India asks Pak to act on Sikh girl’s conversion

New Delhi: A “concerned” India on Friday asked Pakistan to take “immediate remedial action” following reports that a Pakistani Sikh girl had been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam and also had been forced to marry a Muslim man there. New Delhi said it had received “a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, including Sikh religious bodies in India”.

This comes even as the two countries are holding talks to finalise various issues relating to the construction of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor to facilitate the smooth travel of Indian Sikh pilgrims who will be travelling to Pakistan in November this year to attend the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of the founder of Sikhism and the first Guru of the Sikhs Guru Nanak.

In response to a query regarding the “recent incident about abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl from Sikh community in Pakistan”, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson said, “The ministry has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, including Sikh religious bodies in India, at the reports of the incident of abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl in Pakistan. We have shared these concerns with the government of Pakistan and asked for immediate remedial action.”

Earlier in the day, Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh had tweeted, “Shocking incident of a Sikh girl being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan. Call upon @ImranKhanPTI to take firm and immediate action against the perpetrators.”

Request @DrSJaishankar to strongly take up the issue with his counterpart at the earliest.”

According to reports, a Pakistani Sikh girl was forcibly converted to Islam and also forced to marry a Muslim man in Nankana Sahib in Pakistani Punjab. The 19-year-old girl, reportedly the daughter of a “granthi” (priest), was converted to Islam at gunpoint, her family had alleged, adding that the girl was abducted and forcefully converted to Islam and that she was forced to marry a Muslim boy.

Meanwhile, a high-level committee, headed by Pakistan Punjab’s law minister Raja Basharat was constituted to negotiate with the Sikh community over the issue.

A 30-member committee formed by Pakistan's Sikh community in relation to a case pertaining to the alleged forced conversion of a Sikh girl