Islamabad: A teenage Sikh girl, who was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan's Punjab province has finally found justice. After pressure from India to ensure the safe return of the woman to her family, Pakistan politicians finally intervened and struck a compromise between the family of the victim and her in-laws. The girl's in-laws have agreed to let her return to her family.
The Governor of the Punjab province Mohammad Sarwar tweeted a video message with both families and said, "Great news for Pakistani & Sikh communities across the world. Issue of Nankana girl was amicably resolved to the satisfaction of the concerned families. The girl is safe & in touch with her family. We shall continue to ensure the rights of minorities in Pakistan."
The video shows the family of Sikh girl and the Muslim boy confirming the settlement of the argument. The father-in-law of the girl said that his family had withdrawn their claim to the girl and she was free to return to her parents if she wanted. The two sides hug it out in the video.
An FIR was filed with the Nankana Police Station in Pakistan last week against six people for abducting and forcibly converting 19-year-old Jagjit Kaur to Islam. Her father, a Sikh priest had alleged that she was converted to Islam at gunpoint and forced to marry a Muslim boy. Under pressure, the Punjab province government constituted a high-level committee to negotiate with Sikhs angry over the abduction and forced conversion of the girl.
The committee told the family of the girl and the community members that she had embraced Islam of her free will after marrying Hassan. Earlier, a video of Kaur's family had gone viral on social media in which one of her family members alleged that a group of men had attacked their house and kidnapped the girl. The person in the video also claimed that the kidnappers again approached them and threatened them with consequences if they pursued the case and did not convert to Islam.
He also warned of self-immolation along with his whole family in front of the Governor House in Lahore if the girl is not reunited with the family. The issue created much outrage in the Sikh community globally. India strongly raised with Pakistan the issue of a Sikh girl being abducted and forced to convert to Islam in that country.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in New Delhi said the ministry has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, including Sikh religious bodies, at the "reports of the incident of abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl in Pakistan". Even Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh intervened in the issue and asked the government to bring the girl back to her parents.
