Uproar over Sikh girl’s conversion in Pak

GS PAUL

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 30

At a time when Pakistan is hosting the International Sikh Convention in Lahore, the alleged abduction and forcible marriage of a Sikh girl with a Muslim boy after conversion to Islam has created an uproar among the Sikh community.

Sources said after the intervention of Pakistan Punjab Governor Sardar Usman Buzdar, who ordered a probe into the incident on Friday, the police reached the girl and detained four family members of the accused Muslim boy, identified as Mohammad Ehsaan.

Sikhs in Nankana Sahib will hold a protest outside Governor’s House in Lahore where the convention titled, “Relevance of Baba Guru Nanak era with today’s circumstances”, has been scheduled for which around 50 Sikh scholars from all over globe are expected to reach.

A Pakistani Sikh said they would assemble at 11 am on Saturday. He said though an inquiry had been marked, till now the whereabouts of the girl and the boy were not revealed by the police. “The picture will get clear only after we meet the girl. The police have sought some time to let the girl meet her family members,” he said.

Based on a complaint submitted by the girl’s brother Manmohan Singh on August 28, the Nankana Sahib police had registered an FIR against Ehsaan and six others, under Section 365B (kidnapping, abducting or inducing women for marriage) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The incident came to light on Thursday evening through a video clipping in which the girl had been identified as Jagjit Kaur, the daughter of Bhagwan Singh, a granthi at Gurdwara Tambu Sahib in Nankana Sahib.

Visibly frightened, the girl was seen sitting with Ehsaan, as introduced during their ‘nikah’ being read out. She answers another person behind the camera reportedly trying to establish that she was adult, adopted Islam and marrying Ehsaan with her consent. Both were also seen repeating verses of Quran. She was also reportedly made to say that she didn’t bring any money or jewellery from her home.

Another video of girl’s family members, including her father, brothers Sawinder Singh and Manmohan Singh, surfaced last evening in which they claimed that she was kidnapped during the wee hours from her sister’s place three days ago. They said they came to know about her whereabouts only through a video that revealed that she married a Muslim boy.

In the police complaint, the family members claimed that she was a minor (17), forced to marry a Muslim boy by converting her to the Islam under the threat that if she didn’t agree to it, her family would be eliminated.

The family members declared that they would not refrain from immolating themselves if the authorities did not help them in getting justice.

Ensure Safety of minorities: Sukhbir  

• SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who were here to visit the Golden Temple on Friday, said the safety of the minorities, especially Sikhs, had become a big issue in Pakistan.
• Slamming the atrocities on the minority Sikh community in the regime of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh and SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said the shocking abduction, conversion and marriage of the  Sikh girl would be raised at the global platform.