Unknown assailants attacked two Christian priests in Pakistan's Peshawar this Sunday. They launched indiscriminate firing on the car carrying the two while they were returning from Church.
Cleric William Siraj succumbed to bullet injuries and another one is being treated in a hospital. No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Minority institutions and experts have condemned the attack.
The UK based Anila Gulzar, the spokesperson of Justice for Minority said, "When will these atrocities on minorities end? And there is no solution in sight. I believe these assailants were from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who shot the priests indiscriminately. What is their mistake? I condemn this. Everybody knows that over a thousand girls from Hindu, Sikh and Christian communities are forcefully converted to Islam every year. They are even murdered. This is something really horrific that minorities of the country are facing today."
The region has seen a surge of militant attacks in recent days. Most of them have been claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
"Minorities have no place in Pakistan. Anybody comes and treats them the way they want. They are implicated under false charges. They are even framed under blasphemy laws. There is not even a single law in Pakistan that protects the minorities in Pakistan," Gulzar added.
TTP associates itself with the Afghan Taliban. Experts blame the government for remaining silent on attacks on minorities. Christians have historically been mistreated, marginalised, and attacked in Pakistan.
In 2013, at least 78 people were killed in a suicide attack outside an Anglican church in Peshawar after Sunday Mass.
( With inputs from ANI )
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