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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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			<title>Protecting minorities: Law in the making to curb forced conversions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/577659/protecting-minorities-law-in-the-making-to-curb-forced-conversions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/577659/protecting-minorities-law-in-the-making-to-curb-forced-conversions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jul 13 21:31:24 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[MPA Giyanoo Mal Esrani demands an authority to register marriages of religious minorities.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Sindh government has started deliberations with different stakeholders to frame laws to curb the increasing number of forced conversions and ensure the registration of marriages of religious minorities. 

A meeting presided over by Sindh Law Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro on Tuesday at the Sindh Assembly decided to form a three- member committee, comprising  former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice (Retd) Rana Bhagwandas, first female judge of High Court in Pakistan, Justice (Retd) Majida Rizi, and senior advocate Jhamat Mal. The members of the committee will prepare the first draft of the bills by consulting different stakeholders, including elected representatives from minorities, law experts, and human rights and civil society activists.



“We want to expedite this process in order to pass both the bills as soon as we can. The first meeting of the newly formed committee would be held before Eidul Fitr,” the law minister informed the media.

PPP’s minority MPAs, including Dr Lal Chand Ukrani, Mukesh Kumar Chawla and Giyanoo Mal Esrani, attended the meeting along with officials of the law department.

“Not only women but even minor children, especially girls, are forced at gunpoint to convert,” said PPP’s MPA Dr Khatumal Jeewan. He called for a complete ban on early marriages below the age of 18 years.

“We have no objection if any Hindu girl converts out of free-will. But, we cannot tolerate if they are kidnapped, kept in custody for months and then married off,” he said.

Dr Ukrani, who is also president of the PPP’s minority wing, said that the issue of registration of marriages of religious minorities, including Hindus, needed to be addressed soon. “Our people cannot process their applications for immigration. It has become difficult for us even to make passports and national identity cards as there is no procedure to register the marriages of religious minorities,” he lamented.

MPA Esrani demanded an authority to register marriages of minorities, saying that otherwise no marriage or divorce in the Hindu community would have a legal status.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>One week deadline: SC orders police to find missing Hindu boy</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/457466/one-week-deadline-sc-orders-police-to-find-missing-hindu-boy</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/457466/one-week-deadline-sc-orders-police-to-find-missing-hindu-boy#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 27 Oct 12 01:36:09 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[naeem.sahoutara]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Two minors had been allegedly kidnapped from a flood relief camp.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court has ordered the police to find a missing eight-year-old Hindu boy to help solve the case of her cousin’s “forced conversion”.

The children had allegedly gone missing from a flood relief camp in Gadap Town. The teenage girl, however, later turned up at the Sindh High Court Hyderabad circuit bench and told the judges that she had embraced Islam, married of her free will and now wanted to live with her husband.

The mother of the girl took the matter to the apex court, stating that police have not found her daughter who was allegedly kidnapped by a man identified as Abdul Rasheed.

The case (FIR 153/12) under Sections 392, 365-B and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered at the Gadap city police station.

The woman, who lives in Sanghar, said her eight-year-old nephew was also kidnapped by the suspect, who allegedly took away Rs200,000 and two tolas of gold.

On Tuesday, justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Gulzar Ahmed took up the human rights application.

Filing a report on his investigation, the Gadap SHO stated that the police had tracked down the father of the suspect in Sanghar. Later, they the traced the girl, who said she had converted to Islam of her own choice. The investigation was suspended after the Sindh High Court circuit bench at Hyderabad allowed the girl to live with her husband.

But what about the boy; why hasn’t he been recovered, questioned the judges.

The missing boy can reveal the truth, whether his cousin converted freely or not, observed the three-member Supreme Court bench, which ordered the Gadap police officer to find the boy and produce him in court within a week.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2012.

