CHANDIGARH: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and the Delhi unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal staged a protest near the Pakistan High Commission on Monday over the alleged abduction of a Sikh girl in the neighbouring country. They also submitted a memorandum to the high commission. DSGMC chairman Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that daughter of the head Granthi of Gurdwara Panja Sahib--one of the most sacred sites in Sikhism--was abducted recently in Attock district of Pakistan’s Punjab province. According to media reports, police have registered a case against “unknown abductors” after the girl’s father filed a complaint.
“We gave a memorandum to the Pakistan High Commission to get the girl released from her abductors and reunited with her family. The Pakistani authorities have registered a case but that is just a sham as nothing happens afterward. My appeal to all religious bodies is that we should get united and demand the Pakistan government to get the girl reunited with her family as they have been claiming that they protect their minorities. We are not against any religion including Islam but against these kinds of people who abduct girls,” Sirsa said.He alleged that about 15 days back, the daughter of Granthi of Gurdwara Panja Sahib was abducted and there is no news of her yet despite her family’s repetitive pleas to the authorities in Pakistan.
A DSGMC delegation met an official of the Ministry of External Affairs, demanding that the central government raised the issue of the alleged abduction of Sikh girls in Pakistan. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal has also sought the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs to bring justice to the girl and her family.
According to Delhi Police, around 40 to 50 people staged a protest near the Chanakyapuri police station.
According to the sources, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee officials and the girl’s family members met the Pakistan Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri, Minister for Minority Affairs Ijaz Alam Augustine, and chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Dr Aamir
Ahmad and apprised them of the situation.