THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
In early November 2025, a Sikh woman named Sarbjeet Kaur travelled to Pakistan with nearly 2,000 other Sikh pilgrims to celebrate Guru Nanak’s birthday. When everyone returned to India after 10 days, she stayed behind. She then appeared in a Pakistani court saying she had converted to Islam, changed her name to Noor, and married a Pakistani man named Nasir Hussain. She said this was her own choice.
Why Sikhs Are Worried
A Pattern of Forced Conversions
The Sikh community is not upset because she married someone from Pakistan or converted religions. They are worried because there is a long history of minority women in Pakistan being forced to convert to Islam against their will.
Every year, around 1,000 Hindu, Christian, and Sikh women and girls in Pakistan are kidnapped and forced to convert and marry. These women are often threatened with violence. They appear in court and say it was their choice, but many believe they are too scared to tell the truth because their families might be harmed.
History Repeating Itself
This is not the first time this has happened to Sikh pilgrims. Intelligence officials in India say that vulnerable people visiting religious sites in Pakistan are sometimes targeted. People build relationships with them online for years, and then pressure them to stay, convert, and marry when they visit Pakistan.
UK Conversion and Grooming Problem
The Sikh community has also experienced similar problems in the UK since the 1960s, where organized gangs groomed and exploited young Sikh girls. This history makes the community very alert to any signs that the same thing might be happening.
In 1988 in Wolverhampton, Sikhs formed vigilante groups, primarily called Shere Punjab (Lion of Punjab), in response to what they described as systematic grooming of young Sikh girls by gangs of predominantly Pakistani men. The group distributed leaflets warning that Muslim youths were abducting, raping, and forcing Sikh girls into prostitution, and they claimed to have given police names and car registration details of those involved.
A 2018 report by the Sikh Mediation and Rehabilitation Team documented that young Sikh women have been systematically targeted by predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs since the 1960s-1970 . According to studies, Sikh girls in Birmingham and the West Midlands were subjected to decades of abuse by grooming gangs despite pleas for help.
Lack of Protection
In Pakistan, there are no strong laws to protect women from forced conversion. Bills that would help prevent this have been blocked by religious parties. This means that even if a woman is being forced, she has very little legal protection or way to escape safely.
Trust in the Pilgrimage System
For Sikhs, visiting holy sites in Pakistan is very important for their faith. Many important Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) are located in Pakistan. If pilgrims are not safe during these religious visits, it breaks the trust in the entire system. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which organizes these trips, has now said they will not process visas for single women traveling alone. This shows how seriously they are taking the threat.
The Real Concern
The Sikh community’s worry is not about interfaith marriage or personal choice. Sikhs around the world marry people of different faiths all the time, especially in countries like the UK, Canada, and the US, where everyone has freedom and legal protection.
The real concern is about:
(I) Safety
Are women being targeted and coerced?
(II) Freedom
Can they truly make free choices, or are they being threatened?
(III) Pattern
Is this part of an organized effort to target minority women?
(IV) Protection
Will authorities help if someone is in danger?
Impact on the Community
This case has had several impacts on the Sikh community in India:
1. Increased fear
Families are now scared to send their daughters on pilgrimages to Pakistan
2. Broken trust
The religious pilgrimage system feels less safe
3. New restrictions
The SGPC has changed its visa policies for women
4. Diplomatic tension
It has created friction between India and Pakistan
5. Community trauma
It brings up painful memories of past cases where Sikh women were targeted
Conclusion
Sarbjeet Kaur may have genuinely chosen to convert and marry. But given the documented history of forced conversions in Pakistan and the lack of legal protections, the Sikh community cannot be sure. Their worry comes from caring about the safety and freedom of all Sikh women, especially when patterns suggest that some may be in danger.
The community is asking for better protection, stronger laws against forced conversion, and verification that women who stay behind in Pakistan are truly acting of their own free will and not under threat. Until these assurances exist, cases like this will continue to cause deep concern and worry within the Sikh community.
References
1.https://organiser.org/2025/11/15/325834/bharat/religious-conversion-in-pakistan-sarbjeet-kaur-gets-married-to-islamist-after-nikah-nama-appears/
2.https://www.etvbharat.com/en/bharat/no-more-visas-for-single-women-says-punjab-sikh-body-after-woman-marriage-conversion-in-pakistan-enn25111700749
3.https://khalsavox.com/opinion/the-silent-crisis-sikh-girls-and-the-grooming-gangs-in-the-uk/
4. https://en.dharmapedia.net/wiki/Easy_Meat,_Inside_Britain%E2%80%99s_Grooming_Gang_Scandal
5.https://sputnikglobe.com/20181127/grooming-gangs-sikh-coverup-1070178426.html
6.https://swarajyamag.com/insta/pakistani-grooming-gangs-have-been-targeting-sikh-girls-in-uk-for-over-50-years-says-report
