A Hindu trader has been killed by unidentified armed men in Noshki town of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, according to media reports. The incident occurred on August 21, Friday. Some unidentified armed men barged into the trader’s shop in Qadirabad Stop area of Noshki Bazaar. When he offered resistance, they opened fire and fled, leaving the trader dead on the spot, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The deceased was identified as Rakesh Kumar. Member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly Gurpal Singh condemned the killing, terming it a cowardly act by anti-state and anti-Balochistan elements.
In a statement on August 22, Saturday, he said, “The Hindu community has been an integral part of Balochistan for centuries and has repeatedly demonstrated its loyalty to Balochistan”. He added that hostile elements would never succeed in creating hatred and fear among the people by targeting innocent Hindu traders and civilians.
The member of provincial assembly called on the Balochistan government and law-enforcement agencies to immediately identify and bring to justice the killers of Kumar, their facilitators and those behind the attack. The attack came on the eve of the UN General Assembly declaring August 22 as the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
UN deplores violence against minorities
The General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/73/296, marked August 22 as a special day recognizing the importance of providing victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief and members of their families with appropriate support and assistance in accordance with applicable law.
It strongly deplored all acts of violence against persons on the basis of their religion or belief, as well as any such acts directed against their homes, businesses, properties, schools, cultural centres or places of worship, as well as all attacks on and in religious places, sites and shrines that are in violation of international law.
A previous resolution establishing the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism (A/RES/72/165) also recognized that working together to enhance the implementation of existing legal regimes.
Discrimination, hate crimes against vulnerable groups
These regimes help protect individuals against discrimination and hate crimes, increasing inter-religious, inter-faith and inter-cultural efforts. Expanding human rights education are important first steps in combating incidents of intolerance, discrimination and violence against individuals on the basis of religion or belief, the UN said a couple of days ago.
Meanwhile, in continued violence, a security official was killed and six others sustained injuries in a roadside bomb explosion in the Khad Kocha area of Mastung district on Saturday, the police has said.
Officials said that an explosive device planted in the Gro area of Khad Kocha along the Quetta-Karachi National Highway was detonated when security vehicles were passing through the area. One of the vehicles was hit in the blast, resulting in the death of a security official and injuring six others, a senior police officer confirmed, adding that other vehicles remain safe in the blast.
After the explosion, a heavy exchange of fire continued for some time. “Miscreants escaped from the site as soon as more security personnel reached the area,” police officials said. In the meantime, the body and the injured were rushed to the Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital. The highway was closed following the blast that suspended all traffic at various points, while a search operation was launched in the area to trace the miscreants.
Just a day earlier, four labourers working in an apple orchard were killed and three others injured in an explosion in the same area. Hospital officials who examined the bodies and the injured noted visible splinter marks on them.
