RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
December 30, 2016
Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan have demanded authorities investigate attacks against members of their communities, after a local Sikh community leader was shot dead in the northern city of Kunduz.
Narmang Singh, a shopkeeker also known as Dilsoz, was killed by gunmen on his way to work on December 29, the second deadly attack against members of the Sikh community in Afghanistan since September.
Senator Anarkali Honaryar, who represents the Hindu and Sikh minorities in the upper house of Afghanistan’s parliament, says the attack has deeply affected the communities.
“The incident has left a serious negative psychological impact on the Hindus and Sikhs. We urge authorities to investigate this incident as well as past attacks against the Hindus and Sikhs,” Honaryar told RFE/RL on December 30.
Police in Kunduz say three suspects were arrested in connection with Singh’s killing.
On September 30, a Sikh man was abducted from his home and shot dead by suspected militants in the eastern city of Jalalabad. The killing sparked protests by the Sikh community.
A vast majority of Afghanistan’s Hindus and Sikhs — whose were estimated to number around 220,000 in the 1980s — have left the conflict-torn country in the past three decades.