Awtar Singh

Awtar Singh or Awtar Singh Khalsa (1966 - 1 July 2018) was an Afghan politician. He was the Sikh representative to the Loya Jirga from Paktia Province. He was the only non-Muslim representative there. His native tongue was Punjabi.[1] He was in charge of the main Sikh temple (Gurdwara) in Kabul.

He had planned to contest the minority seat in the 2018 parliamentary elections. Singh was killed on 1 July 2018 in a suicide bombing in Jalalabad which killed 18 other people, mostly from Afghanistan's Sikh and Hindu minority. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.[2] Singh was 52 and is survived by his wife and 4 children, one of whom was injured in the blast.[3]

References
  1. Afghanistan, Unveiling (27 March 2014). "Awtar Singh Khalsa: 'They Gave the Hindus and Sikhs a place for rubbish disposal as a Place to Live'". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  2. "Afghanistan blast: Sikhs among 19 dead in Jalalabad suicide attack". BBC News. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  3. "Avtar Singh Khalsa, Sikh candidate for October polls among 20 killed in Afghanistan blast". Indian Express. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.


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