Jalandar (Punjab): Sarabjit Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur on Sunday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for staging a "drama" on the Kartarpur Corridor but not protecting the "pride and respect" of a Sikh girl who was forced to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man.
Urging people to come out on streets and protest against the "evil deed", she asked why pro-Khalistani leaders and "Khan's friends" Gopal Singh Chawla and Gurpatwant Singh Pannu were silent on the forcible religious conversion despite they being Sikhs.
"I want to ask Chawla, Pannu and my brother (Navjot Singh) Sidhu why did they not speak? Why did you not condemn the incident? Why did you vanish?" she said.
"I am ashamed and wondering what is the reason behind your silence," said Kaur, whose brother was on death row but was killed by inmates in a Pakistani jail in 2013.
She called Khan a liar, coward and traitor who says something and does something else.
"We always knew that Pakistan stabs from behind and can never be a friend of India. But it crossed all limits and killed humanity. Our forefathers had laid down their lives for the pride and respect of our sisters and daughters," she said.
Kaur said that it is high time people regardless of caste, religion and class should gather on humanitarian grounds and protest against Pakistan and Khan.
"I want to appeal that Indians should come out on the streets because a very condemnable, shameful and disgusting incident has happened against a Sikh girl in Pakistan, who was abducted, forcibly converted and then married against her wishes. This is an evil deed against which we should protest," she said in a video message.
She also urged the Indian government to take "hard steps" and be prepared to go to the International Court of Justice, if required.
In Pakistan's Punjab province, a teenage Sikh girl, the daughter of a priest, was abducted and converted to Islam at gunpoint before she was married to a Muslim man, her family alleged in a video. They say she is 18 years old. The Sikh community in Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, has held protests over the incident.
India and Pakistan are building the Kartarpur corridor to facilitate Sikh pilgrims in visiting their holy sites on either side of the border, including Nankana Sahib.
Kaur said that Khan was staging a drama by saying he was opening the corridor for the Sikh community.
"We should not stop until justice is served to the girl. Imran must condemn the incident, express regret and tender an apology to not just the Sikh community but also to India," Dalbir said.
"Tomorrow in Sirsa, we will burn Imran's effigy and take out a protest march. I urge people to come out in a large number. It is time to raise voice and come together," she added.
