Sikh holy book is refugee

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Under a blue cloth lies one refugee from the war in Afghanistan that successfully crossed the closed border into Pakistan. It is a book.

Not just any book. It is the holiest book of the Sikh community in Afghanistan's eastern Jalalabad and rests under its special cover in a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, down a twisting network of alleys in the heart of the western city of Peshawar.

The book, the Guru Granth Sahib, was sent out of Afghanistan for safekeeping by the dwindling Sikh community, fearing for the future of the country as U.S. warplanes rained bombs and missiles on the ruling Taliban.
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"This is the most holy book for Sikhs and is present in every gurdwara. Sikhs read it every morning and again in the evening." said Sona Singh.
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Sikhism, a monotheistic religion founded in the 15th century in India's Punjab, was influenced by both Hinduism and Sufi Islam.
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Sikh leaders estimate about 1,000 to 2,000 Sikhs and Hindus lived in Afghanistan before the current crisis, down from 50,000 before Afghanistan spiralled into strife over two decades ago.

Thousands fled in the 1990s during fighting between the mujahideen (holy warriors) and Soviet-backed former president Najibulla civil war that left much of the capital Kabul in ruins.
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He said relations between the Sikh community and the Taliban had been difficult but mostly not threatening. "Only when they asked minorities to label themselves, that was a worry."

In May, the Taliban decreed that all Hindus had to wear yellow identifying badges, saying it was a Muslim tradition dating from the era of the Prophet Mohammad.

They said the order aimed to protect Hindus so they would not be bothered by religious police enforcing the Taliban's hardline interpretation of Islam. But it drew condemnation from foreign governments that saw parallels with Nazi laws that forced Jews to wear yellow Stars of David.

The order did not apply to Sikhs because they were already identified by their distinctive turbans.
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