Pakistan orders probe into kidnapping, forced conversion of Sikh girl in Lahore; Amarinder Singh urges S Jaishankar to take up issue with Islamabad

Pakistan has reportedly ordered a probe into the incident of a Sikh girl being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in Lahore’s Nankana Sahib. Punjab (Pakistan) chief minister Sardar Usman Buzdar ordered an investigation into the incident, reported India Today . Additionally, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh also took cognizance of the incident and urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take up the issue with Pakistan. He shared a video on Twitter which showed the girl’s brother talking about the incident and appealing for the safe return of his sister. The victim’s brother says in the video that he and his family will immolate themselves on 31 August in front of the Governor’s residence.

Shocking incident of a Sikh girl being kidnapped & 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. pic.twitter.com/hpHvD9kkEJ

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) August 30, 2019

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh also took to Twitter following the incident and took a similar stance, demanding action against those involved. Nineteen-year-old Jagjit Kaur, the girl who was converted to Islam at gunpoint and forcibly made to marry a Muslim man in Pakistan, is the daughter a granthi (priest) of Gurudwara Tambu Sahib. The victim’s family appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa for the safe return of Jagjit Kaur. Surinder Singh, brother of Jagjit Kaur, said, “Our family has faced a tragic incident as some goons forcibly entered our house and abducted my younger daughter. They tortured her and forcibly converted her to Islam”. Surinder Singh also complained of the police’s apathy. “We went to a police station to register a complaint. We met many senior officials but they have not listened to our complaint. The goons again came to our house and forced us to withdraw our complaint and threatened that they will also force us to convert to Islam if we persisted with the complaint,” he said in the video. Manmohan Singh, another brother of Jagjit Kaur, told ANI , “The goons also threatened the family that if we do not withdraw the complaint, we will be killed. I have appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa to help us or else the incident could impact Kartarpur Corridor.” The members of the Sikh community in Pakistan condemned the horrific incident and conducted a meeting at Gurudwara Nankana Sahib. They have decided to organise a protest on Friday outside the Governor House while an international conference related to Kartarpur Corridor is scheduled to be held there. President of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa also condemned the incident. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter. In Pakistan, many such incidents are regularly reported where Hindu, Sikh and Christian girls are forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslim men. In March this year, Imran Khan had ordered a probe into reports of abduction, forced conversion and underage marriages of two teenage Hindu girls in Sindh province. Soon after the kidnapping, a video went viral in which a cleric was purportedly shown soleminising the Nikah (marriage) of the two girls. With inputs from agencies