New Delhi/Islamabad, January 4: The attack on the Nankana Sahib gurdwara, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, in Pakistan has triggered protests among Sikhs in India.
While several Sikh groups will protest outside the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi on Saturday to condemn the attack, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan since Sikh minorities in the country were feeling extremely unsafe and insecure.
On Friday, the gurdwara was attacked by a huge Muslim mob while Sikh devotees were stuck inside.
The mob that had gathered outside raised communal and hateful slogans against the minority community and pelted the shrine with stones, videos circulated on social media showed.
Pakistani sources said the mob was led by the family of one Mohammed Hassan, who had abducted and converted a Sikh girl, to protest police action against him.
The attack violates the 1955 Pant-Mirza Agreement under which India and Pakistan are obliged “to make every effort to ensure that the places of worship” visited by members of their countries “are properly maintained and their sanctity preserved”.
In a late night media briefing, Pakistan’s Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee president Satpal Singh on behalf of Sikhs asked the government to act against the hooligans.
In an official statement, India strongly condemned the desecration of the shrine. India has called upon Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure safety, security and welfare of Sikhs. IANS
