Won't assist Pak PM during prayers: Ajmer shrine's diwan

Ajmer, Mar 8: The spiritual head of the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti shrine here says that he will not assist the

Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf while the latter offers prayers at the shrine on Saturday.

Condemning the brutal manner in which Pakistani troops beheaded an Indian jawan near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir two months ago, the shrine's diwan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan told a news channel on Friday that the Pakistani government's "hands are soaked in blood".

Lance Naik Hemraj of the 13 Rajputana Rifles was ambushed by the Pakistani Army's Border Action Team in the Mendhar sector of the LoC on Jan 8. Under the cover of fog, the attackers entered into Indian territory and decapitated Hemraj. They mutilated the body of his colleague Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh too.

Thouugh an area domination patrol engaged the intruders, the Pakistanis managed to retreat to their border posts.

Abedin said that he has decided to boycott Raja Parvez Ashraf as members of both the minority and majority communities in Pakistan are being ruthlessly killed by rabid fundamentalists.

The diwan demanded to know whether the Pakistani premier believed in the tenets of Islam because if he did so, he surely would not allowed the slaughter of Muslims in his country.

The relatives of Hemraj who have been demanding the return of the martyr's head also stressed that Raja Parvez Ashraf should not be greeted by Indian officials on his arrival in Rajasthan. They expressed concern over the lunch that External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is scheduled to host in honour of the Pakistani PM.

They said that it is ridiculous to welcome Raja Parvez Ashraf when cross-border terrorism continues unabated.

Incidentally, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a similar statement in Parliament. "There cannot be normalisation of relations between our two countries unless and until the terror machine which is still active in Pakistan is brought under control," Singh said.

OneIndia News