The terrorist state of Pakistan, which perpetrates falsehoods about the supposed mistreatment of minorities in India, has itself remained a dangerous place for minorities, especially the Sikhs and Hindus as rampant forced conversion have left the community vulnerable in the country.
In another case of forced conversions of minorities in Pakistan, a Sikh girl named Jagjit Kaur has allegedly been abducted and forcefully converted to Islam on a gunpoint in Pakistan’s Nankana Sahib city. The family of the victim has alleged that the girl was forced to marry a Muslim boy after bring forcefully converted to Islam. The 19-year-old girl is daughter of Bhagwan Singh, a ‘granthi’ (priest) of Gurudwara Tambu Sahib.
Reportedly, the family added that six people abducted their daughter Jagir Kaur at gunpoint on the night between August 27 and August 28. The girl’s family has also appealed assistance from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to protect the family and has demanded that the girl be sent back. They said even though an FIR had been filed, nothing was done to bring back the abducted girl. The girl’s brother has alleged that the goons have threatened them to withdraw the complaint otherwise they’d be killed.
Later, a video emerged in which Jagjit Kaur was seen claiming that she had ‘converted’ to Islam. The family of the girl begged Imran Khan for justice, stating that they will self-immolate if the girl was not returned.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Delhi MLA Manjider Singh Sirsa urged Imran Khan to take action and wrote: “It is disheartening to see 18-year old girls being converted forcefully to Islam in Pakistan!”.
It is disheartening to see 18-year old girls being converted forcefully to Islam in Pakistan!
We condemn such forceful conversions & urge @narendramodi Ji & @DrSJaishankar Ji to take up the issue of safety of Sikhs in Pak at global level@ANI @republic @ZeeNews @thetribunechd pic.twitter.com/7PUiu34lFZ
— Manjinder S Sirsa (@mssirsa) August 29, 2019
Pakistan is notoriously known for its persecution of not only religious minorities but also ethnic minorities within their own country. The forceful conversion programmes have often been unleashed against the minorities especially Christians, Sikhs and Hindus living in Pakistan with atmost brutality.
There have been many such cases reported in the recent past. On March 20, two underage Hindu girls Raveena (13) and Reena (15) were abducted from their home in Pakistan’s Sindh on the eve of Holi. The girls were later forcefully converted and married off to older Muslim men.
In another horrific incident, a 13-year-old Pooja Sotahar Kumari, daughter of Fatan Rathore, resident of village Bakhsho Laghari in Hyderabad district’s Hosri Taluka, was kidnapped, forcefully converted and subsequently married off to a man identified as Syed Irshad Shah.
Recently, a report released by the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) threw light on the plight of religious minorities in Pakistan. The report claims that around 1000 girls from religious minorities are forcibly converted to Islam every year. The numbers might be higher as many cases are not even reported.
