Harsimrat Badal urges PM to take up with Imran killing of Sikh man in Pak

Slamming the mob attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and the killing of a Sikh man in Pakistan, Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Sunday said they showed "the extent of persecution" of minorities there, and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take this up with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan.

She also criticised Congress for its opposition to the new citizenship law, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to minorities escaping religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, asking when Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and his party will stop its "double speak" on the issue.

"A day after mob attacked our holy shrine #GurdwaraNankanaSahib, the brutal murder of sikh youth in Peshawar shows the extent of persecution minorities face in Pak. I urge PM@narendramodiji to immediately take up the issue with @ImranKhanPTI and ensure the safety of Sikh brethren there," Badal said a tweet.

"How much blood has to be spilled before @RahulGandhi and his coterie come to the senses? After vandalisation of #GurdwaraNankanaSahib, now a Sikh youth has been shot dead in Peshawar. Killings of minorities in Pak underline the need for #CAA, their hope for safe and dignified life," she wrote in another tweet.

"@Capt_amarinder, another Sikh has been killed just because his brother, the first Sikh news anchor in Pakistan raised his voice against persecution of minorities there. How many more Sikhs need to die before you and your @INCIndia stop this double speak?" she said in a third tweet.

In Pakistan's Peshawar, a 25-year-old Sikh man wa shot dead on Saturday by unknown gunmen, a day after a mob attacked Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Lahore where Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev was born.

India on Sunday strongly condemned the "targeted killing" of the Sikh man.

The Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan should stop "prevaricating" and take immediate action to apprehend and give exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the crime.

"India strongly condemns the targeted killing of minority Sikh community member in Peshawar that follows the recent despicable vandalism and desecration of the holy Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib and the unresolved case of abduction, forced conversion and marriage of a Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur," the MEA said.