1pt;text-align: justify;text-indent:5.65pt;line-height:9.9pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none;vertical-align:middle'&gt;Jam Madad Ali clarified, however, that the party members have surrendered all government benefits and handed over their official vehicles too. “As per government record, we are still ministers so the salaries are deposited to our accounts. We have not drawn the salary and will return the same to government accounts,” he replied when asked about salaries and other allowances.

&nbsp;

The constitution defines no specific time period to decide on resignations, Ghulam Nabi Shah, the law secretary, told The Express Tribune.

Under Article 132(3), ministers have to submit their handwritten applications to the governor who has the authority to accept or reject their resignations. “If the government wants, he [governor] can give the decision within 24 hours,” the law secretary added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Safeguarding Hindu rights: Parliamentary panel to probe forced conversions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/441509/safeguarding-hindu-rights-parliamentary-panel-to-probe-forced-conversions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/441509/safeguarding-hindu-rights-parliamentary-panel-to-probe-forced-conversions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 24 Sep 12 05:55:17 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[z.ali]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[The committee’s recommendations are yet to be made public.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The alleged forced conversion of Hindus is likely to top the agenda of the newly-constituted 26-member parliamentary committee when it meets in Islamabad in the first week of October.


The federal government has constituted the committee with the purpose to review the Hindu community’s perils and make recommendations for legislation, according to Senator Hemant Das of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). The committee is likely to table its draft recommendations when it meets next month, he revealed.

At the residence of Hindu Panchayat leader Jai Kumar Dhirani on Sunday, Senator Hafiz Hamdullah and other JUI-F leaders met with the community’s representatives and heard their concerns.

Senator Das said that he received a letter regarding the formation of the committee two days ago but was not sure on which particular day the committee would meet. According to him, the government has selected 26 members from the Senate and National Assembly to work on the draft legislation. “The forced conversion issue is going to be the most important one followed by marriage laws,” he revealed.

The manifestation of this growing concern of the community surfaced in the form of recent migrations to India. Hundreds of families reportedly left their centuries-old abodes in northern Sindh to settle in the neighbouring country. Besides the forced conversions of Hindu girls, extortion and kidnapping of Hindu businessmen also inflamed sentiments.

“We are not opposed to changing one’s religions,” said Dhirani. “But the converts should be given enough time to understand their new religion and there should be an official process of certifying a conversion.”

He suggested that a Hindu girl who is willing to convert to Islam should be properly oriented to the religion’s teachings for a month or two before the formal conversion.

Dr Dilip Doulatni asked the JUI-F senator to form a fact-finding committee on the subject of forced Hindu conversions to ascertain the truth. “While complaints regarding coercion during conversion are played down, the use of force is still very obvious,” Doulatni said, adding that the influence some armed tribal communities enjoy in northern Sindh is brought into play when a Muslim boy converts a Hindu girl for marriage.

However, the caretaker (Sajjada Nashin) of the Amrot Sharif shrine in Shikarpur, Syed Siraj Ahmed Shah Amroti, rejected Doultani’s claim. Amroti, who is also a JUI-F leader, said that Hindu girls were in fact being provided security during the initial days of their conversion. “We don’t allow a [Hindu] girl to recite the Kalima and become Muslim without repeatedly asking her for her conscious decision.”

Piqued by the Supreme Court’s judgment in Rinkle Kumari’s case, the community is also demanding that while the courts hear these cases, their girls should be kept in a shelter house which is under the supervision of the minority group.

The community’s representatives also lamented that the parliamentary committee has not made public its draft recommendations yet. Its three members, Senator Moula Bux Chandio, Senator Hari Ram Kishori Lal and MNA Land Chand Parwani, met the Hindu representatives in all parts of the province. The parliamentarians noted their concerns, complaints, demands and recommendations.

