Another Sikh Gunned Down In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

[Mehtab Singh]

By Riaz AhmadPublished: September 6, 2014

PESHAWAR: A Sikh shopkeeper was shot dead in Peshawar on Saturday the third such attack against the community in a month.

Twenty-five-year-old Harjeet Singh was shot dead in Nothia, Peshawar within the limits of Gulberg police station.

Harjeet was taken to Lady Reading Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, police official Ijaz Khan told The Express Tribune.

Ijaz said the attack was targeted.

On August 6, a Sikh teenager was killed in a similar incident, injuring two. Hundreds of Sikh residents of Peshawar protested in response, burning tyres and blocking roads.

In another incident on September 4, just two days ago, another member of the Sikh community was stabbed in his shop in Mardan.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/758752/another-sikh-gunned-down-in-khyber-pakhtunkhwa/

[JSinghnz]

Very sad and shocking news.

[Mehtab Singh]

Five Sikh families leave for India

File photo of members of the Sikh community in Pakistan. PHOTO: ONLINE

PESHAWAR:

Against the backdrop of escalating violence against religious minority communities, at least five Sikh families have left Pakistan for India, citing financial woes, a family elder revealed on Thursday.

Baba Amarjit Singh, a community senior in Peshawar, said that migrating families traded in commodities including textiles with India and had moved to seek better business opportunities.

I dont like going to India as our Guru was born and buried in Pakistan. The Indian government is always suspicious of our presence, he said, expressing displeasure over their decision.

Members of the community have to meet stringent visa requirements for a pilgrimage to the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines, in Amritsar, India.

Most pilgrims are allowed to visit India after they submit a written undertaking that they would not seek asylum and would return to Pakistan within 30 days.

We have to make a group of at least 200 people to visit the Golden Temple and our visas are limited to just one week, Amarjit said.

Narrating the ordeal, he said, there is no respect for Sikhs travelling from Pakistan and its not easy for us to visit Amritsar, he added.

Sikhs form a tiny community in the country, with a sizeable number of them concentrated in Punjab and Peshawar. Despite efforts by Islamabad, the current wave of migration seems to be continuing as most minority communities leave the country bearing tales of discrimination, mistreatment and widespread uncertainty.

Citing financial difficulties, Baba Gurpal Singh, another elder in the area, said that several Sikh families have migrated to Hassanabdal and Nankana Sahib.

There are a variety of reasons for leaving Pakistan but the main problem is financial uncertainty and the deteriorating law and order situation, he said.

Despite Lahore being a larger city, he said that lack of security and the atmosphere of fear stalks minority communities, even in urban areas.

Some people have gone back to Tirah in search of better business prospects and the number of Sikh families which was 700 has fallen to 450, he explained.

We are a peaceful community but the unrest in Peshawar is forcing us to leave, despite the attitude of general public towards Sikhs in the area being very supportive, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2014.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/761224/five-sikh-families-leave-for-india/