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A Chronicle Of Targeted Violence: 15 Attacks On Sikhs By Islamist Assailants (2016-2025)

By
The Commune
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On 16 October 2025, a video from Beed district in Maharashtra went viral on social media, showing a violent assault on a Sikh youth by a group of radical Muslims. In the footage, the attackers forcibly removed the young man’s turban, trampled him, and subjected him to a severe beating while shouting derogatory slogans targeting the Sikh community. Witnesses reported that the assailants threatened to “wipe out his entire generation” and publicly dragged and continued to beat him. The incident sparked widespread outrage online and raised serious concerns about the safety of minority communities in the region.

Between 2016 and 2025, several violent incidents targeting the Sikh community by radical Muslims were reported across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and parts of Europe. These attacks included assaults on individuals, vandalism of Gurdwaras, shootings, bombings, and threats against Sikh families. This report documents 15 major instances during this period, highlighting the continuing security risks faced by Sikhs both in South Asia and abroad.

#1 16 October 2025: Sikh Youth Brutalized in Maharashtra

In Beed district, Maharashtra, a viral video captured a horrifying attack on a Sikh youth by a group of radical Muslims. The assailants were seen forcibly removing the victim’s turban—a grave act of sacrilege in Sikhism—before trampling him underfoot and beating him mercilessly. The attackers shouted derogatory slogans against the Sikh community and issued genocidal threats, including, “We will wipe out your entire generation.” The victim was publicly dragged and subjected to a prolonged assault, causing widespread outrage and raising serious concerns about the safety of religious minorities in the region.

#2 3 October 2025: Granthi Attacked in Punjab Home

In Punjab, a dispute between schoolchildren escalated into a violent home invasion. A Muslim mob, led by tempo driver Sabib Khan, forcibly entered the residence of a Gurdwara Granthi (priest). The mob specifically attacked the Granthi, striking him in the stomach with a shovel. Beyond the physical assault, the intruders hurled vulgar abuse at the women of the household, compounding the crime with verbal harassment and violating the sanctity of a religious leader’s home, an act that sent shockwaves through the local community.

#3 21 January 2025: Shopkeeper Assaulted in Uttarakhand

A minor dispute in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, led to a brutal attack on a Sikh shopkeeper. A group of Muslim youths assaulted the man and vandalized his shop. In a repeat of a familiar pattern of disrespect, the attackers tore off his turban during the assault. Reports indicated that some Muslim women were also involved in the attack, highlighting a mob mentality.

#4 22 December 2024: Knife Attack Over Speeding in Bhopal

In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, a routine traffic stop turned violent. When a Sikh individual stopped a Muslim youth named Faiz for speeding, Faiz reacted with extreme anger. He snatched a knife from a nearby vegetable cart and launched a knife attack. The situation further escalated when a Muslim mob gathered and pelted stones at a Sikh family, injuring six people. The police were forced to deploy a heavy force to control the volatile situation, which arose from a simple civic intervention.

#5 15 May 2024: Attack for Wearing Tulsi Garland in Chhattisgarh

In the Talapara area of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, locally referred to as “Mini Pakistan”, a Sikh man named Jeevandeep Singh was attacked by an Islamist mob simply for entering the area while wearing a Tulsi garland. The mob took offense to this display of his faith and assaulted him. The Bilaspur police later identified and arrested the perpetrators, including Raja Khan and Nafees. The attack demonstrated intolerance for visible symbols of faith other than their own.

#6 28 April 2022: Gurdwara Converted into Mosque in Patiala
In a brazen act of religious erasure in Rajpur, Patiala district, the Guru Ki Sarai Gurdwara was converted into a mosque. The local Sikh community reported that a Sikh family had maintained the property since before the Partition of India. They alleged that members of the Muslim community intimidated the family and usurped the property, eventually demolishing the Gurdwara and constructing a mosque in its place, thereby obliterating a site of Sikh heritage.

