New Delhi: India recently summoned a senior diplomat from the Pakistani high commission to lodge a “strong protest” over attacks on members of the Sikh community over the last three months in two cities.
As per official sources, four such incidents have taken place between April and June 2023 and India has taken serious note of these incidents.
“Following the recent attacks on Sikh community members in Pakistan, India summoned a senior diplomat of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest against these incidents,” they said.
India apparently stated that investigation reports of the attacks on members of the Sikh community should be shared. “It has also been conveyed that Pakistan should ensure the safety and security of its minorities, who live in constant fear of religious persecution”.
On March 31, a 35-year-old Sikh shopkeeper was killed in the outskirts of Peshawar by an assailant inside his shop.
In April, a 50-year-old Sikh man who was on his morning walk in Lahore’s Nawab Town neighbourhood was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle.
In the same month, two more Sikh men were shot and killed in Peshawar. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had claimed that “Pakistan’s enemies” were responsible for the incident and vowed to “eradicate them from the face of the earth”, Dawn newspaper had reported.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had said in May that that was “not the first time that the Sikh community in KP has been targeted and we demand that the KP police identify and arrest the perpetrators promptly”.
In the latest incident, another Sikh shopkeeper was shot down by unknown men in Peshawar on June 25. This was after an attack on another Sikh, but who managed to survive with minor injuries.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded a “swift investigation” into the incident.
HRCP strongly condemns the killing of two Sikh men in Peshawar in the space of 48 hours and demands a swift investigation into the incident. pic.twitter.com/F5VDrBQ8ff
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) June 26, 2023