Conversion row: Mum is the word at Sikh locality in Srinagar

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 12

A huge black iron gate at the entry of every lane in the Rainawari cluster of 30-odd houses of Sikhs keeps the goings-on within the colony shut to the outside world. Step inside and all queries are met with silence, even surprise.

It is here that an 18-year-old girl grew up before being allegedly abducted and forcibly converted to Islam by a man of different religion, sparking protests. Days after she was returned to her family, she left her house one last time on June 29 to get married to a local Sikh man at the Pulwama gurdwara after which the bride, the groom and their families left for Delhi.

A fortnight later, mum is the word in the cluster. Everybody knows the house where the girl lived but nobody has anything to say about her marriage. “They don’t live here anymore. We don’t know where they went,” says a neighbour. Another explains, “I was out for a week and I am clueless about the marriage.”

Tension easing

Since the girl married a Sikh man, the tension between the two communities has eased.

The man, who married and “forced her to accept Islam”, is out of jail and says he will bring her back.

APSCC chief Jagmohan Singh Raina says such sensitive issues should be left to local leaders

Her paternal aunt living on the ground floor of the two-storey house where they lived in a joint family is reluctant to give out her name. Peeping out from her window, she quips, “They used to live upstairs. Since the marriage, we haven’t seen them or heard from them. Their phones either keep ringing or are switched off. My in-laws live with me and they too have no clue if the family will ever return.” Before shutting the window, she adds they were a family of four and the victim’s brother used to study in Punjab.

Climb up the flight of steps that lead to the girl’s house and a lock greets the visitors. That the family left in a rush is evident from the fact that two pairas of slippers, a single-seater sofa and some flower pots lie just inside the iron door.

Outside the colony, in the gurdwara behind her house, a devotee who has come to offer prayers, says, “Despite allegations of forced conversion, once the girl was handed over to the family and married to a Sikh boy, the tension between the two communities has eased. Nobody wants to disturb the brotherhood between Sikhs and Muslims. They have lived together for decades. It is behind us now. We need to move forward.”

All Party Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) president Jagmohan Singh Raina maintains that such sensitive issues should be left to the local leaders. “We don’t want any outside interference in our internal matters. We can resolve our issues through dialogue with the community leaders of the other faith. Those coming from outside don’t know about the Valley’s sensitive situation,” he asserts.

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