sikhpride

She led the campaign for the civil rights of the embattled communities who stayed on, including one to get crematoriums built for their dead. “Some people still think we are foreigners. They think we are Indians who are working and living here for a while. But we are Afghans too, and we should have all the rights and opportunities that other Afghans have”, says the demure yet outspoken doctor. She became a member of the Loya Jirga which chose Afghanistan’s interim government after the decline of Taliban, and also an Afghan Constitution Committee member. In 2006, she became a member of Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. In 2010, Honaryar was elected for the country’s Meshranoi Jirga (Parliament), and she was the first non-Muslim woman to achieve this milestone, she stayed on this post for 5 years (Till mid 2015). As a Sikh, she has been helping the people in different ways, particularly the women who suffer from domestic abuse, forced marriages and gender discrimination. She has a deep sense of commitment to promote the ideals of human dignity, human rights, mutual respect and tolerance in her country. That is why she was awarded with the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and NonViolence. She was also chosen by Radio Free Europe’s Afghan chapter as person of the year in 2009. As a Sikh it is her ardent desire to visit Golden Temple in Amritsar, but that opportunity has not yet come. It is, therefore, duty of all the Sikhs to pray for her desired visit so that she may get an opportunity to interact with her co-religionists and Punjabis.