Don't know where Sidhu has fled: Meenakshi Lekhi after attack on Nankana Sahib

Condemning the alleged attack on Gurudwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi on Saturday said she didn't know where Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has fled and questioned whether he will hug the ISI chief after this incident.

Addressing a joint conference here with BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh, she said that there have been consistent acts of violence on religious places in Pakistan and minorities have been subject to threats of conversion and rapes for decades.

There have been thousands of incidents where young girls have been picked up, forcibly converted and married off to Muslim boys, while the police, government and other agencies are part and parcel of the process, Lekhi alleged.

The Nankana incident shows how minorities there are persecuted there, she claimed.

"The persecution continues unabated since the creation of Pakistan, resulting in forced migration of such persecuted minorities into India. This not only justifies the necessity of an act like the CAA but also stresses the need for its immediate implementation. Pakistan now proves that CAA is right and is timely," she said.

Citing that Nankana Sahib is the holiest shrine for Sikhs, Lekhi said that attacks on it are equivalent to someone attacking Kaaba or Jerusalem.

"I don't know where Sidhu paaji has fled. Somebody should find out where is Navjot Singh Sidhu? If, even after all this, he wants to hug the ISI chief, then Congress should look into it," Lekhi said.

"The Pakistan and society must know that Pakistani Sikhs are the offsprings of that soil and continue to have faith and duty towards that soil and thus, did not migrate and chose to remain there.

She claimed that they had even threatened to change the name of Nankana Sahib to Ghulam-e-Mustafa and stressed that this was the condition in Pakistan in the 21st century.

Chug said the incident should open the eyes of Congress leaders, opposition parties and "urban Naxals" who have been opposing the amended Citizenship Act.

He also questioned the silence of the Kerala chief minister as the state assembly recently had passed a resolution against the CAA.

Chug also thanked the Ministry of External Affairs for calling upon the neighbouring country to take immediate steps to ensure the safety and security of the Sikh community there.

The ministry said members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan have been subjected to acts of violence at the holy city of Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji.

"India strongly condemns these wanton acts of destruction and desecration of the holy place," the MEA said in a statement.

"We call upon Government of Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure safety, security, and welfare of the members of the Sikh community," the MEA added.