PESHAWAR: Taking offence of blasphemy in Indian Punjab, Sikhs on Tuesday protested outside press club Peshawar.
The protesters, led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak’s advisor Sardar Suran Singh gathered outside the press club and blocked the road.
The irked Sikhs raised slogans against Indian government and Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi. A mannequin representing Modi was set ablaze. The protesters said that no community other than Hindus is safe in India.
Pakistani Sikhs have demanded Modi to resign. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) MPA, Suran vowed to raise voice against violence and extremism in India on government level.
The enraged Sikhs called for protective measures for people endorsing faiths in India other than Hinduism.
On October 19 in Lahore, Sikhs held a meeting in a local gurdawara and vowed to boycott relations with India until the alleged culprit who desecrated the holy book is arrested.
The meeting was attended by Evacuee Trust Property Board’s Chairman Siddiqueul Farooq.
The participants agreed to the resolution moved in the Punjab Assembly against the sacrilege.
Earlier on October 12, a holy book, bir was desecrated in Bargari village near Faridkot’s Kotkapura area. The book was reported stolen in June from a gurdwara. On Sunday, pages of the book were seen torn and thrown in the street.
Following the blasphemous act, clashes between police and Sikhs have claimed at least two lives while nearly 70 are reported injured in Indian Punjab.
‘Khalistan’ movement led by Sikhs is also ongoing in India. Sikhs have demanded separation from India due to tensions in the past while the recent act has fueled the friction.
The Sikh community has raised pro-Pakistan slogans in Indian occupied Kashmir today. The community, in Baramulla of northern Kashmir took to the streets and burnt tyres as demonstration of protest against the desecration of the holy book.
The Kashmir Media Service reported that slogans “Kashmir banega Pakistan, Punjab bange Khalsa” were heard in the protests. The agitated Sikhs also raised anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slogans. NNI
