IN joint press statement issued in New Delhi on August 21 national vice president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Shri Balkrishna Naik, president of Shiromani Akali Dal Sardar Bakshi Paramjit Singh and national spokesperson of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat Dr Avtar Singh Shastry strongly condemned the threats issued to Sikhs living in Kashmir Valley by Islamic terrorist groups. They also criticised the Central and the J&K State Governments for failing to protect the minorities in the Valley. “If Sikhs are forced to leave the Valley, the supporters of anti-nationals will be treated the same way in other parts of the country,” they warned in a joint statement.
Condemning the Government of India for giving its core population the step motherly treatment in their own country, they said the protests taking place in Kashmir is a calculated game of Pakistani establishment. The weak Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is unable to protect the minorities in the State and look after their welfare. The government must give free hand to the security forces to wipe out the anti-national activities and maintain law and order in the Valley and at the same time make serious efforts to rehabilitate the displaced Kashmiri Pundits in their ancestral land, the statement said. (FOC)
