Sikh leaders protest over ‘forced conversions, marriages’ in Valley

FOLLOWING AN alleged compelled interfaith marriage of a Sikh woman, which triggered native protests final week, Sikh leaders from outdoors Jammu and Kashmir (J&Ok) arrived right here on Monday to protest in opposition to what they referred to as “forced conversions and marriages” of women from their neighborhood.
Even as Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa and another Sikh leaders reached Srinagar Monday, native Sikh leaders warned in opposition to “people from outside exploiting the situation for their political interests”.
On Saturday, the native Sikh neighborhood had alleged that an 18-year-old Sikh woman was “forcibly married” to a Muslim man in Srinagar earlier this month. While the woman was inside a court docket right here, her household and different members of the neighborhood staged a protest outdoors. The woman was later handed over to her mother and father.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Jagmohan Singh Raina, president of the All Party Sikh Coordination Committee in Kashmir, stated police didn’t permit the woman’s mother and father to enter the court docket. “They (the girl’s parents) called some of their relatives and friends; other members of the Sikh community also arrived outside the court and started protesting,” he stated.
“When I was informed, I called the Advisor to LG (Baseer Ahmad Khan, Advisor to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha). It was late in the evening. I also went to the court. The police officer there said the girl would be returned to the family, if the protesters dispersed… I convinced them (protesters) and the police returned the girl,” he stated.

While police haven’t made an official touch upon the difficulty, police sources stated the woman was introduced earlier than the court docket to report her assertion, and she or he advised the Justice of the Peace that she had married of her personal free will. The members of the family of the woman and the person weren’t accessible for touch upon Monday.
Meanwhile, addressing a press convention in Srinagar, Sirsa alleged that 4 Sikh women had been “forcibly converted and married” in Jammu and Kashmir, and demanded an “anti-conversion law”.
But native Sikh leaders stated they have been conscious of solely two such circumstances – final week’s incident, and an outdated case. “What can we do in that (old) case… They have valid conversion and marriage certificate,” stated Raina.
A purported video clip of the outdated case was circulated on social media on Monday. In the clip, the girl, figuring out herself as Dahmneet, stated she transformed in 2012 and married of her personal free will in 2014.
Warning in opposition to “interference of outsiders”, Raina stated: “The people from outside are exploiting the situation for their political interests. They want to worsen the situation here… The RSS people have already arrived here… We will not allow them to fan the situation. We have a strong bond with the majority community here.”

Meanwhile, a delegation of the Ulema Council met Sikh leaders at a gurdwara right here. “On the direction of Mirwaiz (Umar Farooq) Sahib, we went to meet the Sikh leaders, including Sirsa. They were in a hurry as they had some other meeting,” stated Syed Rehamn Shams, Secretary of the Muttahida Majlis Ulema (MMU). “We assured them a proper investigation into the incident and every effort to correct any wrong,” he stated.
Raina stated the Muslim leaders had delayed their response. “Why were they silent? They responded late. Their silence allowed the outsiders to exploit the situation,” he stated. “Today, several leaders, including Mirwaiz (Umar Farooq) Sahib and Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam called me up,” he stated.