Sikhs meets PM on Anand Marriage Act, citizenship for Afghans

New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) A delegation of Sikh communityleaders met the Prime Minister here to press for grantingcitizenship to Afghan Sikhs and Hindus of Indian origin andpassage of Anand Marriage Act to make registration of Sikhmarriages compulsory.

The delegation led by President of Delhi SikhGurudwara Management Committee Parmjit Singh Sarna and seniorcongress leader from Punjab R S Jaura met Prime MinisterManmohan Singh yesterday and put forward their long pendingdemands.

"After resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan andbecause of their cruel communal acts, Sikhs and Hindus ofIndian origin were left with no choice except to flee fromthere to save their religion. They have been living in Indiafor last 15 years but Indian citizen ship has not been grantedto them till," the leaders said.

They said that he Sikh marriages are solemnised underAnand Karaj rites and cannot be registered under HinduMarriage Act. They said that Law Minister M Veerappa Moily hadinformed them that Anand Marriage Act has been cleared by theLaw Ministry and forwarded to the Cabinet.

"To maintain our independent identity and existence,Anand Marriage Act should be passed and rules should also beframed so that all the matters of the community are settledunder Sikh family law and not any other law," the leaderssaid.

They also sought removal of names of 174 NRI Sikhsfrom the blacklist.