Ensure security of Sikhs in US, CM tells Centre

Chandigarh, May 8

Concerned over the spurt in attacks on Indians, including Sikhs, abroad, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre to ensure their protection and take up such issues in “right earnest”.

Amarinder had raised concern over the recent killing of a Kapurthala man, Jagjeet Singh (32), in the US in a suspected hate crime case.

He was stabbed to death by an unidentified person allegedly over cigarettes outside a grocery store in California.

In response to the CM’s tweet, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said she had spoken to the Indian Ambassador in Washington, Navtej Singh Sarna, on the issue.

Raveen Thukral, media adviser to CM, said Amarinder was concerned over the recent spurt in hate crimes against Indians, mainly Sikhs, in the US and other parts of the world.

The CM has said the US alone had witnessed several such attacks on Sikhs, who have been at the receiving end of the growing bigotry in the country and demanded immediate steps to ensure their protection. The Centre, he said, needed to adopt a more proactive stance to put pressure on the US to crack down on racist elements and provide fool-proof protection to the Sikh community. — PTI