Slain Pakistan Sikh leader’s son says ex-legislator trying to evade conviction

AMRITSAR: A day after former legislator of Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) party from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Baldev Kumar, who is staying at Khanna of Ludhiana district, sought asylum in India, Pakistan-based MBBS student Ajay Singh, 19, said he was the prime accused in the murder case of his (Ajay’s) father Dr Sooran Singh. Ajay said Baldev fled to India to escape conviction in the case which is pending in the Peshawar high court.

Sooran Singh (52), who was PTI’S member of the provincial assembly (MPA) and also the special assistant to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on minority affairs, was assassinated in Pir Baba area of Buner district of the province in April 2016. The car of Singh was ambushed by unidentified assailants near a shrine. By profession, he was a doctor, and was elected as a member of provincial assembly (MPA) in 2013.

Ajay, who is pursuing MBBS in Pakistan and lives with his mother Ravinder Kaur and sister Rasna Kaur (7) at Pir Baba village of Buner district, said, “Baldev Kumar was political rival of my father in Buner constituency and wanted to be an MPA. He considered my father as hurdle in his way and wanted to eliminate him. He conspired to kill my father by hiring five target killers who killed my father. Baldev paid ₹10 lakh (Pakistani currency) to the killers.”

While speaking to Hindustan Times over phone from Pakistan, Ajay said, “The police nabbed the killers, who spilled the beans saying Baldev was the conspirator behind the murder. Baldev was booked for murder and under the Anti-terrorism Act (ATA) and was arrested.”

He remained in Buner jail for two years before the anti-terrorism court in Buner acquitted him and five others in the murder case on April 26, 2018. “We challenged this acquittal in Peshawar high court in June 2018. As the case is pending, Baldev fled to India where he is misguiding the people and government to secure asylum. To garner support of the Sikhs in India, he made his appearance as a Sehajdhari Sikh,” Ajay said.

“He is the killer of my father who served the humanity as a doctor throughout his life. I appeal to the Indian government not to grant him asylum. The Indian government should send him back so that he can be punished for what he did,” he said.

It may recalled that PTI MPA Arnab Jahandad had hurled a shoe at Baldev in protest of the latter’s presence in the assembly in February 2018 when the latter came to take oath.

Pakistan minister of science and technology Fawad Hussain Chaudhry in a Twitter post had said, “Irony is Baldev committed a cold-blooded murder of Sooran Singh only because he was next in the line for MPA list. A group of Indians is celebrating what? A criminal only to avoid case in Pak has asked for Political asylum?”

Notably, Baldev who reached Khanna with his family, stated that minorities are being prosecuted in Pakistan and they don’t feel safe under the regime of Imran Khan, which led him to seek asylum in India.

Baldev Kumar fled to India seeking asylum to escape conviction in the case which is pending in the Peshawar high court. AJAY SINGH, son of Sooran Singh, slain Khyber Pakhtunkhwa legislator

BALDEV MISUSING TURBAN, SAYS PSGPC

In a video posted on Facebook, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) president Satwant Singh said Baldev is a criminal and is misusing the Sikh turban. “He does not belong to our religion. The Indian media should not be misled by his propaganda. There is no threat to minorities in Pakistan. Even his own brother lodged a statement against him in the murder case and the next date of hearing of the case is September 30.”