February 2010 Sikh beheadings by Taliban

Three Sikh men were said to have been beheaded by Taliban groups in the FATA area of Pakistan and their heads sent to a gurudwara in Peshawar. One of the Sikhs has been identified as Jaspal Singh. He and his two friends were residents of Badi near Peshawar.

A PTI report from Pakistan quoted sources as saying there was confusion on the exact numbers, that two men had been beheaded and others were being held hostage. It said the body of Jaspal Singh was found in Khyber while that of Mahal Singh was found in Orakzai Agency. Gurvinder Singh and Gurjit Singh, the sources said, were among those being held captive.

The men had gone to the FATA area for some work but were held by Taliban groups who apparently asked them to convert to Islam. Apparently it seems that the men resisted the conversion and were hence beheaded.

It is a well-known fact that dominant faction charges jaziya (religious tax as laid by Koranic orders upon non-Muslims) from the community of 10,000 Sikhs in the area who remained behind after the 1947 Partition of India, but the victims, who were said to had been kidnapped, were killed after their relatives failed to pay Rs 30 million as the Taliban had demanded.

It is feared that sad incident will adversely affect the upcoming Indo-Pak talks on 25 February.