Chandigarh: A day after the attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Saturday announced to send a four-member panel to visit there to take stock of the situation.
Condemning the incident, SGPC President Gobind Singh Longowal appealed to the Pakistani government to take strict action against the culprits.
Besides meeting the Sikh families, he said the delegation, comprising Rajinder Singh Mehta, Roop Singh, Surjit Singh and Rajinder Singh, would meet Pakistan's Punjab Governor and Chief Minister.
"We condemn the attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and appeal to the Pakistan government to take stringent action against the culprits and also ensure the safety of Sikhs living there," Longowal told the media in Amritsar.
He said they have spoken with the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib management authorities too: "They told us the situation is normal now."
The SGPC, considered a mini Parliament of Sikh religious affairs, has control over Sikh religious affairs, manages gurdwaras (Sikh temples) in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, including the holiest of Sikh shrines Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, in Amritsar.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to immediately intervene to ensure that the devotees stranded in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib were rescued and the historic gurdwara is saved from the angry mob surrounding it.
Condemning the attack, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to take cognizance of the incident.
It also highlighted the plight of the minorities in the neighbouring nations, and proposed a separate law for Sri Lankan Tamils as well, if the need arises.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday deplored the mob attack on Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan and said atrocities on Sikhs cannot be tolerated.
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal termed Friday's attack as shameful and asked the Imran Khan government to take tough steps and punish the culprits.
"The attack on Nankana Sahib is a cowardly and shameful incident. Nankana Sahib is the centre of faith of crores of Sikhs. Atrocities on Sikhs living there cannot be tolerated," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
An eye-opener for anti-CAA people: Puri
A day after a mob indulged in stone-pelting at Nankana Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday tweeted that the incident should be an eye-opener for those opposed to the CAA.
He wrote on @HardeepSPuri: "Vandalism, stone-pelting and acts of descrecation at the holiest of holy Sri Nankana Sahib Gurdwara yesterday should be an eye-opener for those who refuse to recognise religious persecution of minorities in Pakistan & the rationale behind the Citizenship Amendment Act."
It got 762 retweets and 1.8K likes. He also tweeted: "These shameful incidents clearly highlight the threats which minorities face to their right to practice their religion.
"As an Indian & a Sikh, I call upon those who turn a blind eye to these injustices & persecution insensitive, inhuman and certainly not secular."
The Union Minister also retweeted a post from former cricketer and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir who had posted a clip of Friday's incident at the Nankana Sahib gurdwara and tweeted: "Death threats and stone-pelting on innocent tourists to support forcible conversion of a girl! This is Pakistan and that is why #IndiaSupportsCAA."
