SGPC declared intentions to restrict solo female travelers from participating in jathas to Pakistan and to implement tougher travel regulations.
After reports emerged that Sikh pilgrim Sarbjit Kaur, previously thought to be “missing,” had converted to Islam and adopted the name Noor Hussain upon marrying Nasir Hussain from Sheikhupura in Pakistan.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) declared intentions to restrict solo female travelers from participating in jathas to Pakistan and to implement tougher travel regulations. The SGPC announced that it will cease recommending solo women travelers for these trips.
Partap Singh, secretary of the SGPC, stated that the committee was forced to rethink its policy due to the second such incident. In 2018, there was another pilgrim by the name of Kiran Bala, who also remained back in Pakistan after converting to Islam and marrying someone in Lahore.
He further stated that while the SGPC had objected to Sarbjit’s solo travel initially, she provided recommendations from her village sarpanch and nambardar, after which they allowed the passport to be sent along to the embassy.
He additionally asserted that law enforcement and intelligence organizations did not adequately investigate her history, since three cases were active against her and nine against her two children. According to the 1974 India-Pakistan agreement, as many as 3,000 pilgrims are allowed to visit Pakistan during significant Sikh religious events
Sarbjit Kaur, who lived in Kapurthala, was part of a group consisting of 1,932 individuals who went to Pakistan through Attari-Wagah Border on November 4, and on their return on November 13, she was missing. The jatha leader, Bibi Gurinder Kaur, subsequently contacted SGPC member Gurpreet Kaur, from Sultanpur Lodhi, who had suggested Sarbjit’s name along with nine other individuals. Gurpreet informed that it was the job for police and intelligence agencies to check criminal record before authorizing traveling abroad; they would just recommend.
Gurpreet went to Sarbjit’s home to discuss the missing person situation with her family. She found that Sarbjit’s family had money, lived in a big house, was still able to drive two cars, and had a tractor. When the two married sons were asked about their parents by Gurpreet, they said they were not talking to their mother, and stated that their father had been a resident in the UK for 15 years.
