Sikh body to send team to Pak; Rahul denounces mob attack on gurdwara; BJP cites minorities’ persecution in Pak to justify CAA
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex body which manages Sikh shrines, will send a four-member delegation to Pakistan to take stock of the situation following an alleged mob attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, which has been dragged into the ongoing controversy involving the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA.
A day after the incident of mob attack on the Sikh shrine in Pakistan, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condemned it, while the BJP sought to justify the CAA saying the incident was yet another evidence of atrocities against the minorities in the neighbouring country.
Against the backdrop of widespread protests against the CAA that allows Indian citizenship to six persecuted religious minorities, excluding Muslims, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Nankana Sahib incident has further heated up the running political debate with External Affairs Ministry saying that the members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan have been subjected to acts of violence at the holy city of Nankana Sahib. Pakistan has, however, denied media reports on desecration of Nankana Sahib.
Congress leader Rahul while denouncing the mob attack said bigotry is a dangerous, age old poison that knows no borders.
Taking to Twitter, Rahul termed Friday attack reprehensible, and said the only known antidote to bigotry is love, mutual respect and understanding. “The attack on Nankana Sahib is reprehensible & must be condemned unequivocally. Bigotry is a dangerous, age old poison that knows no borders. Love + Mutual Respect + Understanding is its only known antidote,” he said in a tweet.
Engaging in the debate, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri sought to know whether those protesting across the country against the CAA needed more evidence of oppression of minorities in the neighbouring country.
He said the violent mob that besieged the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara had threatened to change the name of the holy place to “Ghulam-e-Mustafa”.
“The violent mob that besieged Nankana Sahib Gurdwara has threatened to change the name of our holy place to Ghulam-e-Mustafa. Do those who are opposing the CAA need more evidence of oppression of minorities in Pakistan,” Puri said in a tweet in Hindi, along with a video clip that showed a mob threatening to change the name of the gurdwara.
Another BJP leader and Lok Sabha member Meenakshi Lekhi said minorities in Pakistan have been subjected to threats for religious conversion, rapes and violence for decades and the Nankana incident shows how minorities there are persecuted and why they need citizenship in India.
Lekhi also said that this incident should open the eyes of Congress leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Singh Sidhu, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, the leftists and the “Urban Naxals” who have been opposing the amended Citizenship Act.
Meanwhile, strongly condemning the mob attack on the historic Sikh shrine, SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal appealed to the Pakistan Government to take strict action against culprits.
“We will send a four-member delegation to Pakistan to take stock of the situation there,” he said, adding that the delegation would also meet Sikh families in Nankana Sahib.
“The delegation will also meet Pakistan’s Punjab Governor and Chief Minister,” he said. Longowal said the delegation will comprise Rajinder Singh Mehta, Roop Singh, Surjit Singh and Rajinder Singh.
“We have spoken with the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib management committee...They told us the situation is normal now,” Longowal said.
The SGPC chief said the sentiments of the Sikh community were hurt with the attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. Longowal said that the SGPC would also take up this matter with the United Nations.
Punjab’s former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal too condemned the attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib.
“We request the Government of India to immediately take steps so that peace and harmony is restored,” said Badal.