PSGPC raises Sikh girl’s abduction case with authorities

GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 20

The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) has intervened in the alleged abduction and forcible conversion of the religion of a young Sikh girl.

Taking cognisance of the incident, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal has sought the intervention of Union External Affairs Ministry to bring justice to the girl and her family.

Nonetheless, the PSGPC officials along with the girl’s family members met Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri in the presence of Punjab’s Minister for Minority Affairs Ijaz Alam Augustine and chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Dr Aamir Ahmad, and apprised them of disappearance of the girl.

Talking to The Tribune over phone, the PSGPC president Satwant Singh told that the girl had gone missing from her father’s house located near the Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, a city in Attock district of Punjab province in Pakistan.

“The federal and provincial ministers and officials had assured us that she would be reunited with her family,” he said.

When asked about the ‘seriousness’ of Pakistan authorities in this matter keeping in view the leniency that was adopted in an earlier identical incident, he said, “We have faith in Pakistan authorities that justice would be done.  The police have launched a hunt for the missing girl. Our endeavour is to recover the girl and ensure that exemplary punishment be given to the guilty ones. We are constantly in contact with the district police officer of Attock for the latest updates on the situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, a case was registered against an “unknown abductor” immediately after the girl’s father had filed a complaint.

It was the girl’s father Pritam Singh, a granthi in Gurdwara Panja Sahib, who revealed the incident on social media that her daughter was missing for the past ten days. In his message, he had feared the forcible conversion of her religion.

At the moment, it would be premature to confirm that the girl has converted to another religion. This can only be confirmed once she comes out to record her statement.