Jalalabad incident was a ‘delibarate’ attack on the minorities: SGPC chief

Srinagar | The Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) President GS Longowal on Monday termed the suicide bomb attack on the minority Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad as a ‘deliberate’ attack.

“It was a deliberate attack. It’s duty of the respective government to ensure the safety of people,” Longowal said while speaking to media. He further requested the Indian government to talk to Afghanistan government and ensure death penalty for people responsible.

Earlier today Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the terror attack on minority communities and termed the terror strike in Afghanistan as an attack on the nation’s multicultural fabric.

“We strongly condemn the terror attacks in Afghanistan yesterday. They are an attack on Afghanistan’s multicultural fabric. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray that the injured recover soon. India stands ready to assist the Afghanistan government in this sad hour,” he wrote on Twitter.

We strongly condemn the terror attacks in Afghanistan yesterday. They are an attack on Afghanistan’s multicultural fabric. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray that the injured recover soon. India stands ready to assist the Afghanistan government in this sad hour.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 2, 2018

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also condemned the attack and asked the global community to come together to fight against the “barbaric forces of terror.”

19 people, including Hindus and Sikhs, who were planning to meet with President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday were killed in a blast in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad. A Sikh politician, Avtar Singh Khalsa who was planning to contest on the single seat reserved for the Hindu and Sikh communities in the upcoming parliamentary elections was among the people killed in the incident.