India condemns forced conversion of two Sikh girls in Pakistan, urges Imran Khan govt to take 'remedial action'

New Delhi: Condemning the forced conversion of two Sikh girls in Pakistan, India on Sunday asked Imran Khan-led government to take immediate “remedial action” against the growing menace. “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,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

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.

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) September 1, 2019

Recently, two incidents of forced conversion have surfaced in Pakistan indicating the miserable conditions in which minorities are living in the country. Jagjit Kaur , 19, who went missing for a number of days, was found on Thursday after she was forcibly converted to Islam and made to marry a Muslim man. Daughter of Bhagwan Singh, a ‘granthi’ (priest) of Gurudwara Tambu Sahib, she was converted to Islam 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 incidents have sparked a furore in India, with several political leaders across parties seeking action against the perpetrators. On 30 August also, India had asked for immediate remedial action after reports of the abduction and forceful conversion of Sikh girl in Pakistan. “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,” the MEA spokesperson had said. Pakistan has also been repeatedly called by the international community to end discrimination against religious minorities on its soil, which are manifested in various forms of targeted violence, mass murders, extrajudicial killings, abduction, rapes, forced conversion to Islam, etc., making the Pakistani Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyyas and Shias one of the most persecuted minorities in the region. Last month, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada raised the issue of suppression of religious freedom by China and Pakistan in the United Nations and slammed the two Asian nations for “persecuting and repressing” their religious minorities. India condemns forced conversion of two Sikh girls in Pakistan, urges Imran Khan-led govt to take immediate ‘remedial action’