DSGMC seeks return of ‘abducted’ Sikh girls in Srinagar

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 27

Two girls from the Sikh community in Sringar, who were allegedly abducted, forcibly converted and married off, would be returned to their families. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has reportedly assured a delegation of Sikhs which went from Delhi to meet him at Srinagar.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said a delegation called on Sinha. “The L-G has assured that the girls will return,” Sirsa said.

“The delegation took up the matter of forced ‘nikah’ of Sikh girls in Srinagar. The L-G addressed our concerns related to the safety of Sikh girls in the Valley and this harmful trend of religious conversion,” the DSGMC said.

The issue

According to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, two Sikh girls were “abducted, forcibly converted and married off”.

DSGMC chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa says a delegation met L-G Manoj Sinha who assured that the girls would return.

The delegation demanded that a mandate of parents’ permission should be made compulsory for any such inter-religion marriage. The delegation also handed him the letter of Giani Harpreet Singh, Jathedar, Akal Takht Sahib.

Sirsa said Sinha agreed on setting up a minority commission in the state to address the issues of minority.