India and Pakistan were involved in war of words over the Nankana Sahib incident where the gurdwara was attacked by a group of people.
BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi hit out the Pakistan government for its failure to protect the rights of minorities in the country. She said this incident shows why the new citizenship law is indeed necessary for the persecuted minorities who came from the neighbouring country. “I want to appeal to people sitting in Shaheen Bagh and Kerala assembly to see (what was happening in Pakistan),” Lekhi said referring to the anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh of Delhi, and Kerala assembly passing a resolution against the implementation of the citizenship law.
“The attack on the Nankana Sahib shrine is dastardly and reprehensible. We ask the Pakistan government to take immediate measures to protect the life, property and dignity of the Sikh community. The minority communities in Pakistan have been subjected to threats, forcible conversion and also death mostly by being framed under the draconian blasphemy law,” she said.
Lekhi, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, added there has been plenty of evidence for abduction and forced conversion of young girls from Sikhism, Hinduism, Christianity and other minorities communities in Pakistan into Islam. “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.”
Even as Lekhi was addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, Pakistani Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain reacted to her sharp attack on neighbouring country's record on minority rights.
“Yes, we know that, and huge respects for our Sikh brethren, but BJP spokesperson giving lectures on diversity and religious harmony is like pot calling kettle black. You guys are most bigoted bunch of haters, so stop fake propaganda,” Hussain tweeted tagging Lekhi's quote.
As soon as it was brought to Lekhi's notice, she reacted during the press conference. “Fawad should take charge and take action against those people who have attacked the shrine. They should be put behind bars. He should stop the conversion, stop rapes, stop abduction. That's the duty he should comply with.”
Later, She questioned Pakistan's record on minority rights in response to Fawad's tweet. “In India there are 73 firqas (sects) of Muslims. What has Pakistan done for the Rohingaya Muslims.” She also reminded the Pakistani minister about Imran Khan tweeting a fake video and Pakistan's ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi showing fake image of a "pellet gun victim" in the UN General Assembly.
Lekhi said, “The persecution continues unabated since the creation of Pakistan, resulting forced migration of such persecuted minorities into India. Nankana Sahib is just a symbolic act of that larger conspiracy of Pakistan and it is not conducive to the ethos of a multicultural modern civilization of the 21st century.”
“We severely condemn this gruesome act of violence against such an important shrine of global Sikh faith. It is as gruesome in nature as someone attacking Kaba or Jerusalem,” She added.
BJP secretary Tarun Chugh attacked the Congress for its silence on the Nankana Sahib incident. He also flayed Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for speaking against CAA when Sikhs are being persecuted. “Why is Sonia Gandhi silent. Why is Priyanka not taking bike rides or Rahul Gandhi silent,” he asked.