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KABUL (SW) – Civil society activists have urged the government to pave way for the Sikh and Hindu minority nominate a replacement for the Avtar Singh Khalsa who got killed in a terrorist attack in Jalalabad on Sunday.
Shakeeba Hashmi, member of the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) said on the occasion a number of communities have suffered a lot in the ragging war here, and the Sikh and Hindu minority is one such group. She urged the community to unite in nominating replacement for their slain leader Avtar Singh Khalsa who along with 15 members of his community got killed in a Daesh-claimed attack in Jalalabad a day earlier.
Bismillah Ranjbar, a member of the civil society, stressed the Independent Election Commission (IEC) should cooperate with the Sikh and Hindu community nominate a new candidate for the forthcoming elections.
Devastated by the assault, the Sikh and Hindu community on Monday laid to rest the victims. Guljit Singh, spokesman for the community, said they have not decided on the replacement yet. He said 15 members of their community lost lives and seven more got wounded.
The attack has been widely condemned.
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has stated Afghanistan mourns the death of the Sikhs as a nation and remind their loved ones that we are there for them. Chief Executive Officer, Abdullah Abdullah, has pronounced the killing of Sikh and Hindu community as a major crime.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has also condemned the attack. “The architects of this appalling crime must be brought to justice,” said Ingrid Hayden, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.
ENDS
