Where is Jagjit Kaur?

It is up to the Pakistan govt to ensure that the rights of members of religious minorities cannot be trashed here

The disappearance of Jagjit Kaur, a Pakistani Sikh girl from Nankana Sahib, and how the government has handled the matter leaves a lot to be desired. The facts of the case are simple. Jagjit Kaur - the daughter of a Sikh granthi, was kidnapped at gunpoint by a group of men in Nankana Sahab.

After some days, a clip appeared showing the ‘nikah’ of the visibly scared girl in which she claims to be 19 years old.

Her brother Manmohan Singh in his complaint to the police had said that she was between 16 years and 17 years of age. Another video appeared soon after of the teenager’s statement before a magistrate in Lahore clarifying that she had converted to Islam and got married to Muhammad Hassan on August 28 of her own free will.

Jagjit had termed details in the FIR filed by her brother as false and described the complaint as “frivolous and baseless”. Over the weekend, there were reports that the girl had returned to her family. But the girl’s brother said that the reports were fake.

Her brother Manmohan has rejected police claims of six arrests, saying that after registration of FIR on August 28, 3-4 persons were detained but let off after some time. The shop of the Muslim boy’s family is open as usual.

Jagjit’s disappearance and the surfacing of the video clips that went viral on social media suggest a familiar trend.  Time and again we have seen Hindu girls being kidnapped and then converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man. Time and again we have seen the woman then affirm her new faith and identity in a court of law or before law enforcement officials, leaving the family of the girl struggling to find answers.

Ahead of the elections in 2018, Imran Khan pledged to safeguard the rights of minorities if he comes into power. He announced his government will take effective measures to prevent forced marriages of Hindu girls with Muslims.

As prime minister, on National Minorities Day, Imran Khan reiterated that there was no precedent in the Islamic history for forced conversion of others and those indulging in this practice had no knowledge of the history of Islam.

In March, the PM had ordered the Sindh government to launch probe into reports of abduction, forced conversion and underage marriages of two teenage Hindu girls and to take immediate steps for their recovery. Nothing came of the inquiry or the promises made by the government.

Hundreds of girls from religious minority communities are kidnapped in Sindh and other provinces, forcibly converted to Islam and then married off against their will every year in Pakistan.

Jagjit Kaur’s case is somewhat different in only two ways - that she was from the Sikh community and also that she was based in Punjab, where such incidents are comparatively rare.

When these videos appeared, the media took it up prominently especially across the border. Indian Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh sought immediate intervention of Indian and Pakistani governments in the matter.

In response and to save itself from embarrassment, the Buzdar government formed some sort of inquiry committee, There were also claims that FIRs against a certain number of people had been filed. Neither has Kaur returned home as of the time this column is being written, nor has anyone been sent to jail.

Family members said that following a meeting with Punjab governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and his wife, Jagjit’s parents were allowed to meet her in Darul Uloom. She was standing behind an iron door and her parents were asked to talk to her from the other side in the presence of armed guards and government officials. The parents went back to meet Chaudhary to seek a one-to-one meeting with her. So far this has not happened.

It is important for Pakistan to understand the severity of the issue at hand. While our prime minister has rightly called out the state policy of prime minister Modi to treat Muslims in India as second class citizens, it is up to the Pakistan government to ensure that the rights of members of religious minorities cannot be similarly trashed here.  We have to protect our minorities. We cannot let the personal lust – be it for whatever reason, let down entire communities in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2019.

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