Indian clerics, who went missing in Pak, working against nation: Swamy

New Delhi: In what may spark a fresh controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday said the two Indian clerics, who had gone missing in Pakistan, were working against the nation.

"They are lying in order to defend themselves and get sympathy. They are saying that they were portrayed as Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent. We can't trust them. We have independent information that they are working against the nation," Swamy told ANI.

Earlier in the day, hinting towards Pakistan's conspiracy to convict innocent Indians, one of the Sufi clerics, said that one of the papers in the neighbouring country had printed false news of them being RAW agents.

Nazim Nizami, one of the two clerics, told the reporters that a newspaper 'Ummat' in Pakistan printed false statements of them being "RAW spies".

"There is a newspaper Ummat (in Pakistan) which has printed false statements (of the two clerics being RAW spies) and photos," Nizami told the media here.

The cleric thanked the Indian Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for their efforts.

The two clerics, Syed Asif Ali Nizami and his friend Nazim Nizami, marked a safe arrival in India earlier today.

The two clerics surfaced in Karachi and told that they had gone to meet their devotees in interior Sindh, where there was no phone connectivity.

The clerics belong to Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah.

Syed Asif Ali Nizami is the head priest of the Dargah.

The duo had travelled to Pakistan to visit their relatives in Karachi and then embarked on a pilgrimage to Lahore.

One of them went missing in Karachi and the other in Lahore, reports claimed.

The Indian authorities had raised the issue with the Pakistan Foreign Ministry seeking its help in tracing their missing citizens.