The committee had handed over its recommendations to President Asif Ali Zardari on September 4. However, Senator Das said that he is yet to see the findings of the committee. “Although I have been in contact with Senator Kishori Lal but I still haven’t received a copy of the findings so far.” He revealed that these recommendations are likely to be tabled at the meeting of the 26-member committee next month.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Hindu family alleges that their daughter is being kept away</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/402648/hindu-family-alleges-that-their-daughter-is-being-kept-away</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/402648/hindu-family-alleges-that-their-daughter-is-being-kept-away#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jul 12 20:59:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[They will file a case with the Sindh High Court against the conversion.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The forced conversion and marriages of Hindu girls has become a common occurrence in Sindh. But what is even more alarming is that these girls are not being allowed to meet their families after conversion.

“There is no justice here. I am not allowed to meet my daughter because she is a Muslim and I am a Hindu,” said Sooda, a factory worker. His 14-year-old daughter, Rekha, was allegedly abducted in December from her house in Gadap Town by Asghar, the supervisor of the glass factory she worked at. Following the incident, the family filed a case and the matter was taken to the Malir court. Ten days later, a hearing was held in which Rekha said that she had converted and married Asghar out of her own choice. The case was dismissed after she made this statement and this was the last time that the family saw the girl, who was covered in a black chaddar.

Outside of court, the elders of Asghar’s tribe promised that Rekha would be allowed to meet her family, but these were not fulfilled. “I don’t know where my daughter is and if she is even alive,” said Sooda, as he sat in the office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). “Asghar and his accomplices have switched off their cell phones and are nowhere to be found.” Rekha’s family, along with HRCP, will file a petition against her conversion and marriage in the Sindh High Court.

“If these girls do indeed convert under their own free will, then why are they not allowed to meet their families?” asked Abdul Hai, a representative of the HRCP. Religious scholar Mufti Muneebur Rehman said that a girl is allowed to meet her parents after conversion. “Islam permits the girl to stay in touch with her family. She can meet them whenever she wants, but it would not be appropriate for her to participate in religious festivities of her previous faith.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Political shift: ‘Forced conversions are turning minorities towards PML-N’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/391821/political-shift-%e2%80%98forced-conversions-are-turning-minorities-towards-pml-n%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/391821/political-shift-%e2%80%98forced-conversions-are-turning-minorities-towards-pml-n%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 12 04:43:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=391821</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hindu leaders share disappointment with the indifferent attitude of the PPP-led government.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA is involved in kidnapping and converting Hindu girls, yet his party did nothing about the issue, lamented Bherulal Balani on Sunday.

Balani, a former Hindu parliamentarian from Thatta, recently decided to join the PPP’s archrival, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

As the PML-N continues to make its presence felt across the political spectrum in Sindh, the party also seems to be intent on recruiting leaders of religious minorities, especially former Hindu parliamentarians.

Balani was a member of the Sindh Assembly in 1997, when the Nawaz Sharif government was in power.

While explaining his decision, Balani said that as minorities continue to be subjected to discrimination, he believes that only the PML-N could address their grievances.

Balani said that the Hindu community was disappointed by the PPP government’s indifferent attitude towards the forced conversions of Rinkle Kumari, Asha Kumari and Lata Kumari. Dozens of Hindu girls are forcibly converted and married off to Muslim men on a monthly basis in rural Sindh, claimed Balani. “How can the government protect us if it cannot prevent our women from being forcibly converted?”

Balani did not disclose the names of other Hindu leaders who were ready to join the PML-N, or those whom the party was currently courting. However, he added that people from Thatta, Mirpurkhas, and Larkana were expected to join the PML-N in the near future.

Meanwhile, the PML-N’s central minority wing would hold a meeting, to be chaired by MNA Darkhan Lal, in the city on Tuesday. PML-N Karachi deputy secretary general Asad Usman told The Express Tribune that the party was expected to announce a strategy to attract the support of minority voters at the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversions: Six-month marriage bar on new converts recommended</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/386022/forced-conversions-six-month-marriage-bar-on-new-converts-recommended</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/386022/forced-conversions-six-month-marriage-bar-on-new-converts-recommended#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 May 12 04:26:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[irfan.ghauri]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=386022</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Minorities’ commission says judicial magistrate should record statement of converts.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The National Commission for Minorities has recommended that the government enact a law under which new converts belonging to non-Muslim communities should be stopped from marrying until at least six months of their conversion.


