The first Sikh Television anchor of Pakistan Harmeet Singh is contemplating leaving the country after he allegedly received threats from the killers of his younger brother Ravinder Singh. Ravinder Singh was murdered in January last year by his fiancée’s boyfriend and one more person. Singh was brutally murdered in Peshawar when he had gone shopping for his wedding. His bullet-riddled body was found near Chamkini Police Station, the checkpoint of Khyber Agency.
According to reports, Harmeet Singh has been receiving threat calls from jail where one of the accused in his brother’s murder case is lodged. Threat calls coupled with police inaction have forced Singh to contemplate moving to some other country. “I will be left with no other option but to leave Pakistan for good if the police don’t take action against a murder accused. He is threatening me and my family”, Singh told Times of India yesterday. Singh reportedly said that migrating to India was not an option for him and that he would consider some other country.
Harmeet Singh’s younger brother was brutally murdered last year
Harmeet Singh’s younger brother Ravinder Singh (some reports also refer to him Parvendar Singh and Parwinder Singh) was killed by his fiancée Prem Kumari’s boyfriend Eijaz and another person Ibrahim. Prem Kumari and Eijaz had reportedly secured bail recently, however, Ibrahim is still lodged in the Peshawar jail.
Harmeet Singh said that he received a call from a government number from Peshawar jail and the person on the other side introduced himself as Mohammad Ibrahim. He said that Ibrahim threatened him to compromise in his brother’s murder case or face dire consequences. Singh said that he was shocked to see that Ibrahim had called using a government number.
Harmeet Singh has expressed fear that being from the minority community, he would not be able to pursue his brother’s case. He alleged that the authorities are going soft in the case as the accused are from the majority community. He said that he had filed a complaint with the police but no action has yet been taken. He said that he had appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Chief Justice to take notice of the case.
Persecution of minorities is a reality of Pakistan
Minorities in Pakistan face persecution on a routine basis with no redressal or relief from the authorities. There are reports almost every day of girls from minority communities being abducted and converted to Islam. Even the religious sites of minorities are not safe and every other day a temple or a church or a gurudwara is attacked.
