India slams Pak, says it shouldn't tell others how to treat minorities

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday slammed Pakistan for comments of its leaders concerning minorities in India and said that Islamabad should not tell others how to take care of its own people.

"It is their habit. We all know what is happening there. They always see what is happening in India or in some other country. It is not for us to make a comment on every comment they make. A country that cannot take care of its minorities should not tell other countries how to do it," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a weekly briefing here.

He said that the stone-pelting incident at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and the killing of a Sikh youth in Peshawar is like a 'mirror' for Pakistan.

An angry group of local residents pelted stones at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on January 3. The group was led by the family of a boy who had allegedly abducted Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur, daughter of gurdwara's panthi, last year.

India had strongly condemned the "wanton acts of destruction and desecration" at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, and called upon Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure the safety and welfare of the members of the Sikh community.

Days later, the body of Sikh youth, identified as Ravinder Singh, was found in the Chamkani police station area of Peshawar. The deceased was the brother of an Islamabad-based journalist, Harmeet Singh.

New Delhi also shared strong concerns raised by members of civil society, parliamentarians and others at the "continued persecution of religious and ethnic minorities" in Pakistan.