Protesters surrounded Nankana Sahib on Friday afternoon, making various demands.
While the whole world, including Pakistan, was focused on the possibility of World War 3 breaking out, there were other things happening within the borders of our own country which did not catch as many eyes as it should have.
On Friday afternoon, a huge group of protesters surrounded Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, a holy site within the Sikh faith. The protest was lead by the family of a Muslim man Ehsan.
According to a report by Dawn, An FIR against Ehsan had been filed in August 2019 alleging that he had abducted and forcibly converted a Sikh girl, Jagjit, to Islam.
However, when the police traced the couple down, Jagjit submitted a written document to court saying she converted on her own free will and was scared for her safety in regards to her family. She was, however, ordered by the court to be kept at a Dar-ul-Aman as a compromise on her family’s insistence to bring her back home whether she converted due to her own free will or not.
The family was protesting because earlier in the day, the police had allegedly raided their home and tried to pressure the family prior to the next court hearing on the 9th of January. But the situation was negotiated and when the police released all arrested individuals, the crowd promptly dispersed.
A few people on Twitter tried to divert the public’s attention to the scary situation which seemed to be escalating quickly.
The situation at Gurdwara Janamasthan #NankanaSahib is still tense – police is trying to control the situation – number of people have surrounded Gurdwara building. pic.twitter.com/vmpMGSH8vf
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) January 3, 2020
'We will not let any Sikh live in #NankanaSahib & will change its names to Ghulam-e-Mustafra', local Muslim protester.
..& then #Pakistan wants Sikh brothers to stand with them to form Khalistan.Irony just died a thousand deaths.@rsrobin1 @AdityaRajKaulpic.twitter.com/kEBIJD5RrP
— Sajeda Akhtar (@Sajeda_Akhtar) January 3, 2020
People were appalled at the lack of attention the matter was getting.
If you spoke about the Indian Muslims but are silent on Nankana Sahib, you're a bigot.
— BurHan Solo (@BurhanULhaq) January 3, 2020
While everyone is tweeting about this bloody ww3 please think about nankana sahib where our brothers from minorities are suffering because of these mullahs and goons #worldwar3
— Dr Bilal Saeed (@Drbilalsaeed9) January 3, 2020
🚨🚨🚨 In this trainwreck of a day, the story about a mob surrounding the Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib has completely drowned.
THERE IS A MOB SLOGANEERING THAT THEY WON'T LET A SINGLE SIKH REMAIN THERE. THAT THEY WILL RENAME NANAKANA SAHIB TO GHULAM E MUSTAFA 🚨🚨🚨
— Faizan 🇵🇸 (@thoraoffbeat) January 3, 2020
Videos from the protest showed just how intense the situation was and how badly it could have ended, had it not been for the successful negotiations by officials. While we lament the situation for Muslims in India, religious minorities in our own country face threatening situations like these every single day.
Cover Image Source: msn.com/nankanasahib.co.uk
