Afghan Sikh Heroine & 2011 UNESCO Prize laureate
Senator Dr Anarkali Kaur Honaryar
Anarkali Kaur modern day “Mata Bhago Kaur”
FRANCE: Afghan women's rights campaigner is the winners of a United Nations award recognizing her outstanding contributions to the promotion of tolerance and non-violence, the UN announced.Anarkali Kaur, defender of the rights of women and minority groups in Afghanistan received the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence, was honoured in a special ceremony on 9 December 2011 at the agency's headquarters in Paris.
Ms Honaryar is honoured for her work helping women who suffer from domestic abuse, forced marriages and gender discrimination and for her commitment to promote the ideals of human dignity, human rights, mutual respect and tolerance in her country.
Since graduating from Kabul University, Anarkali Kaur has been working for Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AICHR), which has offices throughout Afghanistan. In addition to women's causes, Anarkali has become known for advocating the rights of Afghanistan's religious minorities.
In May 2009 she was chosen by Radio Free Europe's "Person of the Year". The award has made her a household name in Kabul. As a member of Afghanistan's minority Sikh community, Ms. Honaryar's constant battles to protect the rights of the needy had earned her the epithet, the ‘Sherni' (lioness) of Afghanistan.
After the parliamentary elections of 2010, Anarkali Kaur became the first non-Muslim woman member of Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament. Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar, is a Sikh and Senator in Afghan Parliament; a trained dentist managing to achieve outstanding level of education in this war-torn nation. She is one of only about 3,000 Sikhs and Hindus who remain in Afghanistan today.
The UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize is awarded every two years and was created in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, with the support of the Indian writer and diplomat Madanjeet Singh.
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History of Afghan Sikhs & Hindus
A talk show on the History of Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan.
Gaining understanding of their history, contributions and
historical as well as contemporary challenges faced by this community.
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Expert opinions are expressed by 2 key Afghan Sikh Scholars:
- Khajinder Singh, a Delhi based Afghan intellectual. After doing extensive research, he has written a book on the history of minorities in Afghanistan. He is currently Vice President of a Gurdwara in Delhi and appears regularly in Zee Punjabi TV in India. He is also one of the representatives of Afghan Sikh Refugees in India. Khajinder Singh has, in past, put up a Photo Exhibition of Gudware Afghanistan in Delhi.
- Dr Joginder Singh Ji is an Afghan Sikh exiled in the UK. He is a former member of National Assembly of Afghanistan (Meshrano Jirga (Pashto: ?????????)) equivalent to the Upper Houses of Parliament in UK. He is currently in process of establishing a UK division of Khalsa Diwan Afghanistan, a non-political body which concerns itself with Religious, Educational and Cultural issues. All activities of Khalsa Diwan Afghanistan are published in fortnightly Punjabi newsletter called ''Khalsa Diwan Paigam''.