The Society for Global Moderation (SGM) has deplored the killing of a Sikh religious leader and rights activist on the outskirts of Peshawar recently. The 52-year person called Charnjit Singh is reported to have been gunned down inside his shop in Scheme Chowk area outside Peshawar.
Speaking about the incident, Syed Jawaid Iqbal, Chairman SGM, said this was a very dreadful incident as it showed that despite all the efforts being made to remove intolerance from Pakistani society, there still existed remnants of an extreme mindset that were rendering harm to Pakistan’s image.
Jawaid Iqbal said that at no time was the need for a tolerant and accepting society more important than at present since the general elections in the country were approaching and the formation of a tolerant environment was all the more important.
Jawaid said that it had been the continued endeavour of the Society for Global Moderation (SGM) to develop interfaith harmony in the country in particular and the world in general but incidents like the recent one near Peshawar served to undermine the goals of SGM as it impacted interfaith harmony in a negative manner.
The SGM Chairman hoped that in the coming days encouraging examples of interfaith tolerance would become evident and the ground would be laid for a peaceful election process so that the country could move towards a working democracy with more confidence
