Imran Khan's Promise To Sikhs Amid Outrage Over Teen's Kidnapping

In an attempt to reach out to the Sikh community after cases of forced conversion of Sikh girls in Pakistan, Imran Khan on Monday promised that his government would facilitate the visit of pilgrims to Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib Gurdwaras for Guru Nank Dev ji's 550th birth anniversary.

Imran Khan made these remarks during the International Sikh Convention at the Governor House in Islamabad. "This is not a favour. This was our duty," he said.

"Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib are as holy for Sikhs as Makkah and Madina are for Muslims. I promised to make access for Sikh pilgrims as easy as possible," he added.

India and Pakistan have held a series of meetings on the Kartarpur corridor which will connect Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib (located in Punjab, India) and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.

The remarks come at a time when Imran Khan is receiving a lot of flak after two incidents of forced conversion surfaced in Pakistan indicating the miserable conditions in which minorities live in that country.

Jagjit Kaur, 19, who went missing for a number of days, was found on Thursday after she was forcibly converted to Islam and made to marry a Muslim man in Pakistan. Daughter of Bhagwan Singh, a 'granthi' (priest) of Gurdwara Tambu Sahib, she was converted to Islam at gunpoint.

It was reported on Saturday that another girl identified as Renuka Kumari was kidnapped from her college in Sukkur in Sindh province of Pakistan. These incidents were taken up by India in their appeal to Pakistan, seeking action against the perpetrators of these crimes.