Following the attack on Sikhs by the Muslim mob at revered Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan on Friday, Sikh groups in India, including Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Committee and Akali Dal today staged a protest outside the Pakistan Embassy in the national capital. The protesters, with placards in their hands, raised slogans against Pakistan outside the embassy.
Delhi: Akali Dal and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee protests against Pakistan over the mob attack on Nankana Sahib yesterday pic.twitter.com/kAingHQvfh
— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2020
Meanwhile, Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with his counterpart in Islamabad Imran Khan since Sikh minorities in the country were feeling extremely unsafe and insecure.
The Indian government on Friday expressed its concern and called upon the neighbouring country to take immediate steps to ensure the safety and security of the Sikh community living in Pakistan.
In a statement, the Indian foreign ministry said New Delhi called on the government of Pakistan to ensure the safety and security of pilgrims who regularly visit the shrine that marks the birthplace of the founder of Sikhism. It also demanded strong action against the perpetrators of violence and vandalism.
On Friday, in yet another incident reaffirming the persecution of minorities in Pakistan, an angry mob of Muslims had gathered around the Sikh shrine of Gurudwara Nanakana Sahib and started pelting stones at it. The mob was being led by the family of Mohammad Hassan, the boy who allegedly abducted and converted Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur, who is the daughter of the gurdwara’s granthi.
The mob of angry Muslims gheraoed the holy shrine on Friday afternoon, leaving many devotees stranded inside. The protesters threatened to destroy the gurdwara and build a mosque in its place.
Hundreds of Muslims protestors swarmed the Gurudwara Nankana Sahib and raised inflammatory slogans against the Sikhs. “We will not let any Sikh live in Nankana Sahib and will its name to Ghulam-e-Mustafa,” one of the irate Muslim protestors exclaimed.
The police along with the Pakistani Rangers and Army had rushed to the spot to quell the protest but they had failed in dispersing the violent mob away from the Gurudwara. The situation was brought under control after the local police and Pak Rangers arrested the protesters.
However, the mobs dispersed only after police released Hassan, the man who had abducted Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur, daughter of the Gurdwara’s panthi.
