INDIA condemns attack on Guru Nanakdevji Ji’s birth place in Pakistan

Desecration of the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism in Pakistan, has triggered protests among Sikh community across India. It is considered the holiest shrine by the Sikhs. There were demonstrations in New Delhi, Ludhiana, Jammu and other places condemning the reprehensible action. Shiromani Akali DAL (SAD) and other groups demonstrated outside Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue with his counterpart in Islamabad 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 shrine. The mob that had gathered outside raised communal and hateful slogans against the minority community and pelted stones at the shrine. Pakistani sources said the mob was led by the family of Mohammed Hassan, the man who had abducted and converted a teenaged Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur, to protest police action against him. The mob also threatened to rechristen the Nankana Saheb Gurdwara as  Ghulam –e-Mustafa following which the minorities in the minorities felt insecurity. BJP leaders and Union ministers have condemned the incident saying the incident shows how minorities in Pakistan are persecuted and why they need citizenship in India. Media reports suggested a mob attacked the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara near Lahore on Friday and pelted stones at Sikh pilgrims after an altercation broke out between two groups. The External Affairs Ministry said members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan have been subjected to acts of violence in Nankana Sahib. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said: “These are wanton acts of vandalism, arson and stone-pelting against one of the holiest Sikh shrines. If any more proof was needed on the state of minorities in Pakistan then this is it.” In an official statement, India strongly condemned the destruction and desecration of the holy shrine. India has called upon Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure safety security and welfare of the Sikh community. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has condemned the mob attack on Nankana Sahib Gurdwara saying bigotry is a dangerous, age-old poison that knows no borders. “The attack on Nankana Sahab 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. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur has said persecution of minorities in Pakistan is a reality. Today’s attack on Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib has shown its horrible face. I want to ask Punjab Chief Minister Amarendra Singh and the INC as to how they can deny giving citizenship to the persecuted minorities forced to leave their homeland Pakistan, she added in a tweet.