India expressed “grave concern” at the murder of two Sikh businessmen in Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, calling on Islamabad to launch an investigation into the “deplorable incident.”
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India has lodged a “strong protest” with the Pakistani government that he said is “sadly” not a “rare occurrence” of minorities being targeted. He thus called on the Sharif government to “look after the safety, security, and well-being of its minority communities.”
Similarly, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to bring up the issue with the Pakistani government and call for the protection of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan.
On Sunday, Ranjeet Singh and Kanwaljeet Singh were attacked by two unidentified armed men in their shops in the Sarband area. Soon after the incident, the IS’s Khorasan unit, ISKP, which primarily operates in South and Central Asia, claimed responsibility for the attack via its news service, Amaaq.
Local police, too, confirmed that it was a terrorist attack, revealing that the Counter-Terrorism Department had registered a case against the suspects, who will soon be arrested upon acquisition of CCTV footage.
Following the incident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his strong condemnation of the attack and urged the Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Mehmood Khan, to launch an investigation into the incident. He also called for the protection of the citizen’s properties and lives, specifically of minorities. Sharif further highlighted that such incidents are a product of “enmity with Pakistan” and vowed to eliminate such threats.
Strongly condemn the killing of our Sikh citizens in Peshawar, KP. Pakistan belongs to all its people. Have ordered a high level inquiry to ascertain facts. The killers will be arrested & meted out exemplary punishment. My most sincere sympathies to the bereaved families.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 15, 2022
Along the same lines, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah called on local authorities to provide details about the investigation. He said, “The [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] government has terribly failed at protecting the minorities.” Furthermore, he resolved to provide all necessary support to the provincial government.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also expressed regret about the incident and reassured that his Pakistan People’s Party is an inclusive “representative party” that would not abandon the Sikh community. He said, “No one will be allowed to disturb inter-faith harmony in the country and harm national unity.”
Chief Minister Khan called for immediate action to be taken to identify and punish the perpetrators of the incident. He said that the attack was a “conspiracy to destabilise Peshawar’s environment and inter-faith harmony.” To this end, he pledged to ensure that his government would not allow such attempts to disrupt communal peace to succeed.
Meanwhile, several people joined members of the Sikh community in protesting against the brutal murder of two Sikh businessmen in Peshawar by Islamic State (IS) terrorists and called on authorities to take measures to protect religious minorities in the region.
While showing their solidarity, locals in #Peshawar joins the Sikh Community in protest against the killing of two Sikhs in #Pakistan by extortionists.#PeshawarSikh@CMShehbaz pic.twitter.com/uNBqrETm0J
— Ravinder Singh Robin ਰਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ رویندرسنگھ روبن (@rsrobin1) May 15, 2022
The demonstrations were led by angry members of the minority Sikh community, who blocked the Peshawar-Islamabad road to highlight their opposition to the incident. They held up placards and raised slogans calling for an end to targeted killings. The protestors also demanded compensation for the families of the victims.
Speaking to The Indian Express, a protestor remarked that the Sikh community in Peshawar “had no patience left to tolerate more of such targeted killings.” He added that the terrorists had “no fear of any law and order” and often attacked Sikhs “simply because they are religious minorities.”
Another local member of the community informed that such incidents have been on the rise over the past decade, with over 10 terrorist attacks against the Sikh community since 2014.
Against this backdrop, Ameer Singh, the President of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, urged the federal and provincial governments to give the assailants the “harshest possible punishment.” He revealed that out of the 15,000-20,000 Sikhs who are still in Pakistan, 500 families live in Peshawar.
The All Pakistan Ulema Council, an umbrella organisation of several Muslim leaders and clerics, also condemned the incident. The organisation’s leader, Tahir Ashrafi, called on the Peshawar government to protect non-Muslims and expeditiously arrest the assailants.
Likewise, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan highlighted that this was not the first such incident against the Sikh community in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In this regard, it urged the region’s authorities to “make it clear that violence against religious minorities will not be tolerated.”
The government must make it clear that violence against religious minorities will not be tolerated. 2/2
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) May 15, 2022
Mohsin Dawar, a member of the National Assembly from North Waziristan, attributed the rising incidents of attacks against the Sikh community to the country’s “suicidal policies in Afghanistan” to support the Taliban, which he says has emboldened terrorist groups in both countries. He opined, “Be it TTP, Afghan Taliban or ISKP, they are all the products of a terror supporting mindset who have used the resources of the state to nurture terrorism.”
I Strongly condemn the gruesome killing of two Sikh youths in Peshawar Pakistan. I also request our Foreign Minister @DrSJaishankar ji to speak to Pakistan to raise the concern and ensure safety of Hindu and Sikh minorities residing in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/cEMw5h3PuY
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) May 15, 2022
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s capital Peshawar houses 15,000 Sikhs, who mostly live in the Jogan Shah neighbourhood. Most members of the community are businessmen who trade in spices or medicines.
Sunday’s attack is the latest in a series of attacks against the community in Peshawar. Last year in September, Satwant Singh, a Sikh medicine practitioner, was gunned down by ISKP assailants in his clinic in the city. In the same year, Sikh news anchor Ravinder Singh was also killed. Similarly, in 2018, another prominent Sikh community leader, Charanjit Singh, was shot down in an attack. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s National Assembly member was also killed in 2016 in Peshawar.
Apart from the Sikh community, the ISKP has also targeted other religious minorities in Peshawar. In fact, in March, an explosion at a Shia mosque in Peshawar killed 62 and injured over 200. Apart from these constant attacks on the Shia community, they have also targeted other minorities, including Hindus and Christians, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region.
Peshawar has borne the brunt of several such attacks, not just by ISIS but also by the Taliban. In 2014, the Taliban orchestrated an attack wherein nine gunmen killed 148 civilians, including several children, at the Army Public School. Likewise, in October 2020, another Taliban attack killed eight students and injured 120 others after a timed explosive went off at a mosque in Dir Colony. Concerningly, these attacks are expected to become even more frequent with the Taliban rising to power in Afghanistan, allowing them to use Afghan soil to orchestrate attacks in Pakistan.