PESHAWAR, May 2: A Sikh who had embraced Islam 29 years ago has been asked by the Ansarul Islam to re-affirm his conversion in accordance with the group’s teachings.

Speaking at a news conference with his two sons at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, Din Mohammad of Tirah Valley said Ansarul Islam leaders Qazi Mehboobul Haq and Said Akbar had summoned him a month ago and asked him to ‘re-convert’ to Islam. He said he had nothing to do with the sectarian war being fought by rival groups in his area.

He said that it was beyond his comprehension a Muslim could re-convert to Islam.

He said when he refused to obey the ‘command’, the group’s workers illegally detained his son, fined him Rs200,000, ordered demolition of his home and told him to immediately move out of the valley. He said he had no option but to move from his village to the settled area.

“I am living in Sorizai on Kohat road. Most of my relatives have settled in Sheikhupura. We have no security of life and property in Tirah,” he said.

He urged the government to protect him from the Ansarul Islam leaders who had occupied his agricultural land in the valley.

He said the religious extremists had made the lives of people in the Khyber Agency difficult and the ongoing clashes had brought the business activities to a standstill.

He urged the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam to control the group.

Ongoing sectarian clashes between the Lashkar-i-Islam and Ansarul Islam in Khyber Agency have forced massive migration from the area to Peshawar besides claiming several lives.