Peshawar, Dec 19: The Sikh community in Pakistan’s Hangu district in northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have alleged that they were being forced to convert to Islam by a government official, according to a media report.
The Sikh community members have lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner Hangu Shahid Mehmood, the Express Tribune reported. According to the Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority, there are around 6,000 Sikhs in the country, living in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Sindh, Balochistan, Nankana Sahib, Lahore and other districts of Punjab. In his complaint, Farid Chand Singh said that the community members had been living in the area since 1901 and were never offended by anyone, specially over religious beliefs. “They rather lived all their lives peacefully with Muslims, despite having been a hotbed for sectarian conflicts, residents of Hangu district never harmed us,” he said.
Concerned by the report, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Tuesday urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to take up with Pakistani authorities the issue of alleged forced conversion of Sikhs to Islam.
In response, Swaraj said , “We will take this up at the highest level with Government of Pakistan. @IndiainPakistan Sikh community in Hangu ‘being forced to convert’,” she tweeted. PTI
