ISLAMABAD: In a bid to woo Sikh community after cases of forced conversion of girls from the minority community surfaced, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said his government would facilitate the visit of pilgrims to Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib gurdwaras.
Khan made these remarks during the International Sikh Convention at the Governor House here. "This is not a favour. This was our duty," he said.
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"Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib are as holy for Sikhs as Makkah and Madina are for Muslims. I promised to make access for Sikh pilgrims as easy as possible," he added.
India and Pakistan have held a series of meetings on Kartarpur corridor which will connect Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib (located in Punjab, India) and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.
The remarks come at a time when Khan is receiving a lot of flak after two incidents of forced conversion surfaced in Pakistan indicating the miserable conditions in which minorities are living there.
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Jagjit Kaur, 19, who went missing for a number of days, was found on Thursday after she was forcibly converted to Islam and made to marry a Muslim man.
Daughter of Bhagwan Singh, a 'granthi' (priest) of Gurdwara Tambu Sahib, she was converted to Islam at gunpoint.
It was on Saturday reported that another girl identified as Renuka Kumari was abducted from her college in Sukkur in Sindh province of Pakistan.
The incidents have sparked a furore in India, with several political leaders across parties seeking action against the perpetrators of these crimes.