Claiming that two girls belonging to the Sikh community have been “abducted and forcibly converted” and married to elderly Muslim men in the recent past in Kashmir, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), on Monday demanded that anti-conversion law be enacted in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing media persons in Srinagar, Sirsa alleged that the family of the “abducted” girls had to face discrimination and the family of one of the abducted girls wasn’t allowed to enter the court complex.
A DSGMC delegation led by Sirsa met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday and sought the safe return of a Sikh girl who was recently “abducted, forcibly converted and married off in the valley”.
While expressing disappointment over not getting enough support from the majority community, Sirsa highlighted that the Sikh community was always at the forefront whenever help was needed by the people of Kashmir.
“We were expecting people from the majority community will share our grief but unfortunately, they didn’t. During the 2014 floods in Kashmir, we would come with food every day from Delhi for 50,000 people,” said Sirsa. Adding, “When Kashmiri students were being harassed outside, the Sikh community arranged their travel to valley.”
He said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured them about the safety of minority Sikh girls in the Valley and that the girls would be soon returned to their families. “He has given time to meet Jammu and Kashmir Sikh delegation soon to discuss the minority’s concerns,” Sirsa said.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President and former deputy chief minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal also took to Twitter and expressed ‘shock’ over the abduction and marriage of a Sikh girl in Srinagar.
“Shocked to learn that our Sikh daughter Manmeet Kaur was kidnapped and forcibly married to an elderly man of a different community in Srinagar. Have asked DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa ji to immediately rush there & ensure justice is delivered to the victim family,” Badal tweeted.