By IANS,
New Delhi : A day after golfer Jeev Milkha Singh’s coach Amritinder Singh was forced to remove his turban a second time at the Milan airport during a security check, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Wednesday said the government treated insult to Sikhs as a national insult.
“Whenever there is an insult to Sikhs, we take it as a national insult. We take it up in that spirit,” Krishna said in the Rajya Sabha Wednesday morning after the issue was raised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S.S. Ahluwalia during zero hour.
External Affairs Ministry sources said the Italian ambassador has been summoned on the issue.
Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh’s coach Amritinder Singh was made to take off his turban at the Milan airport last week, after which the Italian envoy expressed regret.
However, the same officer once again made Singh remove his turban on his return journey Tuesday.
Raising the issue, Ahluwalia asked the minister to summon the Italian envoy.
“What is the use of the Italian envoy’s regret… what is the use of lip service?” Ahluwalia said.
Krishna assured the members that the matter will be taken up with Italy.
“Italy is very dear to our country and India is very dear to Italy… but these incidents occur,” he said.
Official sources from the external affairs ministry confirmed that the Italian ambassador has been summoned on the issue.
Krishna also spoke about the recent incident of rape and murder of an Indian student in Australia.
“I will take it up with the Australian ambassador. We will call the ambassador. He has been repeatedly called and we have given our views,” he said.