Srinagar, July 06: Jammu and Kashmir government has said the minorities in the state must have an equal role in governance so that they do not feel "neglected". "Even if we give you stars, you would never feel comfortable because of the inherent minority syndrome for which you need to have due representation in administration and government," State Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh said at a gathering of Sikhs at Baramulla to celebrate 408th birth anniversary of Guru Hargobind Singh yesterday. Beigh said the ruling People's Democratic Party did not believe in appeasement of minorities to secure votes but at the same time they must have an equal role in governance, so that they did not feel neglected.

Allaying the fears of Sikhs, the minister said the coalition government would give the community their due share. Beigh referred to PDP mandate to T S Bajwa for Rajya Sabha in the last elections for the upper house of Parliament as an example. Even the lone Sikh legislator in the state assembly Manjit Singh of BSP was offered to join the ministry but he was not allowed by the party supremo Kanshi Ram, he said.

The minister hailed the community for giving a befitting reply to the enemies of peace and secular fabric of the state by staying back in the valley.

To force the migration of Sikhs from the Valley, massacres of the community were engineered at Chattisinghpora and Mehjoo Nagar by the vested interests, Beigh said. Condemning the attack on rural development minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Beigh said enemies of peace do not want the government functionaries to reach out to the people to mitigate their problems.

Bureau Report