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Thursday, Jul 14, 2005

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Badal asks Blair to protect Punjabis, shrines

Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal has formally urged the Tony Blair Government in the U.K. to take immediate and effective steps to prevent recurrence of hate attacks against Sikhs and other Punjabis in retaliation for what the party has described as "terrorist barbarism against innocent civilians in London last week''.

A party delegation comprising the leader of the Akali parliamentary party, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, general secretary and MP, Sukhbir Singh Badal, and M.P., Rajmohinder Singh Majitha, called on the officiating British High Commissioner, Rob MacCaire, in New Delhi on Tuesday, urging him to convey to his Government the Sikh community's "concern and acute sense of insecurity'' following reports of hate crime targeting the community and its shrines in that country.

Earlier, party president Parkash Singh Badal asked the three leaders to follow developments in the wake of reports of hate crime against Punjabis in general and the Sikhs in particular to ensure a prompt response to the problems arising out of mistaken identity. Tuesday's meeting was the first in a series of steps that the Akali Dal proposed to take to safeguard the interests of the Punjabi community living abroad. Through a communication here on Wednesday, party secretary Daljit Singh Cheema disclosed that the meeting with the British representative lasted about half an hour during which the Akali leaders emphasised that the community's religious as well as political leaders were among the first to condemn the bomb blasts in London last week.

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Badal asks Blair to protect Punjabis, shrines