Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson and MP Meenakshi Lekhi on Saturday condemned the mob violence at Pakistani gurdwarada Nankana Sahib and said the incident showed that the Citizenship Act was necessary. At a press conference, Lekhi said the violence showed that minorities were not safe in countries such as Pakistan.

The Citizenship Act, passed in December, makes citizenship smoother for refugees from six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, provided they have lived in India for six years and entered the country before December 31, 2014. It has been widely criticised for excluding Muslims and had led to massive protests.

Advertisement

“The incident not only justifies an act like CAA but also stresses the need for its immediate implementation,” she said.

Lekhi added that minorities in Pakistan have been subjected to violence for many decades and that leaders campaigning against the Citizenship Act should view the violence at the gurdwara as proof of it. She called on Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Punjab Congress member Navjot Singh Sidhu and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee to open their eyes to violence against minorities in Pakistan, PTI reported.

She also used the opportunity to take a swipe at Sidhu, saying she did not know where he had “fled” to. “Even if after all this, he wants to hug ISI chief, then Congress should look into it,” India Today reported her as saying. Sidhu had attended the swearing-in of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2018 and hugged the country’s Army chief. He was hugely criticised for the move.

Indian politicians from across the spectrum on Saturday condemned Friday’s mob attack on the Nankana Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan’s Nankana Sahib district. The mob had pelted stones at the gurdwara and hurled abuses and threats.