NDA delegation meets PM on beheading of Sikhs in Pakistan

An NDA delegation called on prime minister Manmohan Singh today to demand that India should register protest with Pakistan against the recent beheading of two Sikhs there and apply diplomatic pressure on it for ensuring safety of the Sikh minority.

The delegation, comprising BJP deputy leader in Rajya Sabha SS Ahluwalia, Harsimrat Kaur, Naresh Gujral and Rattan Singh Ajnala (all SAD MPs), and former Minority Commission chairman Tarlochan Singh among others, met the prime minister and demanded that India take up the matter with Pakistan.

"The prime minister assured us that talks were on at various levels with Pakistan on the issue," Ahluwalia said.

He said Singh told the delegation that he grew up and did his schooling in Peshawar - where this gruesome incident took place - and was pained at this incident.

"We informed him that we were even more pained to hear that though the prime minister himself was from Peshawar, the
government was not doing enough," Ahluwalia said.

The delegation demanded that the Pakistan high commissioner be summoned to register India's protest against beheading of the two Sikhs and ensuring safety of the minority community in that country.
   
It also asked that efforts be made to get the third abducted Sikh released from the Talibans.
   
BJP and SAD MPs later attended a prayer meeting at Bangla Saheb Gurudwara for the two slain Sikhs.