Pakistan gets first Sikh minister in Punjab province
Lahore: Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, an influential minority leader, has been sworn in as a provincial minister, making him the first Sikh to occupy a ministerial position in post-partition Punjab. Belonging to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, Arora has returned to the Lahore provincial assembly for the third term after winning the February 8 polls. Arora, 49, was recently elected Pardhan (president) of the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee and also as the ambassador to the Kartarpur Corridor.
He was administered the oath along with 17 others on Wednesday. Arora has been allotted the portfolio of minorities of Punjab province in the cabinet of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, incidentally, also the first woman to hold the post in the country. According to sources, Arora has close connections with the military establishment.
“Singh's brother is also looking after the affairs of the Karatarpur Corridor," another member representing the Christian minority community of Punjab, Khalil Tahir Sindhu told Press Trust of India on Thursday. Born on October 11, 1974 at Nankana Sahib and hailing from the Narowal district, Arora was also the first-ever Sikh member of the Punjab provincial assembly taking oath in 2013. He has done post-graduation in social enterprise and studied at the Government College, Lahore, Punjab University, Lahore and Harvard Business School in the US.
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