Sikh family of four go missing in Pakistan

Victims were on 10-day visit to celebrate Baisakhi

ISLAMABAD: Four members of a visiting Sikh family from India have gone missing in what is being termed as the first-ever incident of its kind in Pakistan, officials said on Thursday.

Authorities are concerned that the incident may spark tension between the two countries.

Around 2,000 Sikh pilgrims – 1,717 of them from India – were in Pakistan on a 10-day visit to celebrate Baisakhi.

The four-member family from the village of Sandhawala in Faridkot were among those making the pilgrimage to celebrate Baisakhi in Pakistan on April 11. All the other pilgrims except them have returned home.

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) – a government body responsible for arranging accommodation and security for Sikh pilgrims as well as ensuring their safe return – confirmed that the family of four was missing.

Together with the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the board facilitates Sikh pilgrims visiting Pakistan on their religious festivals. ETPB Additional Secretary Shrine Khalid Ali said the Pakistani government was trying to trace the missing family.

The missing family has been identified as 38-year-old Sunil Singh, his 27-year-old wife Sunita and their children: nine-year-old daughter Huma Kaur and 10-year-old son Umer Singh.

Harpal Singh Bhullar, president of the Bhai Mardana Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society (BMYKDS), said this year the Pakistani government had issued 170 visas to the organisation, including Sunil and his family.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2015.