Pakistan: Sikh man killed by unidentified gunmen in Peshawar; community group sees ethnic cleansing conspiracy

This was the second incident of armed attack on a Sikh man in the Yakka Toot area in the last 48 hours. Manmohan Singh, 32, was travelling to interior city area of Peshawar from Rasheed Garhi, a suburban locality of the city, when came under attack from armed men, who fired at him near Guldara Chowk Kakshal.

Islamabad:Unidentified gunmen killed a Sikh shopkeeper in Pakistan's Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province in presumably one of presumably targeted attacks against minority communities in the country.

This was the second incident of armed attack on a Sikh man in the Yakka Toot area in the last 48 hours. Manmohan Singh, 32, was travelling to interior city area of Peshawar from Rasheed Garhi, a suburban locality of the city, when came under attack from armed men, who fired at him near Guldara Chowk Kakshal.

Soon after the incident, Singh was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival by the doctors, police said. Earlier, another Sikh man was injured after he sustained bullet wounds on his legs on Friday. Peshawar is home to about 15,000 Sikhs, who mostly reside in the Jogan Shah neighbourhood of the provincial capital Peshawar.

Sikhs based Peshawar are primarily involved in business. A renowned Sikh 'hakeem' (Unani medicine practitioner) was shot dead by unidentified gunmen inside his clinic in Peshawar last year.

United Sikhs, a forum of the community, which is aggrieved at the killing, said its members will meet the Pakistan consulate with other groups to seek the state department's intervention to protect the rights of minorities in Pakistan.

"We are devastated by these targeted attacks on our men in Pakistan. These attacks are not only horrific, but they are also a violation of human rights. We call on the Pakistani government to do everything in its power to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice," the group said.

The organisation termed "the pattern of killing" as very scary and said such acts are part of a 'nefarious conspiracy' to root out Sikh community from Pakistan.

Sikhs have been living as a minority in Pakistan since 1947. "Why there's an increasing attack on hard-working Sikhs? Who is behind them? What is the message? The Pakistan Government needs to investigate this on an emergency basis and put an immediate stop to this attempt of Ethnic Cleansing," it added.