J&K conversion row: Sikh woman married in own community after being restored to family

Srinagar: A Sikh woman, who was handed over to her family after being ‘rescued’ from her kidnapper amid allegations of forced conversion, was on Tuesday married off to a man from her own community.

“The girl was on Tuesday married off to one Sukhbir Singh, who was known to her. The girl was not forced and she got married to the boy without any force,” Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Delhi president Paramjit Singh told reporters during a press conference here on Tuesday.

Thanking administration and Muslim leaders for getting the issue resolved, he said the two communities (Muslims and Sikhs) have lived in harmony for centuries. “We don’t want any (anti-conversion) law. Bringing a law can’t protect us. The majority community has to take care of Sikhs,” he said.

He appealed people from both the communities to maintain the age-old communal harmony in the valley.

Mr Singh said like Kashmiri Pandits, the Sikhs should also get reservation. “The population of Kashmiri Pandits in J&K is 5 lakh… the population of Sikhs in J&K is 2.5 lakh. If Kashmiri Pandits are given reservation, why have the Sikhs been left out? We have urged Lt Governor (Manoj Sinha) to give reservation to Sikh community,” he added.

The SAD president said that the Sikh community wants to build a mega hospital in Kashmir on a plot owned by Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. “We have around 81 kanals of land. A part of the land is under occupation of the tillers. We want to pay them due compensation and take back the land so that we can setup a mega hospital on the lines of Fortis hospital and Max hospital,” he added.

Answering a question, Mr Singh said that the actions of some people, who came to Kashmir to instigate violence, is highly condemnable. “We have no association with such people. But, I want to apologize to the people of Kashmir if they were hurt by the comments made by such people,” he added. (UNI)