Lahore: An Indian woman who arrived in Pakistan to attend Baisakhi Mela has embraced Islam. 32-year-old Kiran Bala from Punjab daughter of Manohar Lal has written a letter to Pakistani foreign minister in which she stated that she embraced Islam with her wish and own consent on April 16, 2018 at Jamia Nayeemia in Lahore. Her Islamic name is Amena Bibi. In her letter she has sought an extension of her visa, claiming that she has converted to Islam and married a Lahore resident named Mohammad Azam at the Jamia Naeemia seminary in Lahore on April 16.
According to letter Amena Bibi’s life may be in danger. The letter stated, “Now in the given circumstances, the undersigned could not return back to India and the undersigned has received life threats of assassination, therefore, the undersigned intends to extend her visa.”.
Secretary Jamia Nayeemia Lahore Maulana Raghib Nayeemi has confirmed that Kiran Bala has accepted Islam and her new name is Amena Bibi. According to him Kiran Bala arrived at Madrasa Jamia Nayeemia along with 4 men and embraced Islam on the hands of Maulana Qari Mubashir. Qari Mubashir made her recite the kalima after going through all the legal documents.
Meanwhile Kiran Bala’s family has claimed that ISI trapped her but her mother from Punjab says she has married Lahore man.
The Indian government is concerned over whether Bala had married the Pakistani national of her own free will or had been forced. It fears Bala may not meet the same fate as Uzma Ahmad. It must be recalled that a Delhi resident Uzma Ahmad who married a Pakistani national she met in Malaysia. Uzma later claimed that her husband had four children from a previous marriage, and that she was forcibly married at gunpoint in Pakistan and sexually assaulted. Last May, she sought protection at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and was brought back to India.
Sources said Bala had gone to Pakistan on April 12 with a group of around 800 Sikh pilgrims, leaving behind a 12-year-old daughter and two sons aged eight and six. Over 1700 pilgrims had arrived in Pakistan from India on April 12 to attend Baisakhi festival.