Will raise forced conversion of Sikhs with Pak: Sushma

New Delhi, Dec. 19: India will take up at the highest level in the Pakistan government reports of Sikhs being forced to convert to Islam by a government official in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ( K- P), external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

Her reaction came after leading Pakistan daily The Express Tribune published a news story about the Sikh community raising serious concerns after being forced to convert to Islam by the government official in Hangu district of K- P.

“We will take this up at the highest level with the Government of Pakistan,” Ms Sushma Swaraj tweeted while tagging the Indian High Commission in the report.

According to the news report, the community has lodged a complaint with Deputy Commissioner Hangu Shahid Mehmood, claiming that Assistant Commissioner Tehsil Tall Yaqoob Khan was allegedly forcing Sikhs to convert to Islam.

Replying to a separate tweet regarding a man in Punjab trying to get body of his son, who was reportedly shot dead in Manila, Ms Sushma Swaraj said the government was seized of the case. “Indian Embassy in Manila is pursuing this with the Police. The mortal remains will be sent from Manila on 21st December,” she tweeted.

She was replying to a tweet, “No bigger pain for an old man than the news of the death of his son but his pain intensifies when he is unable to see even his dead body. Requesting Sushma Swaraj Ji to help family of Harpreet Singh ( shot dead in Manila) from village Wander Jatana to bring youth’s body back to Punjab.”