In another distressing incident of Sikh harassment in Pakistan, unidentified individuals reportedly entered a gurdwara located in Sukkur, Sindh province, and engaged in offensive behaviour while forcing Sikh devotees to halt their religious prayer, known as kirtan.
The incident was captured in a video shared by Puneet Singh Chadhok, the president of the Indian World Forum, who alleged that the miscreants not only disrupted the prayer but also desecrated the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism.
Chadhok further claimed that the devotees were threatened with death if they did not comply with the intruders' demands. Disturbingly, those responsible for the incident were reportedly released from police custody without a thorough investigation.
Ajay Singh, one of the individuals leading the kirtan, described the chaos that unfolded inside the gurdwara when the loudspeaker abruptly stopped working.
He expressed his dismay at the treatment of minorities in Pakistan, emphasizing that their community had been peacefully practising their faith in the gurdwara for a century without causing any inconvenience to others.
Chadhok urgently called upon the Prime Minister's Office and India's Ministry of External Affairs to intervene and address the situation.
Adding to the concerns, Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal, the national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kisan Morcha, alleged on Twitter that the Pakistan police had refused to register a case against the accused, who were allegedly shielded by the local administration.
Grewal appealed to Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar, and BJP chief JP Nadda, to provide support to Sikhs residing in Pakistan.
This unfortunate incident is not an isolated event, as the Sikh community in Pakistan has endured several attacks in recent times. On June 24, unidentified armed men opened fire and killed 34-year-old Manmohan Singh, a member of the Sikh community.
Additionally, on June 23, another Sikh man named Tarlug Singh was shot and injured in the Dagbari area of the provincial capital. In May, Sardar Singh, 63, was fatally shot in the head by assailants in Lahore.
Following the attacks, India summoned a top diplomat from Pakistan's High Commission in New Delhi to express strong opposition to the current happenings in the neighbouring country.
India has demanded that Pakistani authorities conduct a sincere investigation into these violent attacks on the Sikh community and share the findings. Furthermore, they have stressed the importance of Pakistan ensuring the safety of its minorities, who continue to live in fear of religious persecution.
