Alleging that four Sikh women were forcibly converted to Islam, the Sikh community took to the streets in Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi, Srinagar and Anantnag. They blocked highways in Kathua and Jammu. The officiating jathedar of the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Giani Harpreet Singh, wrote to the LG demanding an "anti-conversion law".
Several members of the Sikh community gathered outside the Jammu and Kashmir Bhawan. The protest was led by the Jag Aasra Guru Ott (Jago), a religious party recognised under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. According to party president Manjit Singh G.K., the protest was held to demand an "anti-conversion" law in Jammu and Kashmir. They have also submitted a memorandum regarding the same to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said they have taken up the issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha. "We have been protesting for two days. Four women have been forcibly converted, including an 18-year-old who was married to a middle-aged man, and it was said that she married according to her own will," Sirsa said. He said it is unfortunate that even the judiciary did not do justice with the woman's family.
Sirsa, who is also the president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, landed in Srinagar on Monday and staged a protest along with a group of Sikhs. "The parents of the woman were not allowed inside the court, while all the relatives of the man were inside the court so that they could pressure the girl and then it is justified. Our community will not tolerate it. This is not an issue of a single woman, it is a collective issue. Our community leaders from across the world have reacted strongly to it," he said at the press conference.
The SAD leader said the Sikh community demands the return of the women to their families and a law against such forced conversions. "Our highest temporal authority has written a letter to the LG over the issue, wherein they have demanded that the woman be returned to the family immediately and a law framed against forced conversions," he said.
-Inputs from PTI
