Pakistan student stands with Sikhs

Remember the man who led a rowdy protest in front of Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib, in early January? Within a few days, a Pakistani from Sheikhupura puts up a message denouncing

With a day or so of the shocking incident, a Pakistani university student came out denouncing the actions of the man and spoke of their respect for Sikhs.

In a Facebook entry, Hassan Ishtiaq, a student pilot at the University of Lahore, writes: “This is special message for our Sikh brothers. I’m from Farooqabad district Sheikhupura, Pakistan. We have a Gurdwara in front of our house. We have a great respect & protection for Gurdwara Sahib. So don’t think all people are same. In every community there are some this type of persons. Don’t worry. Pakistan is a peaceful country. We are responsible for caring all your religious places. Insha Allah, this will not happen again.” (Edited for clarity).

He shared some photos of Gurdwara Sahib Sacha Sauda located in his hometown of Farooqabad in Sheikhupura, Punjab Pakistan.

In a message in response to queries from Asia Samachar, he said he had have never any such incident in his hometown and that “we have a great respect and protection for the gurdwara and all other religious places as well.”

Two days after the incident, the man responsible for the incident was arrested and charged under the Terrorism Act. The swift action to arrest him for the incident on Friday (3 Jan 2020) was probably due to the attention given to the case, including a tweet by the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

During the demonstration, the accused, Imran Chishti was seen in a video threatening to raze the gurdwara and build a mosque in its place, remarks that made headlines in newspapers in neighbouring India.

“With the help of Allah almighty, this will not happen again,” Hassan said in his email.

RELATED STORY:

Pakistan charges Gurdwara Nankana Sahib mob demonstration alleged ring leader (Asia Samachar, 7 Jan 2020)