Pakistan: Rights activists raise concern over targeted killing of minorities in Peshawar

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 4 : Minority rights activists have raised concern over the targeted killing of non-Muslims in Peshawar and have demanded that the provincial government take immediate steps to arrest the killers and to provide compensation to the families concerned, reported Dawn.

Haroon Sarabdyal, chairman of the Hindu Rights Movement of Pakistan, told reporters here on Monday that three people, including a member of the Hindu community, Dr Birbal Gen, had been killed in the country in the previous week.

He stated that Dr Birbal was a former Karachi Metropolitan Corporation senior director (health) who was assassinated by gunmen on his way home from his clinic on March 30 near Layari.

Similarly, Dyal Singh, a Sikh community member, was gunned down inside his shop in the Dir Colony area. Kashif Masih, a Christian station worker, was killed by unidentified men on his way home in the Peshtakhara area, as per Dawn.

He said, "The law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is grave, so non-Muslims have started shifting to the Punjab province."

Haroon claimed that at least 68 people from three minority communities (28 Sikhs, 30 Christians, and 10 Hindus) had been killed in targeted attacks, but that the perpetrators had not been apprehended.

He claimed that religious minorities were frequently subjected to violence, despite the fact that the country's Constitution guaranteed their rights, according to Dawn.

He said, "The government should take serious measures to unveil the real faces of the people involved in heinous crimes against non-Muslims as they're carried out under a well-orgsed conspiracy to disturb peace in the country."

He stated that everyone should work together to foil these plots and discourage anti-state elements.

The Hindu leader said, "The frequent incidents have caused serious unrest among non-Muslims and it is the duty of the provincial government to ensure our protection."

He stated that the federal government should fully implement the National Action Plan to end terrorism once and for all.

The vicar of All Saints Church in Peshawar, Shahzad Murad, condemned the latest terrorist attacks against non-Muslims and urged the government to protect those communities and compensate victim families of terrorism.

He told Dawn that members of minority communities were easy prey for anti-state forces.