Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday called upon Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to take “firm and immediate action” in the case of a Sikh priest’s daughter who has allegedly been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in Lahore’s Nankana Sahib.
The Chief Minister has also requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take up the issue with his Pakistani counterpart at the earliest.
“Shocking incident of a Sikh girl being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan. Call upon Imran Khan to take firm and immediate action against the perpetrators. Request S Jaishankar to strongly take up the issue with his counterpart at the earliest,” Mr Singh tweeted along with a video of the woman’s family.
Jagjit Kaur, 19, is the daughter of Bhagwan Singh, a “granthi” (priest) of Gurdwara Tambu Sahib. Her family alleges that she was converted to Islam at gunpoint and made to marry a Muslim man.
In the video, Jagjit Kaur’s brother Surinder Singh said some men forcibly entered their house and kidnapped her a few days ago.
“We went to a police station to register a complaint. We met many senior officials but they did not listen to us. The men came to our home again, forced us to withdraw our complaint and threatened that they will force us to convert to Islam if we pursued the complaint,” he said.
The family appealed Imran Khan and Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa for Jagjit Kaur’s safe return. They also said that they will self-immolate in front of the Governor house in Pakistan’s Punjab if she is not released.
The members of the Sikh community in Pakistan have condemned the horrific incident and have decided to organise a protest at the Governor House today where an international conference on Kartarpur Corridor is also scheduled.
