Militants Attack Sikh Community In Peshawar, Kills One

Militants Attack Sikh Community In Peshawar, Kills One

Islamabad: Militants attacked members of the Sikh community in the northwestern city of
Peshawar on Wednesday killing one on the spot while injuring two others.
Police officials said that the attack occurred at a busy marketplace in Hashtnagari area of
Peshawar when members of the Sikh community had just opened their respective cosmetic
shops.
The deceased was identified as Jagmohan Singh while the injured, Manmit Singh and Param
Singh, were said to be in critical condition in the citys Lady Reading hospital.
Angry members of the Sikh community blocked the main Grand Trunk Road linking Peshawar
with the capital city of Islamabad with protesters shouting slogans against the government and
demanding justice. They also burnt tyres before marching towards the chief ministers office
while carrying the dead body. Following assurances by CM Pervez Khattak during a meeting
with 14-member delegation of Sikhs that foolproof security will be provided to the minority
community, the protesters ended their protest.
At least 520 Sikh families live in Peshawar with 380 of them living in a locality known as
Mohallah Jogan Shah. Several of them migrated from the tribal regions when Pakistani Taliban
established their control there. In the past decade, Pakistan has increasingly become an unsafe
place for minorities. In recent years, members of Christian, Sikh, Hindu and Ahamadiyya
communities were brutally targeted across the country.
Two Hindu brothers, Ashok Kumar Malhi and Heralal Malhi, were shot dead after they resisted a
robbery attempt while returning home from their confectionary shop last Thursday night in
Umerkot town of Sindh province. Recently an old woman and her grand daughter belonging to
Ahmaddiyya community were burnt alive in Gujranwala city of Punjab province while six
members of Sikh community were shot dead this year in different parts of the country.
After a number of kidnappings from among the Sikh community in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
and other tribal areas, some members have decided to wind up their shops in KP and relocate
to Rawalpindi.