Harsimrat urges Jaishankar to take up issue of targeting of minorities in Pak at UN

Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday to take up the issue of targeting of minorities in Pakistan at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Badal wrote to Jaishankar, saying the manner in which the population of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan has reduced from 2.5 lakh at the time of the partition to a mere 7,000 now was in itself a proof of persecution of minorities.

She said a concerted multilateral effort by the international community was necessary to stop this.

Badal said since the issue also concerned "ethnic cleansing", it should be taken up at the International Court of Justice to put an end to this inhuman practice.

Her statement comes in the wake of reports of alleged forceful conversion and marriage of a Sikh girl, the daughter of a "granthi" (priest) of a gurdwara, at gunpoint in Pakistan.

The Union minister said abduction and disappearance of Hindu and Sikh girls have become a regular phenomenon in Pakistan.

"Recently, the media reported a shocking incident of the daughter of the priest of gurdwara Nankana Sahib being forcefully abducted, converted to Islam and married to a Muslim," she said.

Religion was a personal affair and imposing religious beliefs contrary to an individual's wish was a shameful act and a violation of fundamental rights, Badal said.

She said the incident involving the priest's daughter as well as other such incidents being reported in the media hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community worldwide.

"Minorities are being annihilated systematically in Pakistan," she added.

The minister also urged Jaishankar to direct the Indian embassy in Pakistan to provide all possible help to the teenage Sikh girl and her family in their time of distress.