Karnataka: KP Nanjundi joins Congress hours after resignation from BJP
Nanjundi took the primary membership of the Congress party in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala.
The Punjab Congress raised the issue of forced conversion of Sikhs in Pakistan with Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday.
A delegation of Congress Members of Parliament (MPs) led by Punjab Congress chief and MP from Gurdaspur, Sunil Jakhar, along with MP Ravneet Singh Bittu sought MEA’s urgent intervention in the matter to protect the identity of the Sikh community settled in Pakistan.
The delegation asked MEA to intercede on a personal basis and pressurise the government in Islamabad to take strong steps to put an immediate stop on the conversions.
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The delegation also asked to provide all necessary protection to the Sikh community to protect them from any such victimisation or harassment in the future.
Punjab Congress chief, Sunil Jakhar, said that after Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh raised the issue, MEA has already directed the Indian High Commission in Pakistan to take it up at the highest level with Islamabad.
“However, we believe the matter to be extremely grave, therefore, it should be taken up personally with the Pakistani authorities without delay by Union MEA minister Sushma Swaraj herself,” Jakhar said.
He said that media reports suggest that a government official is involved in spearheading the conversion campaign in Hangu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
“In such circumstances, there is the dire need for the Indian government to engage directly with the government in Pakistan instead of routing it through the Indian High Commission,” Jakhar added.
Jakhar also said that the alleged forced conversions have the potential of escalating out of control, which would have a disastrous effect on the future of the Sikhs settled in the neighbouring country.
He further said that in the long run, it could lead to total annihilation of the Sikh identity in Pakistan, which could also trigger a cascading impact on Sikhs living in other parts of the world.
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