BJP: Attack On Gurdwara Nankana Sahib In Pak Proves Need For CAA

Led by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the BJP slammed those opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), in India. Hitting out at Pakistan on the vandalism and desecration of Gurudwara Nankana Sahib, the party reiterated the need to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities from the neighbouring countries in India under CAA. On Friday, a mob attacked the birthplace of Guru Nanak, Gurdwara Nankana Sahib near Lahore in Pakistan and stones were pelted at the shrine.

The mob was led by family members of Mohammed Hassan who is said to have abducted a girl from the Sikh community and forced her to convert to Islam. The mob raised highly provocative and hateful slogans against the Sikh community.

The Ministry of External Affairs condemned the violence against Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and asked Pakistan to ensure the safety, security and welfare of the minority Sikh community in there.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri described the stone-pelting incidents as "wanton acts of vandalism, arson against one of the holiest Sikh shrines. If any more proof was needed on the state of minorities in Pakistan, then this is it." The Union Minister criticised those he described as fringe 'secularists' opposing CAA in India. He asked them to "stop living in denial."

BJP National spokesperson and Lok Sabha MP Meenakshi Lekhi asserted that questioning the CAA in the wake of the violence against Sikhs in Nankana Sahib amounts to "denying the history of atrocities and persecution of non-believers in Pakistan." She added that some are shamelessly in a mode of denial while the worst ones appear to be defending it, in a tweet.