Islamic party. “There has been a change in the party’s stance in the last 5-6 years, majorly because of Senator Mushtaq who is more liberal and wants to show the Jamaat-e-Islami as democratic.”
In a 2018 article published in The Express Tribune, Jamaat-e-Islami member Amir Iqbal Khalil said that in the early 2000s their party had hardly any non-Muslim candidates for reserved seats, but now much has changed. “We have more aspirants than seats,” he was quoted as saying.
Also Read: In Imran Khan’s Naya Pakistan, a minority commission without minority
Controversy over Hardeet Singh’s name
While some Pakistanis celebrated Jamaat-e-Islami’s decision and called it “progressive”, others were skeptical of this decision by party, whose name translates to “Party of Islam” and has a historic reputation of being radical (or conservative party). One user questioned its absurdity, saying it is like a ‘Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a Hindu organisation, nominating a Muslim.’
جماعت اسلامی ، مسلم لیگ ، جمعیت علماء اسلام میں کیسے کوئی غیر مسلم ہو سکتا ہے ؟ کم از کم نام تو جماعت کا ایسا ہو جس میں دوسرے مذہب کے لوگ بھی حقیقی سیاست کر سکیں ۔۔۔ جیسے وشوا ہندو پریشد میں مسلمان کو ٹکٹ مل جائے ۔
— Mahtab raja (@Mahtabraja5) December 4, 2021
یہ کیسے ممکن ہے ؟ کیا جماعت اسلامی اب کوئی نئی پارٹی یہ کوئی نیا منشور کے ساتھ زمانے آئ ہے۔ یہ تو بہت کلیر کہتے ہیں۔ہمارا کارکن بس مسلمان اور سنی فقہ کا بندہ بن سکتا ہے۔۔کیا یہ منافقت نہیں ہے یا کوئی اور چال؟
اگر انکی 75 سالہ پالیسی تبدیل ہوگئی ہے تو اچھی بات ہے۔ https://t.co/UBMfupOobX— naghma iqtidar (@naghma_iqtidar) December 4, 2021
ایک جماعت کے نام میں ہی 'اسلامی' آتا ہے وہ کیسے کسی غیر مسلم کو امیدوار بنا رہے ہیں ?
— Moazam Ahmad (@ahmad_moazam) December 4, 2021
Other users, however, appeared to be elated that a minority Sikh candidate was being given a change and gave them their best wishes, saying that it was their “proud moment as a Pakistani.”
Proud Moment as a Pakistani @JIPOfficial https://t.co/VHuRxAspI3
— Nabeel Kamboh (@Nabeelkmboh) December 5, 2021
Highly appriciated ❤ best wishes for this youngh man. https://t.co/wUdIIBf7zT
— Raja Abdur Rehman (@RajaAbdurRehman) December 4, 2021
Not sure what this means but it is interesting that a religiious Muslim party has a Sikh candidate for election in Pakistan. https://t.co/tMgqwhMmuX
— Fifi Haroon (@fifiharoon) December 4, 2021
However, a peculiar thing that was noticed by some social media users was that candidate Singh was calling himself an ‘Afridi’. Afridis are a tribe that majorly follows the Sunni sect of Islam.
Singh bhi aur Afridi bhi??
Ye mix achaar kiun?? https://t.co/GdicMAIagC
— Imran Nadeem (@ImrannadeemCh) December 5, 2021
Kia afrideyo me b sick hoty Hein?
— Israr Afridi official (@IsrarAfridioff1) December 4, 2021
Sikh and Afridi ?
— Bilal Ahsan Dar (@BilalAhsanDar) December 4, 2021
According to Mir, it was unusual for a Sikh man to call himself Afridi because it is unheard of: “Sikhs in the Khyber area call themselves Pashtun Sikhs as they speak Pashto, similar to the Hindus of that area. But it is not understandable why he would present himself as an Afridi.”
Meanwhile, it is also possible that the candidate’s family have been using the name. Many Afridis became Sikhs a few hundred years ago and it may be that he is one of them, Mir added.