#7 8 October 2021: Sikh Principal Murdered in Srinagar

In a targeted act of terror in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikh female principal Supinder Kaur was shot dead inside her school in the Eidgah area. The principal, known for having raised a Muslim girl, was executed by terrorists who entered the school premises. The murder sparked profound grief and anger, leading the Sikh community to march with her body, demanding justice for a woman who was seen as a symbol of nurturing and communal harmony.

#8 28 June 2024: Gurdwara Reconstruction Opposed in Pakistan

In Faisalabad, Pakistan, the government’s permission to reconstruct a Gurdwara that had been closed for 76 years was met with fierce opposition from the local Muslim community. Protesters halted the construction, chanting slogans such as “Sikhs are our murderers… we will not allow it to be built.” This incident highlighted the extreme hostility and institutional barriers faced by the dwindling Sikh minority in Pakistan, preventing them from reviving their religious sites.

#9 24 June 2024: Sikh Shopkeeper Shot Dead in Peshawar

Sikh shopkeeper Manmohan Singh was assassinated in Peshawar, Pakistan, when armed motorcyclists opened fire on him in the Yakatut area. The targeted killing prompted the NGO United Sikhs to condemn the ongoing attacks on minorities in Pakistan. The organization met with the Pakistan Consulate and sought ministerial intervention to address the critical security crisis facing the Sikh community, which lives under constant threat of violence.

#10 1 July 2023: Gurdwara Attacked by Mob in Sindh

A Muslim mob forcibly stormed the Sukkur Gurdwara in Pakistan’s Sindh province, ordering the congregation to stop singing kirtan (devotional hymns). The assailants also insulted the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikhs. In response, members of the local Sikh and Hindu communities staged a protest at the police station, demanding action. Pakistan’s National Commission for Minorities expressed concern over the blatant attack on religious freedom.

#11 21 January 2023: Sikh Family Beaten in Nankana Sahib

In a shocking incident near the sacred Gurdwara Patti Sahib in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, a Sikh family was attacked by a group of Muslims over a parking dispute. Brothers Harvinder Singh and Satinder Singh were brutally beaten, and their turbans were torn off—a deliberate act of humiliation. A First Information Report was registered against several individuals, including Mazan Gogi and Asif Nanna, under various communal violence charges.

#12 18 June 2022: Gurdwara Bombed in Kabul

A Gurdwara in the Karte Parwan district of Kabul, Afghanistan, was devastated by a bomb attack followed by an armed assault. The initial explosion killed two Sikhs and injured several others. Subsequently, 15-16 unidentified armed men, believed to be Muslim extremists, entered the complex and opened fire indiscriminately, turning a place of worship into a battlefield and further decimating Afghanistan’s vulnerable Sikh population.

#13 13 April 2025: Gurdwara Desecrated in Germany

In an act of cross-border bigotry, a Pakistani youth in Germany entered a Gurdwara and behaved in an abusive and indecent manner. He then brazenly shared a video of his disrespectful actions on TikTok under the username ABDALI.

#14 27 May 2020: Gurdwara Vandalized in the UK

The Arjan Dev Ji Gurdwara in Derby, UK, was attacked and vandalized by Pakistani-origin Muslim extremists. The perpetrators broke down the front doors of the Gurdwara and scrawled a threatening message on the wall, explicitly threatening the Sikh community for their support of the right to self-determination in Kashmir. This act linked international Sikh advocacy with targeted retribution.

#15 April 2016: Gurdwara Bombing in Germany

The Nanaksar Satsang Sabha Gurdwara in Essen, Germany, was rocked by an explosion during a wedding ceremony. Police arrested two young Islamic extremists, one of whom, Yusuf T., was a known supporter of ISIS and associated with a radical Salafi organization. Several worshippers, including an elderly Sikh priest, were seriously injured in the attack, marking a severe incident of Islamist terrorism targeting Sikhs on European soil.

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