www.punjabics.com

Home

Pakistan rejects Indian statement on Sikhs

Displaced Sikh and Hindu women from Buner gather at the Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal.—AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected Indian slurs about ‘maltreatment’ of Sikhs by Taliban in tribal areas as gratuitous.

‘Sikhs living in Orakzai agency are Pakistani citizens and hence of no concern to India,’ Foreign Office spokesman Mr Abdul Basit said in a statement.India expressed concern about the security of Sikhs in tribal areas after reports appeared in a section of press that Taliban were imposing Jazya (a tax imposed on non-Muslims) on Sikhs and demolishing their homes in the tribal belt. 

‘On seeing reports about Sikh families in Pakistan being driven out of their homes and being subject to Jaziya and other such impositions, the Government of India has taken up the question of treatment of minorities in Pakistan with the Government of Pakistan,’ a statement by India’s external affairs ministry had said.‘The Government of Pakistan is fully cognizant of the situation and looks after the welfare of all its citizens, particularly the minority community,’ Mr Basit said.

Source: Dawn Karachi .Sunday, 03 May, 2009