New Delhi:
Workers and leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal gathered outside the Pakistan High Commission in central Delhi today in protest against a mob attack on a gurdwara in the neighbouring country. Members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee that oversees gurdwara affairs also participated in the protest. Group of Congress and BJP workers that tried to reach the high commission were stopped by the police. Angry local residents had pelted stones at the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on Friday evening. The group was led by the family of a man who had allegedly abducted a Sikh woman from her home last August.
The protesters who gathered outside the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi’s high-security Chanakyapuri, where the embassies of several nations are located, raised slogans against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. the protesters said they have given a memorandum to the Pakistani authorities in Delhi, asking them to explain why their law enforcement agencies failed in protecting the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today cited the attack in Pakistan as an example of the atrocities that minorities in the country are subjected to, and asked those opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to reconsider their stance. “This was a wanton act of vandalism, stone-pelting and desecration against one of the holiest Sikh shrines in the world…” he said.
“The attack on Nankana Sahab is reprehensible and must be condemned unequivocally. Bigotry is a dangerous, age-old poison that knows no borders. Love + Mutual Respect + Understanding is its only known antidote,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted. India has strongly condemned the incident, and called upon Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure the safety and welfare of its Sikh population. The opposition has also come out strongly against the Pakistan authorities for failing to prevent the attack.
Pakistan denied that the historic Gurdwara Nanakana Sahib in Lahore was desecrated in a mob attack, saying the birthplace of the founder of Sikhism remains “untouched and undamaged” and the “claims of destruction” of one of the holiest Sikh shrines are “false”. The Pakistan Foreign Office, in a midnight statement, said there was a “scuffle between two Muslim groups” in Nankana Sahib on Friday. They claimed that that a minor incident at a tea stall led to the altercation, and the accused were immediately taken into custody.
Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal condemning the mob attack tweeted: “The true face of Pak stands exposed! First Sikh minor girl kidnapped & forcibly married. Now kidnappers attacking victim family & holy shrine Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. I urge PM @narendramodi ji & DrSJaishankar (External Affairs Minister) to ensure Pak stops this barbarity & ensure safety of Pak Sikh community.”
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh sought Imran Khan’s intervention, asking him to help the devotees who are stuck at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. Mr Khan also came under fire when he tweeted an old video from Bangladesh to allege police brutality on Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. The Pakistani Prime Minister was severely trolled for tweeting the fake video.
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