Shangla—A Unique Example Of Interfaith Harmony In Pakistan

Umar Bacha

Shangla: In a country where intolerance on religious, sectarian, and ethnic grounds is rife, a remote district of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa emerges as a beautiful example of interfaith harmony where Sikh and Muslim communities share a common bond of love, tolerance and humanity.

Harmeet Singh and Mudasir Shah are residents of Chakesar tehsil of Shangla district and are very close friends since childhood who have never separated since. Notwithstanding professing different faiths, they have never exchanged communal hatred and keep respecting the differences of their respective faiths.

“As I reached Chakesar, my hometown, where I was born and raised, I receive a warm welcome from my childhood friends. To be honest, I have been missing their company and our gatherings ever since living in Islamabad,” says Harmeet Singh. A very thin population of Sikh community has been living in Chakesar Tehsil for decades side by side with the Muslim majority but the relations between both communities are a remarkable example of interfaith harmony.

Once there were around 45 families of the Sikh community in Chakesar, among whom there were well-known doctors, politicians, news anchors and traders but the number of families declined with the passage of time as most of them migrated to major cities in search of a better future. Currently, there are only six to seven families left in the village Chakesar.

Sundeep Kumar is the brother of Senator Gurdeep Singh. Talking to PenPK, he said that they had migrated to Mingora, Swat five years ago when there were no career opportunities and no sufficient educational facilities for the children.

“Our relatives living in other parts of the country always get surprised on cordial relation and brotherhood with Muslim majority whenever they visit us,” says Mr. Kumar, adding that the best example of their relations with Muslims is manifested in taking part in the final rites of the dead whether burial rituals or cremation.

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“During our religious festivals or other festive occasions, our picnic parties are considered incomplete without Harmeet Singh and Tavindar Singh. We have to wait for them for months due to their engagements in cities,” tells Shah to PenPK.

Mr. Shah says that they are five childhood close friends: Bakhtawar Shah, Ikram, Musharaf Shah and Mushriq who always get together once in a month at least for picnics or on special occasions.

Harmeet Singh is a news anchor at Public TV from Shangla. Speaking to PenPK, he said that when his younger brother Parvendar Singh was murdered in Peshawar, the Muslim community of their village reached the site of the incident before he or his family members could and they staged a protest in Peshawar against the murder.

The local Police later found that Parvindar Singh was killed by his fiancée with the help of her boyfriend. They had a dispute over an issue of a payment which led to the unfortunate incident.

Harmeet Singh further said that they were never barred from entering the mosques in his village and even his elder brother was a member of the local Jirga and participated in political activities.

“We enjoy complete religious freedom in the town where we live and have never felt being a minority as the Muslims treat us with respect and give us great importance,” he said and added that they also join fateha on the demise of a Muslim with their Muslim neighbors for three days.

Gyan Parkash has served as a medical technician for 39 years in the Health Department at Shangla and after his retirement, he spends most of his time in his medical store in Chakesar village.

Speaking to us, he said that the local Muslim community had allocated land for the establishment of Shamshangath and a graveyard for the burial of dead bodies of children.

He said whenever a person dies in their  family, the members of the Muslim community attend the final rituals till cremation or burial and remain present with the bereaved family during the days of mourning.

Responding to a question, Mr. Parkash said that they had never faced any sort of discrimination from the Muslim community, adding that they had rather received a great amount of respect.

Gyan Parkash is also a member of the Village Council in Manz Hujra village council of Chakesar. He said that they had close friends in the Muslim community and live like a family in Chakesar, adding that the migration of their families to cities was temporary for the purpose of children’s education and better job opportunities.

Speaking to PenPK, Deputy Commissioner Shangla Ziaur Rehman, said that they had conducted a special Khuli Kechari (open court) for the minorities in Chakesar to hear their issues.

He said some issues were addressed on the spot by issuing directives to the Line Departments and other issues which did not fall in the domain of the District Administration Shangla were forwarded to the Provincial Government.

DC Shangla said that the Sikh minority has been living in complete harmony and dignity in Shangla and he had never received any form of complaint regarding any sort of discrimination from them.

Bakht Alam Khan, Tehsil Chairman of Chakesar, said that he had received Local Government funds, which he would utilize for the maintenance and renovation of the Sikh community’s Shamshangath. He said that the water supply issue would also be addressed as per their demands.