Punjab govt to negotiate with Sikh community over alleged forced conversion of 19-year-old girl – Pakistan

The provincial government has set up a high-level committee, headed by Punjab law minister, Raja Basharat, to negotiate with a 30-member committee formed by the Sikh community of Pakistan regarding a case related to the alleged forced conversion of A Sikh girl, emerged Friday.

According to a memo sent to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab by the District Police Officer (DPO) of Nankana Sahib, on August 28 a First Information Report (FIR) was presented at the Nankana Police Station against six people accused of kidnapping and forcibly converting a 19-year-old Sikh girl, Jagjit Kaur.

Subsequently, the police tracked the suspects to Lahore and arrested one of them. Three of the suspects obtained a pre-arrest bond, while two others are released, according to the memo.

Subsequently, Sheikh Sultan, defender of Kaur, contacted the police and told them that he had embraced Islam, was given the name of Ayesha and then married Mohammad Hassan, one of the main suspects, of his own accord.

Sultan also said he had filed a court petition in Lahore High Court on behalf of Kaur against his family and local police, accusing them of "illegal harassment."

The girl also filed a written statement in court, stating that she had converted to Islam and married Hassan of her own free will. He also accused his family of "wanting to kill her." He is currently in Darul Aman, Lahore, on the orders of an additional session judge.

The DPO, in its memorandum, attached the "relevant documentary and video evidence of the nikah and the girl's conversion to Islam." Copies of the National Database and Registration Authority documents, which show that Kaur is 19 years old, and the nikahnama They were also attached.

Following the girl's statements in court, the Sikh community has demanded that the police take her back to her parents' house, regardless of whether the conversion is forced or consensual.

The DPO informed the IGP that the Sikh community was "waving against the incident and the videos of the girl's family." [were] also viral in social networks and international media. "

"It is requested that the interested neighborhoods can be kindly served so that the Sikh community can get involved and pacify in a timely manner, since the community has announced that it will protest if its demand is not met," he wrote.

"It is pertinent to mention here that in the context of Indo-Pak's tension against [occupied] Kashmir, any such protest could damage the country's image internationally. "