ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Ramesh Singh Arora was given the minorities portfolio in Punjab province this week, making him the first Sikh to be appointed a minister in Pakistan.

Arora, a three-time Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) from Narowal, on Wednesday joined the cabinet of recently sworn in Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaf Sharif and was appointed as the provincial minister for minorities. 

Born in the city of Nakana Sahib in 1974, Arora has a postgraduate degree in entrepreneurship and SME Management from the Government College University and before joining politics had worked for the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction Programme in Pakistan. In 2008, he founded the Mojaz Foundation, which works to uplift the underprivileged and poor in Pakistan. He was recently also elected as chief of the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC).

“For the first time since partition [1947] a Sikh has been inducted into the cabinet of the Punjab province,” Arora said in an interview to the Indian Express. 

“I won’t just work for the safety and well-being of Sikhs but all minorities, including Hindus and Christians living in Pakistan.”

Explaining his plans as a minister for minorities he said:

“I have several plans for the welfare of minorities in Pakistan, especially Punjab. Though the Sikh Marriage Act was passed here, it is yet to be implemented. We will get it implemented. We will also bring a new Interfaith Harmony Policy so that all minorities, including Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and others, feel safe and secure. We will also ensure that the two percent quota for minority students in educational institutions of Pakistan is implemented in letter and spirit.”

Arora said his family had chosen to stay back in Pakistan instead of moving to India after partition.

“I was born in Nankana Sahib but later we moved to Narowal. My grandfather had chosen to stay back in Pakistan during the partition at the insistence of his dear friend,” the minister said. “Just for the sake of friendship, he had chosen to stay back.”

In Feb. 8 elections, Arora was re-elected as an MPA from Narowal, his hometown where Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak, is located. Last year, he was also appointed as the “Ambassador at large” for the Kartarpur Corridor. 

Arora said it was unfortunate that over four years since the launch of the Kartarpur Corridor in November 2019 to facilitate pilgrims from India with visa-free access to the Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, “the response has been lukewarm”.

“We will take all possible steps to encourage more people from India to visit Kartarpur via the corridor,” he said.