CHANDIGARH: A 17-year old Sikh girl was reportedly kidnapped and is being converted to Islam in Pakistan, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) said on Saturday. Pritam Singh, head granthi of historic Panja Sahib Gurdwara in Hassan Abdal city, has feared conversion of his daughter, Bulbaul Kaur, to Islam. The DSGMC, which has taken up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said the girl has gone missing about 15 days ago. According to the committee, as many as 55 Sikh girls have been kidnapped and forcefully married in the last nine months in Pakistan. The incident took almost a year after the alleged abduction and conversion of Nankana Sahib Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur alias Ayesha Bibi in the neighboring country.
DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa said in the latest incident, the girl was kidnapped by two men, and her whereabouts are yet to be known. “Her father contacted us for help. We have tried our best trace the girl, but there has been no success so far. The father told us that his daughter’s religion is in danger,’’ the DSGMC president said.On Saturday, Sirsa met an official of the MEA and sought permission that a delegation of the DSGMC is allowed to visit Pakistan to find out the girl, and also to take stock of the situation of Sikh girls the country.
“We were assured that the MEA will take up the matter with the Pakistani High Commission on Monday and request them to help trace the girl,’’ he said.Sirsa also threatened that if the Pakistani government does not trace the girl and reunite her with her parents by week, then members of the committee will stage a protest outside the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi. “Since January, 55 Sikh girls have been kidnapped and converted to Islam in Pakistan. But till now, none of them has been traced by the Pakistan government,” he said.