PESHAWAR: Unknown gunmen on a motorcycle yesterday shot dead a herbal medicine trader from the minority Sikh community in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, officials said.
The shooting took place in the congested Nothia Bazaar of Peshawar which has seen frequent bomb blasts and suicide attacks by Taliban militants active in the tribal belt along Afghan border.
“Harjeet Singh, 28, a herbal medicine trader, was shot dead outside his shop,” senior police official Faisal Shahzad said.
Shahzad said that nobody immediately claimed the responsibility for the shooting, but several militant groups were active and now targeting minorities to create unrest.
Local police station chief Dost Mohammad confirmed the incident and details.
Minorities in Muslim-majority Pakistan make up some two percent of the country’s population of 180 million.
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a monotheistic religion that originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region.
A Sikh is a disciple/subject of the Guru. According to Article I of the ‘Rehat Maryada’ (the Sikh code of conduct and conventions), a Sikh is defined as ‘any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh; Guru Granth Sahib; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru’. Usually male Sikhs have ‘Singh’ (Lion), and female Sikhs have ‘Kaur’ (Princess) as their middle or last names.
The greater Punjab region is the historical homeland of the Sikhs, although significant communities exist around the world.
AFP
