A Congress Member of Parliament from Amritsar city has written to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to intervene and stop harassment of Sikh girls in Pakistan's Punjab province.
Gurjeet Singh Aujla highlighted the case of Jagjeet Kaur, daughter of head granthi of Gurudwara Shri Nankana Sahib, who was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim boy. She is now named as Aisha by using coercive and unlawful methods.
"The current controversy has shaken me from inside and being aggrieved in my personal capacity as well as representing the Holy City Amritsar and being a true believer of Sikh religion, myself condemn the incident that happened with the helpless young girl from Sikh community", he wrote to Imran Khan.
He added, "Prime Minister, the Sikh Community being the true warriors and hard workers are spread all over the world in almost every country, this controversy has led to the outbreak of a major resentment towards the working of your government. I know that with the intervention of your office, this controversy is very well within your powers as you are the head of the legislature of your country to resolve this current issue with immediate effect".
Aujla said that if Imran Khan fails to address the issue, he will take the matter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I, first of all request you to resolve this issue in a very peaceful, fair, judicious manner or else this matter shall be taken up by me with our Prime Minister and also at international levels/forums to ensure that speedy justice is delivered and no such oppression, harassment and coercion shall be tolerated at any cost", he wrote.
Sikhs in Pakistan continue to face persecution by the hands of majority Muslims. In 2009, the Taliban imposed Jizya (yearly taxation) on non-Muslims and demolished the houses of 11 Sikh families in Orakzai Agency for refusing to pay ransom.
Many Sikhs in the country have been target killed, gurudwaras destroyed and land forcibly occupied by the Islamists in the past few years.
On 27 July 2020, it was reported that the Gurudwara Shaheed Bhau Taru Singh, which is the site of Bhai Taru Singh, had been forcibly taken over and was converted into a mosque and named as Masjid Shahid Ganj.
( With inputs from ANI )