The Indian government issued an official summons to a senior diplomat of the Pakistan High Commission to lodge a strong protest over the recent incidents of attacks against members of the Sikh community in that country, sources said.
It has been conveyed to the diplomat that Pakistan should ensure the safety and security of its minorities who live in "constant fear of religious persecution", sources said.
Four incidents of attacks on Sikh community members have taken place between April and June and India has taken serious note of these incidents, they said.
"India has demanded that Pakistani authorities investigate these violent attacks on Sikh community with sincerity, and share the investigation reports," said a source.
India apparently stated that investigation reports of the attacks on members of the Sikh community should be shared. “It has also been conveyed that Pakistan should ensure the safety and security of its minorities, who live in constant fear of religious persecution”.
On March 31, a 35-year-old Sikh shopkeeper was killed in the outskirts of Peshawar by an assailant inside his shop.
In April, a 50-year-old Sikh man who was on his morning walk in Lahore’s Nawab Town neighbourhood was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle.
In the same month, two more Sikh men were shot and killed in Peshawar. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had claimed that “Pakistan’s enemies” were responsible for the incident and vowed to “eradicate them from the face of the earth”, Dawn newspaper had reported.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had said in May that that was “not the first time that the Sikh community in KP has been targeted and we demand that the KP police identify and arrest the perpetrators promptly”.
In the latest incident, another Sikh shopkeeper was shot down by unknown men in Peshawar on June 25. This was after an attack on another Sikh, but who managed to survive with minor injuries.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded a “swift investigation” into the incident. (with PTI inputs)
