Summon British High Commissioner: Sukhbir to Centre

Sukhbir Badal night said the attack on an elderly Sikh by a British teenage girl had hurt feelings of the community.

Chandigarh: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Sunday night said the attack on an elderly Sikh by a British teenage girl had hurt feelings of the community and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately take up the matter with the UK government. The Union government should summon the British High Commissioner immediately to convey the "hurt feelings of the entire Sikh community" and the nation over the incident, he said in a statement here. It was shocking that that the turban of the Sikh gentleman was knocked off during the attack.

The British government must be asked to take strict action to prevent recurrence of such incidents, Sukhbir said. The Deputy CM also asked Union minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur to find out whether it was a racial attack as suspected. The 19-year-old British girl has been arrested on the charge of assaulting the 80-year-old Sikh on August 10 after a video of the incident went viral online. PTI