In the heart of Peshawar, a neighbourhood mourns

As details emerged from Friday’s tragic road-rail accident in Sheikhupura, one Sikh neighbourhood in Peshawar erupted in mourning.

Most of the at least 20 people who died when the Shah Hussain Express rammed into their coaster were Sikh pilgrims returning home from Nankana Sahib. And according to a local police spokesman all of the deceased pilgrims were part of the same clan that called Peshawar’s Mohalla Jogan Shah home.

“We could never have imagined that just a few minutes would be all it took to make us suffer so much,” lamented Jogan Shah resident Ravinder Shah. “There is hardly a house in this neighbourhood without any victims in this accident,” he said.

Right next door, a family mourned the loss of four members – brothers Kaka, Jai and Pepinder Singh, and Pepinder’s wife. “They had gone to Nankana Singh by bus to offer their respects,” recalled a relative of the family. “Now they are lost to us forever.”

Jai in particular was much loved in the community, locals recounted. “He had been teaching religious songs to our children at our local gurdwara for the last 10 years,” a Jogan Shah resident told The Express Tribune. “He was present at Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh every morning and evening for worship, and he rendered his services to without any remuneration or salary. This earned him a lot of respect from all of us.” Jai’s death in the accident left his young students in tears, residents said.

Among those who lost their lives in the accident were a mother and son as well, locals said. “Maninder Singh, a father of three, was also coming back from Nankana Sahib with his mother,” a family associate said.

Interestingly, Maninder and his family were once residents of Tirah and were forced to migrate to Peshawar during the height of militancy. Locals added that 26-year-old Maninder, who ran a wholesale electric goods business in the nearby Pipal Mandi, lost his father to a motorway accident six years ago.

“We are all in shock and feel sad for his wife and young children,” said a fellow shop owner from Pipal Mandi. “All us traders here feel even more sorrow when we see the picture of him with his daughter on social media.”

“Losing 20 of our relatives and neighbours is an unbearable shock,” said Ravinder. “Even though we lived in separate houses, we all were incredibly close to each other.” (WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN PESHAWAR)