Srinagar civil society tries to hand over Sikh girls back to kin

AMRITSAR: Members of Srinagar’s Civil Society have intervened to bring back two Sikh girls who got married to Muslim men and converted to Islam. However, relatives of one of the Muslim men allegedly warned people in his neighbourhood and the Sikh community against interfering in the issue, failing which they would have to face “dire consequences.”
Talking to TOI over phone from Srinagar, Alfat Wani, a member of the civil society group comprising traders and employees said, “Today, we went to the house of Muzafar Shahban, who married the Sikh girl, Tanmeet Kaur to persuade him to return her back to the community but to our utter surprise, the family has fled from their home.”
Wani said civil society members contacted people living in neighbourhood of Shahban but they appeared scared.“They informed that one of the relatives of Shahban, who is in the police service, threatened them and the Sikh community of dire consequences if they intervened in their personal affairs,” he said.
Wani said they would continue with their efforts and go to the house of Ashiq, who had married another Sikh girl, Manmeet Kaur.
Parwinder Singh, member of Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Budgam said, “There is much resentment among the Sikh community over the forced conversion of Sikh girls.” He said on June 26, Manmeet Kaur, 18, married Ashiq, 45, in court while Tanmeet Kaur, 25, married Muzafar Shaban, 28, about two weeks ago. “In both the cases, the girls were forcibly converted to Islam,” he alleged.
On Monday, he said, a delegation of United Sikh Forum, Srinagar and Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Budgam went to meet Srinagar deputy commissioner and handed over a memorandum demanding that the girls be handed over back to the Sikh community. He demanded enactment of a law similar to the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020.
Hawara Committee reacts
Hawara Committee, constituted by parallel jathedar of Akal Takht Jagtar Singh Hawara, currently in Tihar jail, has taken serious notice of alleged abduction of a Sikh girl in Kashmir valley.
“There seems to be a deep political conspiracy behind this heinous action, alleged Committee member Professor Baljinder Singh after holding an emergency meeting of the Committee to discuss the issue