After two cases of Sikh girls being allegedly abducted and forcefully converted to Islam in Pakistan, India's Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday released a statement saying Indians and people of civil societies have condemned these incidents. Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted, “The civil society and the people of India have strongly condemned the recent deplorable incidents of forced abduction, conversion and marriage of two Sikh girls in Pakistan. We have reflected these strong concerns with Pakistan and have asked for immediate remedial action.”
In the recent incident that created tremors both within Pakistan and Sikh communities across the globe, a 19-year-old Sikh girl’s family shared a video on social media accusing a Muslim man of abducting her, forcibly converting her religion to Islam and then marrying her. The family, which belongs to Nankana Sahib in Punjab province of Pakistan, filed an FIR against six persons including prime accused Mohammad Hassan and his friend Arsalan who aided him in marrying the teenage girl.
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“Arsalan facilitated Hassan in getting him married to the Sikh girl,” said Mohammad Jamil, Nankana City Police Investigation Officer, adding that Hassan is on a pre-arrest bail and could not be arrested.
In the recent incident that created tremors both within Pakistan and Sikh communities across the globe, a 19-year-old Sikh girl’s family shared a video on social media accusing a Muslim man of abducting her, forcibly converting her religion to Islam and then marrying her.
However, there is a video of the wedding that has also gone viral on social media in which the girl says that she is converting to Islam out of her own free will. She also reportedly rejected her family’s allegations. Lahore High Court has directed the girl is sent to Darul Aman, Lahore (shelter home). She has made it clear that she does not want to return to her parent’s house as she feels threatened for her life.
Meanwhile, the family has shared another video which was shared by Punjab MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa wherein the girl’s brother can be heard saying, “Our sister has not returned home,” adding that the reports claiming that the girl has returned home to her family are wrong. Sirsa wrote in his tweet, “This seems to be a trend in Pakistan; girls of minority group are abducted and converted to Islam and then forced to admit it on video that they did it with free will sharing the sad story of Payal Devi D/O Manghoomal Watwani from Sindh who met same fate as Jagjit Kaur, 2 months ago.”
The Gurudwara Committee of India has sent a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi to take up the issue with the United Nations.
The Gurudwara Committee of India has sent a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi to take up the issue with the United Nations. Bhupendra Singh Walia, a senior office-bearer of the Gurudwara Committee said in the memorandum, "The Sikhs are forcefully converted to Islam, and most of the victims of forceful conversion are women."
"On one hand, there is joy in the world on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, while on the other hand, a Sikh girl is abducted and forcefully converted to Islam in Pakistan," Walia added.
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In another case, two girls were allegedly kidnapped by a group of “influential” men from their home in Ghotki district in Sindh on the eve of Holi.
In March, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered an investigation into these cases of abduction, forced conversion and underage marriages of two teenage Hindu girls in Sindh province.
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