January 25, 2009	Sunday	Muharram 27, 1430

ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India has received death threats from an Indian extremist group, which has also warned of strikes on the parliament in Islamabad and the high commission in Delhi.

The threat made by a hitherto unknown group, All India Anti-Terrorism Group (AIATG), has prompted a strong protest by Islamabad asking New Delhi to provide full security to the envoy.

India, a source said, had been told that it would be held responsible in case of any harm to the high commissioner.

“The safety, security and welfare of the envoy are paramount in Pakistan’s response to these threats,” the source said.

A three-page letter, delivered by mail at Pakistan’s high commission, asked Shahid Malik, the high commissioner, to leave Delhi in three days or face dire consequences.

“We don’t need to make any kind of relation and have no place for any Pakistani in our country,” a man claiming to be the chief of the AIATG wrote in the letter. “If the threat is taken lightly, it is 200 per cent sure the envoy will be killed.”

The letter said that AIATG’s sub-groups — Students of Hinduism Movement in India and Pakistan, Students Against Terrorism, and Pride of India — were already active for the purpose.

The letter gave “11 reasons” for forming the anti-Pakistan group. “You can understand we have many reasons to take lethal steps against you and your country, so tell your government that we are mad, zealot and thirsty of Pakistani blood.”

Earlier this month, Pakistani comedian Shakeel Siddiqui was thrown out of a Mumbai studio by a Hindu extremist group, which also forced booksellers to remove books by Pakistani authors from their shelves.

The threat came at a time when a delegation of Pakistani civil society activists was in India on a peace mission.