Lahore: As alleged abduction and conversion of a Sikh teen to Islam in Pakistan has sparked massive outrage, a farmers' body in India took out a protest on Saturday. Burning effigy of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the members of Sikh community demanded justice for the girl.
Leading the protest, Border Kishan Welfare Society vice president Surjit Singh Bhura raised slogans against the neighbouring country and demanded justice for members of the community in Pakistan.
The girl, who is the daughter of a Sikh priest, was on Friday sent to Darul Aman (shelter home) on a court order after she told the judge that she married Mohammad Hassan of her locality with her own free will. Kaur's family alleged that she was converted to Islam at gunpoint and forced to marry a Muslim boy. Her family says she is 18 years of age.
On Saturday, Punjab Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar met the Sikh girl at Lahore's shelter home and tried his best to persuade her to return her parents' home but she declined, an official of the Punjab government was quoted as saying by PTI.
An FIR was registered on Thursday against six people in the case. Police have arrested one of the suspects named Arsalan, a friend of the Hassan, who is also the prime accused in the case and currently on a pre-arrest bail. Police on Saturday detained 10 more people, including relatives and friends of Hassan, in connection with the case.
The official said that the governor even told her that "her marrying a man outside her religion is becoming a religious matter and there has been tension in Nankana Sahib among Sikhs and Muslims, but she did not budge.
The Sikh community in Nankana Sahib held protests demanding return of the girl back to her family. Some reports also said that the Sikh community has announced a ban on the entry of Muslims in gurudwaras including Gurudwara Janamasthan, the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev, until the girl is reunited with her family and action is taken against the culprits.
However, Pakistan's Gurudwara Parbhandik Committee Secretary General Ameer Singh was quoted as saying by PTI that the situation in Nankana Sahib has been under control and clarified that the Sikh community had not banned Muslims entry to gurudwaras in Nankana Sahib.
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