Asked Pak for immediate remedial action, says Centre after forced conversion of Sikh girls

india

Updated: Sep 02, 2019 01:17 IST

In the wake of forced conversion of two Sikh girls in Pakistan, India on Sunday expressed strong concern over the incidents and asked the neighbouring country to take remedial action to stop such cases.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Sunday said that civil society and people of India have strongly condemned the forced abduction, conversion and marriage of the two Sikh girls.

In Pakistan’s Punjab province, a teenage Sikh girl, the daughter of a priest, was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam at gunpoint before she was married to a Muslim man, her family alleged in a video.

They say she is 18-years old. The Sikh community in Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, has held protests over the incident.

“The civil society & the people of India have strongly condemned the recent deplorable incidents of forced abduction, conversion & marriage of two Sikh girls in Pakistan. We have reflected these strong concerns with Pakistan and have asked for immediate remedial action,” Kumar said on Twitter

The abduction of a teenage girl Jagjit Kaur came to light on Thursday after Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Majinder Singh Sirsa shared a video of the girl’s family narrating the ordeal on social media.

The incident led to a furore in India with several political leaders across parties demanding action against the perpetrators.

According to the FIR filed by the girl’s family, eight men had barged into their house in Nankana Sahib on August 28 and took away Jagjit Kaur at gunpoint.

On Saturday, it was reported that another girl identified as Renuka Kumari was abducted from her college in Sukkur in Sindh province of Pakistan.

The MEA had earlier said that it has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society and members of Sikh religious bodies about the incident in Pakistan.

protests outside Pak High commission

The MEA response on Sunday came even as protests were held outside the Pakistan High Commission here by a large gathering of Sikhs and others, demanding that Islamabad take action in the matter.

People took out a march here on Sunday to protest abduction, forceful conversion and marriage of a Sikh girl to a Muslim man in Pakistan.

They walked from Teen Murti Bhavan to Pakistan High Commission in solidarity with the girl.

Protestors raised slogans against Pakistan and demanded justice for the teenager who was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

(With Agency Inputs)