Islamabad, June 20: A tragic incident has unfolded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where a Sikh couple serving at a gurdwara was shot dead. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the act, highlighting growing concerns over the safety of minorities and their places of worship.
The attack occurred when unidentified assailants opened fire inside the gurdwara located in the Khwaja Ganj Bazaar area of Mardan. The victims, 70-year-old Jagannath and his wife, were killed in the incident. Following the attack, the assailants fled the scene.
Expressing deep concern, the HRCP stated, “This incident raises serious questions about the security of religious minorities and their places of worship, as well as the circumstances surrounding the attack. Reports suggesting that the alleged assailants were connected to the site’s security raise the need for a thorough investigation and emphasize the necessity for stricter scrutiny and monitoring of the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling regarding the safety of religious minorities.”
The HRCP also questioned the District Police Officer (DPO) of Mardan for initially linking the incident to personal enmity. The commission expressed uncertainty about the basis for such a confident conclusion at the early stages of the investigation.
The commission has urged Pakistani authorities to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all possible angles of the case and hold the perpetrators accountable under the law.
Condemning the incident, the prominent organization Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), which advocates for minority rights, stated that this murder is an attack on the fragile assurances of safety for religious minorities in Pakistan.
In their statement, VOPM said, “This was not just an attack on two individuals; it was an assault on the weak promise of safety for religious minorities in Pakistan. Authorities have labeled it a ‘targeted attack,’ but such language has become almost mechanical in the face of recurring violence. What remains unchanged is the almost identical pattern: minorities are victims, places of worship are unsafe, assailants are unknown, and the investigation process rarely delivers justice. This cycle, from the 2022 Peshawar incident to today’s Mardan attack, continues to be alarmingly persistent.”
The organization further noted that this attack is not an isolated incident but part of a broader and deeply concerning pattern of violence against minorities in Pakistan.
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