New Delhi, August 25
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked the Centre to take a serious view of the threats issued to the Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir to either embrace Islam or leave the state.

“These are not stray incidents and deserve to be taken with utmost seriousness. The Centre must take effective steps to help the state government in ensuring safety and security of the Sikhs,” Sukhbir said after submitting a memorandum in this regard to President Pratibha Patil.

The same was submitted by a delegation of SAD-BJP members from Punjab, including former Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Lok Sabha members Rattan Singh Ajnala, Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Sher Singh Ghubaya and Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rajya Sabha members Avinash Rai Khanna and Naresh Gujral.

The memorandum drew the President’s attention to widespread anguish and alarm in the minds of the Sikhs in Kashmir over reported threats to them by some organisations in the state. It mentioned notes circulated by some organisations carrying threats of terrible reprisals if Sikhs did not convert to Islam.

The delegation members said these threats could not be overlooked in view of the fact that some elements hostile to communal harmony have been indulging in dangerous activities. The main objective of these elements is to rupture the socio-religious fabric of the state, the delegation said.

Punjab Deputy CM added: “An effective response to the situation requiring the intervention of the Government of India is the need of the hour. Additional forces should be deployed in the state to instill confidence in the minds of the minority community.”

Amritsar: Meanwhile, MM Singh Cheema, member of the All-India Congress Committee and vice-president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, today met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and apprised her about the fast changing political scenario in view of the recent threats being issued by anti-national forces in Jammu & Kashmir to the Sikh community.

Cheema has urged Gandhi to take up the matter with the J&K government and the Home Ministry so that firm steps should be taken for restoration of confidence of people and the communal harmony in the state.