LAHORE: The Punjab government is in hot water as the first round of its negotiations with the Sikh community pertaining to the alleged forced conversion of a 19-year-old Sikh girl in Nankana Sahib remained inconclusive here on Friday.

A committee, headed by Law Minister Raja Basharat, was constituted by the provincial government to engage with the Sikh community after it warned of a strong protest if the government did not take steps for the return of the girl. Sheikhupura Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sohail Habib Tajik was also in the committee.

A 30-member Sikh Sangat (committee) represented the community in the meeting.

According to an earlier memorandum sent to the Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) by the district police officer of Nankana Sahib, a first information report (FIR) was filed with the Nankana Police Station on Aug 28 against six people who were accused of abducting and forcibly converting Jagjit Kaur, 19, daughter of a Sikh (Granthi) priest to Islam. The police traced the suspects in Lahore and detained one of them. Three of the suspects obtained pre-arrest bail while two others were at large, the memorandum said.

Sikh committee persists with demand of girl’s return; matter to be taken to governor for resolution

A video of the family of Jagjit from Nankana Sahib had gone viral on social media in which one of her family members had alleged that a group of men had attacked their house and kidnapped their girl. He was seen giving details of the incident, saying that the family and registered the FIR but the police were not doing anything to recover the girl. He alleged after their return from the police station, the kidnappers again approached them and threatened them with consequences if they pursued the case and did not convert to Islam. He warned of self-immolation along with his whole family in front of the Governor House in Lahore in case Jagjit Kaur was not recovered.

An official, privy to the information regarding the government committee’s negotiations, told Dawn, the representatives of the Sikh community were insisting on one-point demand, i.e. the return of Ms Kaur to her family before going further into the dialogue.

The government committee members told them that the girl had embraced Islam of her free will and contracted marriage with a Muslim boy, Muhammad Hassan.

The law minister shared the relevant documents further, telling the Sikh committee that Ms Kaur had also filed a writ petition before the Lahore High Court through her lawyer against the local police, accusing them of ‘illegal harassment’. The Sikhs were further informed that the girl had also submitted a written statement in the court, stating that she had converted to Islam and married Hassan of her own free will. She accused her family of ‘wanting to kill her’.

Jagjit Kaur is currently housed in the Darul Aman, Lahore, as per the orders of an additional district and sessions judge, the government committee told the Sikh team.

On demand, the Punjab government’s committee members provided them with video proof of nikah (marriage contract) and the girl’s conversion to Islam besides copies of the documents from the National Database and Registration Authority, showing Ms Kaur’s age as 19 years.

The official said the Sikh committee, however, rejected the audio visual and documented evidences and stuck to their earlier stance.

The Sikhs demanded the police bring their girl back to her parents’ house, irrespective of what kind of the conversion.

Both the sides agreed that the matter would be taken up with the Punjab governor for its resolution.

A delegation of the Sikh community will meet Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar in this regard, the official said.

He added the Sikh member provincial assembly Sardar Mahindar Pal Singh, Sardar Gopal Singh and Sardar Mastan Singh would lead the delegation.

It is pertinent to mention here that international Sikh convention is also being held today (Saturday) at Governor’s House.

Earlier, District Police Officer Nankana Sahib Faisal Shahzad informed the IGP the Sikh community was “agitating against the incident and videos of family of the girl [were] also viral on social media and international media”.

“It is requested that concerned quarters may kindly be taken on board so that Sikh community could be engaged and pacified timely as the community has announced to protest if their demand is not honoured,” he wrote to the IGP.

The DPO further stated that in the backdrop of Indo-Pak tension vis-à-vis the held Kashmir, any such protest could damage image of the country internationally.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2019