The surge in the cases of forced conversions and marriages in Pakistan has put the Hindu and Christian families in constant fear of their daughters being snatched away, the International Forum for Rights and Society (IFFRAS) reported.
This month, the UK government imposed sanctions on its Muslim cleric Mian Abdul Haq for forced conversions and marriages of girls and women from religious minorities but such cases also don’t appear to impact the Pakistan government.
The cases of forced marriage and conversions come out regularly and are ultimately dumped.
Recently, on December 10, of Justice (VoJ) released a report which stated that a hundred cases of abduction, rape, and forced conversion to Islam of Christian girls have taken place between 2019 and 2022. But, this report does not mention the cases of Hindu and Sikh girls which are reported almost every month. In Sindh, even the parents of young boys fear their kidnapping for forced conversion, according to IFFRAS.
Recently, a minor Hindu girl, aged 13, was abducted from her home by a man named Arshad Ali from Karachi, Sindh.
An FIR has been registered with the Karachi police, however, no arrest has so far been made in the incident. According to the minor girl’s family, Arshad Ali has been harassing her for the past year and a half and they have filed complaints with the police several times. The family is apprehensive that the girl will be forcibly converted to Islam and will be married to Arshad Ali, according to local media.
The report entitled “Conversion Without Consent” talks about an increase in violence against non-Muslim women while the state remains indifferent and the judicial system denies timely justice in most cases.
The report examined 100 reported cases involving abductions, forced faith conversions, and forced and child marriage of girls and women from the Christian community across Pakistan, as per IFFRAS report.
The highest number of such cases are seen in the Punjab province with 86 per cent, 11 per cent in Sindh, 2 per cent in Islamabad, 1 per cent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and none in Baluchistan.
Chairperson of VoJ Joseph Jansen said forced conversions were linked to the State’s abject failure to implement and enforce existing laws against abduction, child marriage, and forced marriages.
In a statement, he further said that the offense of sexual violence against minor minority girls goes unchecked under the guise of faith conversion and marriage.
He observed that forced conversions are linked with the state’s abject failure to implement and enforce existing laws that aim to stymie abduction, child marriage, and forced marriage, especially where the victims are from religious minority communities.
The VoJ report took note of mob violence against minorities in the name of religion. Most terrorizing among them is the use of Blasphemy Laws against them. Leaders of human rights organizations protest the misuse of these Laws and demand their review.
The executive director of the Jubilee Campaign, Annigje Buwalda said the report presents an analysis and findings about the confluence of intersecting vulnerabilities of minority girls and their families, exploitable legal loopholes, and irreconcilable court verdicts that make it so difficult for susceptible faith minority communities to protect themselves, according to IFFRAS.
She added that the report will serve as a vital tool to further galvanize action to eradicate forced conversions and child marriages in Pakistan and advance children’s rights.
According to the VFJ report, many cases are reported in Pakistan in which predominantly juvenile girls from religious minority communities are kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim men, usually the very same perpetrators of their abductions.
The report stated that there is a strong correlation between reports of forced conversion and child marriage.
“The perpetrators mostly manipulate the law and justice system to get away with their crimes due to the absence of legislation which deals with forced faith conversions, and the lack of enforcement of existing domestic law; this remains a key impediment in preventing such harmful and inhumane practices,” the report said.