Badal condemns Sikh man's killing in Peshawar, urges PM Modi to take up issue with Imran Khan

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday condemned the killing of a Sikh man in Peshawar and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan to ensure safety of the community in the neighbouring country.

Badal said the rising attacks on the Sikh community are a direct outcome of the "anti-minority policies of Pakistan".

The killing of the Sikh man took place a day after a mob reportedly attacked Nankana Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan.

In a statement here, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president urged Modi to "take up the issue with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure the safety of Sikh brethren in the neighbouring country".

Badal said it was condemnable that a day after a mob attacked gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib, a Sikh man had been murdered in Peshawar.

The killing of Islamabad reporter Harmeet Singh's younger brother in Peshawar by unknown assailants proves that innocent people are being targeted indiscriminately to instill a sense of fear among minorities, he said.

"The victim had come from Malaysia for his wedding and became a target of hate crime currently on the rise in Pakistan," he said.

Badal said the killing shows the extent of religious persecution Sikhs and other minorities are facing in Pakistan.

"Rising attacks on religious places as well as against Sikhs and other minorities in Pakistan are a direct outcome of the anti-minority policies of Pakistan," he said.

It is because of these policies that Islamic fundamentalists have become a law unto themselves, persecuting minorities and indulging in forced conversions, he said.