Sikhs and Hindus who have lived for generations in Afghanistan are complaining about discrimination in government schools.
Members of this minority community, who were originally immigrants from India
Members of this minority community, who were originally immigrants from India, say they are worried about the future of their children. While the community runs a handful of schools, the elders say the children are Afghans and they must study in Afghan schools and learn Afghan culture.
The children do not like to study in government-run schools because they are picked on, according to Satindar Singh, a teacher in a community-run school for roughly 50 children in Karte Parwan Dharamshala. Dharamshalas are shelters run by religious institutions. As a result they are not interested in going to government-run schools, he adds.
The problem is more acute in the provinces, says Jitender Singh. Sikh and Hindu children who study in schools in Jalalabad and Ghazni provinces are “strongly bothered” by other children, sometimes even beaten and physically abused.
According to Jitender Singh, Indian-origin children face harassment only in the country’s schools. “Harassment and discrimination are experienced only in schools,” he insists. “The problem is that children do not know that they are picked on only in schools. Grown ups, including parents and teachers, should tell them so,” he insists.
A student in the dharamshala school in Karte Parwan says he got admission in a government run school, but he was considered strange there, and he left. The dharamshala schools are not recognised by the government. Children are taught up to the primary school level, and from their religious books.
Know your community
Eqbal Singh is the head of the educational centre for Sikhs. He says 200 of his students are eligible to join a formal school. “The government should establish formal schools for them so they can carry on with their primary and intermediate studies.”
Another Sikh who has a shop of Unani medicine in Jalalabad says he has known of many cases of Indian-origin children who got admission in government schools but could not cope with the harassment and left. However he did not want the Ministry of Education to start separate schools for children as a solution. Hindus and Sikhs have specialised in trade, traditional medicine, crafts and music.
Mahender is a teacher in an informal school for Sikhs in Shorbazar, Kabul. “We are Afghans. Separate schools would separate us from other communities. We should be acquainted with all people of our country and our children should know Afghan culture,” he says.
Since the community is scattered in small groups, mainly in Jalalabad, Khost, Ghazni, Kandahar and Kabul, most people reckon it would not be practical to establish exclusive schools for Sikhs and Hindus. Before the years of conflict, Afghanistan’s Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and Christians were flourishing communities. However, most of them have left. During the Taleban years Hindus had to wear yellow identity tags. Only some minority families returned after the fall of the Taleban regime. Even at their peak they numbered less than 1 percent of the population.
Dia Singh Anjan, a Sikh poet and writer who lives in Khost, says there were many Sikhs in Afghanistan before war destroyed homes and lives. “Now they are displaced people like so many others in Afghanistan. Their houses have been destroyed. They live in different places, scattered.” He thinks it would be “difficult” to establish separate schools.
He believes Sikhs should study in public (government) schools like in the past. He says there are different kinds of people in a community, and it would be unfair to accuse everyone of harassent. “All people don’t bother the Sikh children, and those who do this should be exposed,” he advises.
Major exodus
Anarkali Hunar Yar, the representative of Hindu-Afghans in parliament, says there were 20,000 to 30,000 Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan, many of them running big businesses.
“As of now many Hindus and Sikhs have left the country and their numbers have decreased to 520 families, which would be roughly 5,000 to 6,000 people.”
According to Anarkali, the Hindus and Sikhs had some recognised schools. For example a school in Kabul called Baba Nanak School, which was registered school with the Ministry of Education, but was destroyed in the war.
According to Anarkali, it would be possible for Hindus and Sikhs to register new schools with the Ministry of Education. “We are trying to establish private schools registered with the ministry.”
Gul Agha Ahmadi, spokesman of the Ministry of Education, says Sikhs and Hindus have the right to set up their own schools. “If they apply to the ministry, the due process will be followed based on the Constitution and laws of the ministry.”
