Join the cause to support the innocent families who lost their sole breadwinners to hate crimes
Dear Donor,
What can you possibly offer to little children who have lost a father to a hate crime? Soothing words of consolation? A sympathetic hug? A candy, a new toy, or a game? Can you accord them the paternal affection, warmth, and protection their father would have given them? Do you know of a trick that could conjure up the cheerful evenings they would spend in the company of their father? Could you arrange just one last meeting with their father for a final adieu?
The Orphans who Couldn’t Say Goodbye
15 May 2022 began like any other languid Sunday morning for Sikh shopkeepers Ranjit Singh (42) and Kuljeet Singh (38). They were at their spice shops at the bustling Batta Tal Chowk bazaar near Peshawar city, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when two unidentified gunmen arrived on a motorbike and opened fire, shooting the two dead. A momentary spray of gunfire ended two precious lives, wrecked two families, and became the starting point of a cruel tragedy for the children of the slain men.
The cold-blooded murder of shopkeepers Ranjit Singh (42) and Kuljeet Singh (38) can be located in the larger pattern of targeted killings of Sikhs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Neither Ranjit Singh’s four children aged 5 years, 6 years, 8 years, and 13 years, nor Kuljeet Singh’s young ones aged 4 years, 6 years, and 7 years had any idea they would never see their father again. With the sole breadwinner gone, the future of both the families was thrust into uncertainty and darkness. They not only had to grapple with the loss of a dear husband and father, but think of where the next meal might come from.
Ranjit Singh’s four young children – 3 daughters and a son
A Shared Fate
The savage killing of Ranjit Singh and Kuljeet Singh was still fresh in the collective memory of Peshawar’s Sikh community when the bloody episode reenacted itself nearly 11 months later.
On 31 March 2023, Sikh shopkeeper Dyal Singh was shot dead inside his grocery store at Peshawar’s Dir Colony market in broad daylight and in full public view.
Dyal Singh’s killing was just as sudden and shocking as the killing of Ranjit Singh and Kuljeet Singh.
Coincidentally, Dyal Singh was Ranjit Singh’s brother-in-law. Little did Dyal Singh’s family – a wife and four young children aged 3 years, 6 years, 9 years, and 11 years – imagine that they would share the same terrible fate that befell the families of Ranjit Singh and Kuljeet Singh. Deprived of a caretaker and breadwinner, Dyal Singh’s family has little except hope to survive on.
The Gift of a Life of Honor & Respectability
Ever since these tragedies struck, UNITED SIKHS – backed by our donors – has unwaveringly stood by the families of the victims. We were not able to return the father and husband they lost forever to the vortex of hate. But thanks to YOU, our donors, these young orphans and their mothers have not been abandoned to their fate.
Dyal Singh’s youngest son, aged 3, is too young to comprehend the gravity of the situation.
Thanks to your generous contributions, we have been supporting all three families by paying for their home expenses and children’s educational expenses, thereby giving these little sons and daughters the gift of education – the key to a life of honor and respectability.
Additionally, thanks to the humanitarian aid & advocacy efforts of our UNITED SIKHS volunteers in Pakistan, the Provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced a relief package of 3 million PKR each for the families of Ranjit Singh and Kuljeet Singh. Likewise, it has awarded a relief package of 1 million PKR to Dyal Singh’s family. From submitting the paperwork to making rounds of various ministries and repeatedly following up with government officials, our team conscientiously did everything to get the compensation sanctioned.
YOU are their Ray of Hope
With no source of income amidst spiraling costs and galloping inflation, the future will scarcely get any easier for these families. It’ll be many years before the children are able to earn a livelihood. In this scenario, they have no-one but kind-hearted donors like you to turn to. Needless to say, your continued pecuniary support is absolutely essential for keeping the families of Dyal Singh, Ranjit Singh, and Kuljeet Singh afloat.
Living witnesses to the evil fellow human beings are capable of, these little children must know that there equally exists good in this world. Good people like you who don’t turn away when they see others in misery and suffering!
YOU, dear supporters, epitomize the best of humanity!
Yours faithfully,
Herdyal Singh, UNITED SIKHS Director, Pakistan
