Sikhs in Pak demand release of kidnapped men

The brutal beheading of two Sikhs by the Taliban in Pakistan's restive tribal belt has sparked demands for adequate security for the minority community as they sought the release of other members kidnapped by the militants.

A day after the recovery of the beheaded bodies of Mahal Singh and Jaspal Singh in Pakistan's tribal belt, a minority welfare official asked the government to provide security to the Sikhs living in the country's restive tribal belt.

Another two to four Sikhs are still being held by the Taliban.

Jaspal Singh was kidnapped over a month ago with two other Sikhs named Surjeet Singh and Gurvinder Singh from Bara sub-division of Khyber Agency.

Evacuee Trust Property Board chairman Syed Asif Hashmi asked the Interior Ministry to provide adequate security to members of the Sikh community living in the Khyber tribal region.

"Even these minorities are Pakistanis," Hashmi said.

Leaders of Pakistan's Sikh community called on the government to negotiate with the Taliban for the safe release of other Sikh traders in the custody of the militants.

Pakistan Minority Council chairman Sardar Bishon Singh and Pakistan Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee chief Sardar Sham Singh said the federal and North West Frontier Province governments should hold talks with the Taliban for the release of abducted Sikhs.

The community leaders also called on authorities to provide security to Sikhs, especially those living in the troubled northwestern city of Peshawar.

"The Taliban had demanded Rs 30 million from the families of the abducted men and they killed Jaspal Singh after they did not get the ransom," Sardar Bishon Singh said.

He said the Sikhs had secured the release of another member of the community who was kidnapped about six months ago by paying Rs 1.2 crore as ransom to the Taliban in Aurakzai Agency.

"We had pooled resources to pay the ransom in that case, but unfortunately we could not do the same in this case," Bishon Singh said.

Leading rights activist Ansar Burney condemned the beheading of the Sikhs. He demanded the immediate arrest of the killers and their supporters, saying elements in "some political parties" were backing the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Sardar Bishon Singh said Sikhs living in the Khyber and Aurakzai tribal regions had fled to Peshawar, Lahore and Nankana Sahib when the Taliban took over their properties about eight months ago.

He said the Sikh traders were kidnapped when they went from Peshawar to Khyber Agency about a month ago to collect some outstanding dues from merchants in the tribal belt.

Meanwhile, officials of Indian Sikh bodies like the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee telephoned their Pakistani counterparts and condoled the death of the Sikhs.

One group announced it would pay Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the dead.

There are about 25,000 Sikhs living in different parts of Pakistan, including the militancy-hit northwest and tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.