There is no security for religious minorities in Pakistan
“There is no security for religious minorities in Pakistan,” said Tony. A member of the tiny Sikh religious minority in Pakistan.
“The conditions in Peshawar are worsening by the day,” Sahib Singh, a Sikh elder, told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal. “That has forced members of our community to move.”
The TTP has intensified its insurgency against Islamabad since the Afghan Taliban, an ideological and organizational ally, seized power in Kabul in 2021. The TTP’s growing attacks in Pakistan have fueled insecurity and bolstered other Islamist militant groups.
“Fear and anxiety have turned members of our community into nomads,” Gorpal Singh, a Sikh activist based in Peshawar, told Radio Mashaal. “We are just moving from place to place.”
“We do not want money or jobs from the government,” he added. “We just want an immediate end to the targeted killings of our community members and want the government to compensate us for the demolition of our houses.”Pakistani leaders have promised to protect members of religious minorities from militants and Muslim mobs, which have carried out lynchings and destroyed places of worship. But minority communities say the authorities have not done enough.
“Violent attacks, including targeted killings, abductions, extortion, forced conversions to Islam, and forced marriages pose major threats to the Sikh community in Pakistan,” she said.
“The growing intolerance for religious diversity has forced many Sikhs to migrate to other countries in search of safety and freedom to practice their faith without fear,” added Mohammad, who is a director at the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington.
Read more https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-minority-sikhs-flee-khyber-pakhtunkhwa/32614334.html
