Nankana Sahib Gurudwara violence: Politicians and Sikh community condemn incident, demand action

New Delhi: Condemning the stone-pelting incident by a mob at one of the holiest Sikh shrines, Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, in Pakistan, several political leaders and Sikh communities in India raised their voice in protest and demanded quick action by the Imran Khan government against the perpetrators.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday issued a statement in which she expressed concern for the safety of Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan. The statement read, ''Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has condemned the unwarranted and unprovoked attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan by an unruly mob of miscreants. Expressing dismay and concern on the safety of Sikh pilgrims & the employees, she called upon Government of India to immediately take up the issue with Pakistani authorities to ensure security for the pilgrims and adequate security for the Holy shrine to prevent any future attacks. Government of India should also press for immediate registration of case, arrest and action against the culprits, she said.''

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter and said that the act was unacceptable. His tweet read, ''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." 

Prior to Rahul's reaction to the incident, Union Minister Harsimart Kaur Badal had attacked him for staying silent over the incident. Harsimart said, ''Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's refusal to condemn the stoning of the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and a threat to the very existence of holy shrine reveals his anti-Sikh face. Rahul working overtime to mislead people on CAA but has no time to take on Pak & expose atrocities it is committing against Sikhs." Congress was continuously being attacked for its silence over the matter. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed her grief over the incident and tweeted, ''We condemn the incident of violence at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. This is unacceptable. Humanity comes above all else.''

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the incident "a very cowardly act and shameful". He said that Nankana Sahib is the centre of faith of crores of people, the persecution of Sikhs living there cannot be tolerated. He further urged the Pakistan government to take strict action against the perpetrators. 

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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Saturday condemned the attack and urged the central government to intervene in the matter to avoid any such situation in the future. Located about 80km from Lahore, Nankana Sahib is the birthplace of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak. "The attack on Gurudwara Sri Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Gurunanak Dev Ji, by the mob on Friday was extremely condemnable. Our country is naturally worried about this. The central government must interfere in this matter so that no such unpleasant and indecent incident happens in future," Mayawati tweeted. An angry group of local residents pelted stones at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on Friday evening. The group was led by the family of a boy who had abducted a Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur, the daughter of Gurdwara's panthi.

BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi on Saturday addressed a press conference over the issue and questioned Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu over his silence on stone-pelting incident in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. Slamming Sidhu, Lekhi said that even after the incident, if he wanted to hug the `ISI chief`, then the Congress should look into it. She said, "Till now I have not heard anything from Congress on the issue. I do not know where Sidhu paaji has fled? Even if after all this, he wants to hug ISI chief, then Congress should look into it."

Meanwhile, the members of the Sikh community hit the streets at Delhi's Teen Murti Marg on Saturday and shouted slogans against the Pakistan government. The protest was called by the Akali Dal and was led by its spokesperson and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Manjinder Singh Sirsa. The community also organised 'langar' on the streets during the protest. 

The issue was also raised in Afghan parliament by lone Sikh MP Narendra Singh Khalsa, he urged the Afghan government to raise the matter in front of Pakistan government and demanded action against those responsible for pelting stone at the holy shrine. 

On Friday (January 3), the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara was attacked by a mob while Sikh devotees were inside the shrine. The mob that had gathered outside raised communal slogans against the minority Sikh community and pelted stones at the shrine. The mob was led by the family of a boy who "abducted" a Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur, the daughter of Gurdwara`s panthi.

Videos of the incident were widely circulated on social media. Gurdwara Nankana Sahib was built at the place where Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev was born.