Pakistani Sikh politician facing Islamists threat may get asylum in UK

London, Apr 10 (ANI): A prominent Pakistan politician of Sikh origin has been given a second chance to claim asylum in the United Kingdom, as he fears for his life back home from Islamists.

Gyan Singh, a Sikh and an outspoken opponent of Islamic extremism, fears his life would in danger if he was sent back to Pakistan.

In 2006, while attending the United Nations general assembly in New York, he flew with his wife and children to the UK following reports of a plan to attack the family home in north-west Pakistan, near the Afghan border.

Other relatives also fled and settled in Scotland, but they and Gyan Singh were refused asylum by the Home Office, The Scotsman reports.

Yesterday, the judges in the Court of Session in Edinburgh decided that the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal should rehear the four claims.

The court heard that Gyan Singh was a prominent figure in the political life of Pakistan. He had been elected to the National Assembly in 1999 and was particularly active in the area of human rights, the paper reports.

In his asylum claim, Gyan Singh had stated that his activities on behalf of non-Muslims and his opposition to Islamic extremism made him unpopular.

He was physically attacked in the National Assembly after speaking in support of a military strike on a school where terrorists were trained, the paper reports.

Gyan Singh also claimed to have been kidnapped and tortured, and that an attempt had been made to abduct his children while security guards, who were supposed to be protecting them, had looked on and allowed the gang to escape.

He said his wife had received threatening phone calls that he should not speak out against terrorists and that a cousin had been shot dead. (ANI)