India condemns mob violence at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan

Islamabad : India has strongly condemned the mob violence at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on Friday. According to several media reports, hundreds of angry protesters surrounded the holy place and started pelting stones on the building.

Nankana Sahib is the birth place of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

"India strongly condemns these wanton acts of destruction and desecration of the holy place. We call upon the Government of Pakistan to take immediate steps to ensure the safety, security, and welfare of the members of the Sikh community," the government said in a statement.

According to news agency ANI report, the mob was led by the family of a boy who had allegedly abducted a daughter of a Gurdwara official last year and forcefully converted her.

"These reprehensible actions followed the forcible abduction and conversion of Jagjit Kaur, the Sikh girl who was kidnapped from her home in the city of Nankana Sahib in August last year," the government statement added.

A video of the incident was shared by Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, which shows an angry mob shouting anti-Sikh slogans outside the gurdwara.

"Live footage from Nankana Sahib where an angry Muslim mob is outside Gurdwara Sahib and raising anti-Sikh slogans... I urge Imran Khan to take immediate action on such communal incidents that are increasing the insecurity in the minds of Sikhs of Pakistan," Sirsa tweeted.