A dangerous and extremist mindset continues to haunt religious minorities, as members of a Germany-based Pakistani radical Islamist group, led by Hassan Gondal, have been actively targeting Sikh girls for conversion. This disturbing trend mirrors the oppressive tactics seen in Pakistan, where religious minorities, including Sikhs, have long faced persecution at the hands of Islamist extremists.
Hassan Gondal Dogar, a Pakistani-origin TikTok user based in Berlin, has gained notoriety for his inflammatory rhetoric against Sikhism and its revered leaders. His online activity is not just isolated hate speech—it reflects the broader, deeply ingrained extremist agenda within segments of radical Pakistani society. The targeting of Sikhs for conversion is part of a longstanding pattern of oppression that has its roots in the bloody partition of India in 1947.The Sikh community has endured brutal violence at the hands of Muslim radicals since the 1947 partition, when around 7,000 Sikhs were massacred by the Muslim League, and an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 women were kidnapped and raped during the Rawalpindi massacres. Since then, the Sikh population in Pakistan has dwindled from around 40,000 in 2002 to less than 8,000 today. Those who remain live under the constant shadow of persecution, their sacred gurdwaras neglected and left to decay, if not vandalized.
Alarmingly, the online attacks by extremists like Gondal echo a more widespread issue: the forced conversion of Sikh girls, known as ‘Kaur to Khan’ conversions. While officially denied by many, reports from various parts of the world, particularly the UK, suggest that this troubling practice is more common than acknowledged.