Ex-MLA From Imran Khan's Party Seeks Asylum In India, Says Minorities Not Safe In Pakistan

A Hindu former MLA from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Baldev Kumar has sought political asylum in India. Baldev was a Member of the Provincial Assembly from Barikot (reserve seat) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "Minorities in Pakistan are not feeling secure and they have been denied rights. There is an increase in atrocities and target killings. I was put behind bars for two years," he said.

He said he had expectations from Imran Khan but he too changed after winning the election.

"My brothers are there (in Pakistan). Many Sikh and Hindu families want to immigrate to India. Gurdwaras are in bad shape. There is no respect for the minorities. There are cases of forcible conversion and such acts should not happen. A case of forcible conversion of a Sikh girl to Islam came to light recently," news agency IANS quoted him as saying.

“Baldev and his family members are staying at their relatives’ residence in Khanna of Ludhiana district. While Baldev had sent his family to India a few months ago, he came to the country on August 12 on a three-month visa,” according to a media report.

Baldev Kumar was charged for the murder of a Sikh MLA in 2016.

In Pakistan's Punjab province, Jagjit Kaur, 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 claimed that the girl is 18-year-old.

A video of the girl at the wedding ceremony has also gone viral on social media. In the video, the girl is seen sitting beside one Mohammad Hassan, who married her, and claiming she married him without any pressure.

The Sikh community in Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev, has also held protests over the incident in Pakistan. Several protests were also held in Delhi and other parts of the country as well.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Baldev was a Member of the Provincial Assembly from Barikot (reserve seat) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• Minorities in Pakistan are not feeling secure and they have been denied rights.
• Baldev Kumar was charged for the murder of a Sikh MLA in 2016.