Time To Retrospect For The Pakistan Government

Persecution of minority Hindus and Sikhs and their forcible conversion to Islam is not new in Pakistan. But the broad daylight brutal killings appear to have begun a new era of targeted killings.

The back-to-back gruesome killings of the members of the minority Hindu and Sikh communities in Pakistan have spread a wave of fear and insecurity among them which calls for serious attention of the Pakistan government to ensure the safety of its minority communities.

On Friday (March 31), a Sikh businessman Dayal Singh was shot dead at his grocery shop in Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, and a day earlier, a renowned  Hindu ophthalmologist Dr. Birbal Ginani was killed in Karachi in Sindh province of Pakistan.

Persecution of minority Hindus and Sikhs and their forcible conversion to Islam is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan. But the broad daylight brutal killings appear to have begun a new era of targeted killings and the government has failed to provide any protection against such assassinations.

Neither a militant group has taken the responsibility for the killings of Dayal Singh and Dr. Birbal Ginani nor the police have arrested any of the assailants.

Sikhs and Hindus living in the majority Muslim areas are so frightened after these incidents that many families have started shifting to the cities having a considerable population of their community, said activist Radesh Singh Tony.

 A small businessman Dayal Singh and Dr. Birbal Ginani became targets of forces inimical to peace due to their compassionate nature. Dayal Singh used to give Iftar parties to the local Muslims while Dr. Ginani used to provide free medical treatment to a large number of patients in Karachi.

Sikh businessman Dayal  Singh was shot dead at his shop at Dir Colony Road, Atta Mohammad Garhi village near Peshawar on Friday by unidentified motorists while Dr. Ginani was shot dead while he was traveling in his car on the Lyari Expressway in Karachi on Thursday.

 Last year on May 15, Dayal Singh’s two relatives Kuljit Singh and Ranjit Singh were also shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Peshawar, said Radesh Singh.

"Government should look into these incidents and ensure that sufficient arrangements were made for the security of minority communities," said Saroop Singh, a member of Pakistan's National Commission for Minorities (NCM).

These incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. Every day Hindus especially those living in the Sindh province of Pakistan are persecuted, and forcibly converted to Islam. In case of refusal, they are brutally killed.