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Pak orders probe into ‘forced conversion’ of Sikh girl as row erupts
Islamabad/Chandigarh Pakistani authorities on Friday ordered a probe into reports that a teenaged Sikh girl was allegedly kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam
Islamabad/Chandigarh Pakistani authorities on Friday ordered a probe into reports that a teenaged Sikh girl was allegedly kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam before being married to a Muslim man, with the incident sparking outrage on social media.
Chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab, Usman Buzdar, ordered the inquiry to determine whether the girl was in any way forced to convert. The inquiry followed reports that the girl was kidnapped and then made to marry a Muslim man at Nankana Sahib near Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.
A local cleric reportedly arranged her marriage. The girl, Jagjit Kaur, aged around 17 years, is the daughter of a priest at a gurdwara in Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion.
Kaur had been missing for several days before a video emerged of her being converted to Islam and married to the Muslim man. She was renamed Ayesha, according to the video. In the video, the girl, seen sitting beside the Muslim man, says she was getting married without any pressure.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in New Delhi that Indian authorities had received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society, including Sikh religious bodies, on the reports of the abduction and forced conversion of the minor Sikh girl.
“We have shared these concerns with the government of Pakistan and asked for immediate remedial action,” he said.
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh demanded firm action against those involved in the abduction and forced conversion of Kaur. He urged external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the issue with his Pakistani counterpart and called on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to take stern action.
“Shocking incident of a Sikh girl being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan,” Singh tweeted.
Kaur’s brother, Surinder Singh, said his sister was tortured and forced to convert to Islam. He said the family had lodged a formal complaint with police but officials had not helped them. He said the men who kidnapped his sister had again come to their home and warned them that the whole family would be forced to convert to Islam if they didn’t withdraw the police complaint.
Sheikh Sultan, who contended he was Kaur’s lawyer, said she had converted to Islam and married Mohammad Hassan – one of the six men named in the complaint – of her own will.
Meanwhile, expressing concern over the incident, acting Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh asked the SGPC to take up the matter with Pakistan and provide every kind of help to the victim family.
SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal sought intervention of the ministry of external affairs and appealed to Pakistan PM Imran Khan to bring justice to the girl and her family.
