SHC summons govt reply over leaving out Sikhism in Census form

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) has summoned reply from the federal government by March 27, over not including a column on Sikhism in the ongoing population count, ARY News reported.

A petition filed in SHC by Sardar Heera Singh and others, stated that hundreds of thousands Sikhs live in Pakistan, and excluding them from the ongoing population census on the basis of religion and community would adversely affect national unity and cohesion.

The petitioners in their plea requested to the court to order the government to include the column of Sikhism in the population census form.

The court issued notice to the government to submit its reply by March 27.

Separately, Sikh community members held a demonstration in Peshawar to protest against non-inclusion of the column of their faith in the population census form. The protesters expressed their disappointment at being left out in the ongoing population and housing census.