President Karzai has signed a legislative decree reserving one seat on National Assembly for Sikh and Hindu minorities. Based on Article 79 of the Constitution, which says, “During the recess of the House of Representatives, the government shall, in case of an immediate need, issue legislative decrees, except in matters related to budget and financial affairs…” The decree has to go to National Assembly after they come from summer break. Within 30 days, if not approved, the decree will become null.

There is a small minority of Sikhs and Hindus living in Afghanistan for centuries. They number over 2000. They are indigenous sons of the soil, but have been kept isolated from national representation due to lack of numeric strength. Recently when parliament approved the election law, they rejected the reserved seat. It was one of the shameful decisions not only on behalf of the parliamentarians, but the entire civil society and media who kept silence on the act of bigotry.

National non-territorial minorities, no matter how small they are, need guaranteed protection with reserved representation. Democratic values in all diverse countries require the rights of minorities to be protected through special measures apart from proportional or majority-based arrangements.

Unfortunately the crippled democratic process in post-2001 Afghanistan has failed to take into consideration the requirements for protection of minority rights to be constitutionally guaranteed. Of course with the number of their votes, Hindus and Sikhs will not be able to send an MP in parliament, nor a single member can play any role in resolving issues of the respective communities. However, democracy is not only about one-person one-vote, but inclusiveness and tolerance. Symbolic representation plays significant role in perception of the Hindu and Sikh minorities feeling part of the nation—if such an identity is to be built in this country. Unfortunately the mentality based on myth of majority totalitarianism is not only limited to certain historically power-privileged groups, but all entities when it comes to ‘others’.

Despite an experience of totalitarian history of dominance by one political entity, majority of representatives rejected the proposal of a reserved seat for Sikh and Hindus in parliament.  The civil society, apart from token some statements, kept silence and media did not deem the issue important enough to be raised in talk shows. The parliament should now approve the Presidential decree and protect the due representation right of Hindu and Sikh communities of Afghanistan.