Sindhi community denies issuing farman over girls

Bhopal, Apr 12: The Sindhi Community in the state capital has denied that it has issued a sort of 'farman (edict)' imposing restrictions on girls belonging to the community in the wake of a Sindhi girl eloping and marrying a Muslim boy.

Talking to sources, Bhopal's Central Sindhi Panchayat Advisor Bhagwandas Sabnani denied that the community had issued a 'Tuglaqi farman' against Sindhi girls.

''Sindhi community is a progressive community, which cannot take a retrograde step by getting influenced by such an incident,'' he said.

However, discussions had been held on whether the younger generation was shunning family values in the race for modernisation.

Mr Sabnani said a message would be sent across to the community to introspect that whether the effort to make children modern was being done at the cost ethics and values.

Especially, the impact on minors, who could not understand their good, must be considered.

A Sindhi girl, Priyanka Vadhwani, eloped with Mohammed Omar and got married to him in Mumbai.

In this context, the Mumbai High Court and the Madhya Pradesh High Court had directed the state capital police to provide complete protection to the newly-married couple and their family members.

Bairagarh Pujya Sindhi Panchayat General Secretary Madhu Chandwani denied that any such 'farman' had been issued. However, he said, some elderly people had suggested not providing mobile phone and two-wheelers to girls. Suggestions also came that girls should not cover their face while going out because no 'purdah' system existed in Sindhi community.

He said he respected the suggestions but felt that practical side could not be ignored. The benefits of providing mobile phones and vehicles to girls could not be denied.

Mr Chandwani said that emphasis would be laid on making new generation modern as well as cultured so that family values and traditions were protected.

Pointing out that young generation could not be controlled by imposing restrictions or threats, he said the Sindhi community had no such intentions.

Priyanka and Omar married as per Hindu traditions. Omar reportedly embraced Hinduism and changed his name to Umesh before marriage.

Even before the controversy subsided, a similar incident has been reported with a Sindhi girl eloping with a Muslim boy, who has also reportedly adopted Hindu religion.

UNI