JAMMU, March 21: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) J&K Executive Member Raman Suri, while expressing his shock over the killing of reporter Ajay Lalvani in Pakistan said, it is very disheartening that minorities are not safe in the neighbouring country. He asked Pakistan government to rein in unscrupulous elements and ensure safety and security of minorities there besides compensatingthe family of Lavani in whatever best manner it can, though the loss is irreparable.
In his statement issued here, Raman Suri said that Ajay, a reporter with the Royal News TV channel and an Urdu language newspaper Daily Puchano, was shot in Sukkur city of Sindh province in Pakistan when gunmen on two bikes and a car drove by and opened fire. Seeking a thorough probe into the incident, he also demanded strict punishment for the culprits.
Raman Suri said that last month a five-member Hindu family in Pakistan was found dead with their throats slit under mysterious circumstances. Ram Chand was running a tailoring shop and had no enmity with anyone but his family in Abu Dhabi Colony, 15-kilometre away from Rahim Yar Khan city, was wiped out in one go, sending shocks across the sub-continent.
Prior to this, incidents of atrocities on minorities by way of kidnapping and conversion were also reported from Pakistan, which is why the Government in India passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He said that maximum shrines, temples and Gurdwaras in Pakistan are in shambles, which hurts the sentiments of people here in India.
Raman Suri said, Pakistan must take steps for the safety of minorities and ensure that such incidents don’t occur anymore. Such an incident is shocking, uncalled for and aimed at scaring the minorities, he said, adding that the guilty in Ajay’s murder must be identified and booked immediately. Expressing sympathy with the family of Ajay, he said, such incidents forced the Indian government to pass Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which provides a pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Raman Suri
