After spending nearly a year at Dar-ul-Aman, Lahore,
Pakistan Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur alias Ayesha Bibi was allowed to go with her
Muslim husband Muhammad Hassan, leaving her family disappointed.
Her brother said they did not get justice. Jagjit Kaur, the daughter of a Nankana Sahib preacher, who was allegedly forced to embrace Islam and marry a Muslim man in August last year, told Lahore High Court that she did not want to go to back to her parental house.
After hearing arguments of both sides and in light of evidence regarding the girl’s age -- her puberty test and records of National Database and Registration Authority which certified her to be of 20 years old — Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhary ordered the girl to be sent with her husband after recording her statement to this effect.
"This is not
justice, we were not even allowed to meet Jagjit," said her brother
Manmohan Singh. He said they had pleaded for 5 minutes' time to talk to Jagjit,
but the court didn’t allow it.
Jagjit Kaur, daughter of Bhagwan Singh, a granthi at Gurdwara Tambu Sahib, Nankana Sahib, had embraced Islam in an Islamic seminary on August 28, 2019, and allegedly married her Muslim boyfriend Mohammad Hassan on the following day.
Her parents had filed a police complaint alleging that
Hassan had abducted Jagjit and forcibly married her after forcibly converting
her.
The conversion and marriage had caused uproar in the holy
city of Nankana Sahib, forcing the Pakistan Punjab governor Mohammad Sarwar to
intervene ahead of the opening of Kartarpur corridor. The husband’s family had
claimed that she had embraced Islam of her own accord.
In January 2020,
Mohammad Imran Ali Chishti, elder brother of Hassan, had led a group of Muslims
to storm Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and threatened to wipe out Sikhs from Nankana
Sahib. He was subsequently put behind bars.
Sultan said that Ayesha Bibi would be sent with Hassan
after Dar-ul-Aman receives the court’s orders. "Maybe Wednesday evening or
Thursday she will go to her husband’s house," he added
However, Manmohan said it could two days for Dar-ul-Aman
to get the court’s order. He said the family would raise the issue at the international
level to seek justice.
In his petitioner, Hassaan contended that his wife wanted to live with him so she should be allowed to go with him. Kaur of Nankana Sahib previously made a statement before the court that she married to the petitioner with her free will, after converting to Islam, and did not want to go back to her family. Kaur was given Muslim name Ayesha, before she married to the petitioner.
On Wednesday evening, family members of Jagjit Kaur along
with a handful of Sikhs of Nankana Sahib held a meeting at Gurudwara Nankana
Sahib to conside their next step following the HC directive in the case.
Manmohan said they would meet Pakistan Punjab’s governor Mohammed Sarwar to
seek his support, and if they did not get any support they would observe August
14, Pakistan’s Independence Day, as Black Day.
1 comment:
FEELING VERY HELPLESS, SIKHS ALWAYS PROTECTED & GIVEN SHELTER WITHOUT KNOWING THE RELIGION, CAST OR CREED.NOW I REQUEST THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO INTERVIN IN THIS MATTER , ALSO THE SO CALLED SIKH LEADERS IN PAKISTAN & IN INDIA ONE NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU WHO IS VERY GOOD FRIEND OF IMRAN KHAN CAN SPEAK TO KHAN SAAB & HELP THE VICTIM FAMILY THIS ATTACK IS NOT ONLY ON SIKHS , MINORITIES BUT TO PRIDE OF WOMEN & HUMANITY. PLS EVERYONE SHOULD RAISE VOICE FOR THIS INJUSTICE.
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