NEW DELHI:

's recent statement on "showing" the Narendra Modi government "how to treat minorities" has evoked stern reactions from various political leaders in India.

Leaders from across political parties lashed out at Imran Khan, saying that the Pakistan PM should first mend the affairs of his own country before sermonizing India.

Minister of state Giriraj Singh reminded Pakistan about its declining Hindu population and asked Islamabad to mind its own affairs.

Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra also slammed Khan, saying that he can "surely teach Congress a lot. After all, the party considers the nation angelic".

"Pakistan is 'terroristan'. It gave shelter to (Osama Bin) Laden. It need not teach us anything," he said.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi too had a word of advice for the Pakistan premier.

"According to the Pakistani Constitution, only a Muslim is qualified to be President. India has seen multiple Presidents from oppressed communities. It is high time Khan sahab learns something from us about inclusive politics & minority rights," he wrote in a tweet.

Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in a hard-hitting reply, said that number of minorities like Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have fallen by almost 90 per cent in that country since its birth in 1947 as they were hounded by Islamic fundamentalists in collusion with its government.

Unlike Pakistan, where minorities were killed, forced to convert or persecuted out of the country, in India, they have grown and are an equal partners in development, Naqvi asserted. In the neighbouring country, minorities are barely two to three per cent of its population, he said.

"Can Imran Khan name a single Pakistani artiste who has come from a minority community and been liked as much as these actors are in India," Naqvi said.

Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha termed Khan's remark a case of "pot calling the kettle black".

SAD leader and Delhi MLA, Majinder Singh Sirsa, tweeted a news report on atrocities committed against the Sikh community in Pakistan and said that Khan should first read the report before "preaching".

"Sikh community in Pakistan fears its life in your country, Imran Khan. Kindly read the news link before you preach," he tweeted.

Khan’s comment was heavily panned on social media as well.

"Someone please send a big mirror to Imran Khan. Persecuting Ahmadis, Hindus, Shias, Balochs...for decades. Stop that first. If some of us are concerned about certain happenings here doesn’t mean we are persecuting and killing minorities like you have been doing," a Twitter user wrote.

A Twitter user asked Khan to rectify his country's notorious blasphemy law, which carries a death sentence for the accused.

On Saturday, addressing an event in Lahore, Khan referred to actor

's remarks on mob violence in India and said, "We will show the Modi government how to treat minorities. Even in India, people are saying that minorities are not being treated as equal citizens."

In a video interview with Karwan-e-Mohabbat India, the veteran actor had said the death of a cow was being given importance in the country than the killing of a policeman.

"There is complete impunity for those who take law into their own hands... I feel anxious for my children because tomorrow if a mob surrounds them and asks, 'Are you a Hindu or a Muslim?' They will have no answer. It worries me that I don't see the situation improving anytime soon," Shah had said.

(With inputs from agencies)