The recommendation from the newly-formed representative body of minorities comes at a time of mushrooming allegations of forced conversions, mainly of Hindu girls in Sindh. Minorities claim that, in most of the cases of conversions followed by marriage, girls belonging to non-Muslim communities are victims of rape and other human rights violations – but the crime is covered under the pretext of marriage with a Muslim man.

The commission, during its second meeting on Tuesday, also recommended that, instead of a police official, a judicial magistrate should record the statements of converts independently.

Currently, after a complaint from the victim’s family, police registers an FIR under Article 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and a police officer records the statement which is subsequently produced before the court by the police in the form of a charge-sheet.

However, minorities claim that the statements recorded by an investigating police officer are mostly never based on facts.

There is, however, a provision in Article 164 of the CrPC, under which a judicial magistrate can record the statement but the law is not implemented on the pretext that, since the magistrate is a judicial officer in the case, he/she should not be recording statements of the cases he has to ultimately decide.

Headed by the minister for national harmony, the newly-formed national commission is a multi-party forum that includes two MNAs each from Muslim, Hindu and Christian communities, one representative each from Sikh and Parsi communities, as well as the secretaries of ministries of interior, law and justice, national harmony and capital administration development division.

National Harmony Minister Akram Masih Gill told The Express Tribune that the commission has also sought recommendations from the Council of Islamic Ideology on its new proposal.

“There are some genuine cases where these girls covert to Islam. In some cases, there is a love affair... but in most cases the option of marriage is misused by the influential to hide their crime. There are many reported cases where these girls were kept in illegal custody and repeatedly raped,” the minister said.

The commission has also asked the government that the office of the chairman of Evacuee Trust Property Board should be held by a non-Muslim. The Evacuee Trust Property Board is a body that deals with properties of non-Muslims who migrated to India after Partition. Most of these properties have already been encroached upon, illegally occupied or allotted to influential people illegally.

The minister also underscored the need to work on the social education of the masses and enforcement of laws in their “true spirit”.

Sources said a draft bill that stipulated certain issues of minorities has recently been rejected by the ministry of law and justice, claiming that most of the laws are already in place in the statuary books but are not implemented.

According to an official statement issued after the meeting, the commission has decided to restore the Minority Cultural Awards for which funds have already been provided. Fourteen people from minority communities would be given these awards along with a cash prize of Rs50,000 each in different categories.

It was also decided that a sub-commission would be formed under the leadership of Ramesh Singh Arorah to work for the Gurdwara in Saidpur village in collaboration with the Capital Development Authority.

The meeting also decided to send a draft of the Christian and Hindu Marriage Act to religious minority parliamentarians and other stakeholders for their recommendations to finalise the bill before presenting it in parliament.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bilawal Zardari takes notice of threats to Sindh minorities MPAs</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/381294/bilawal-bhutto-zardari-takes-notice-of-threats-to-sindh-minorities-mpas</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/381294/bilawal-bhutto-zardari-takes-notice-of-threats-to-sindh-minorities-mpas#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 May 12 15:39:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[MPAs Saleem Khokhar. Pitamber Sewani said that they were receiving threats for raising voice over Rinkle Kumari case.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Minorities  members of Sindh Assembly, Saleem Khursheed Khokhar and Pitamber Sewani contacted Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and briefed him about the threats that they had received from some extremist elements.

According to the sources of PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, taking notice of the threats to PPP MPAs, called Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Saturday and discussed the matter with him. Following the discussion, the Sindh Chief Minister ordered additional security to be deployed at the residences of the MPAs besides providing them proper police escort for their security.

According to a letter written by Shah to additional secretary of Sindh Home Ministry, directives were issued for a police escort to be assigned to the two MPAs. Security agencies have also been asked to monitor suspicious activities. The two MPAs have also been requested to limit their public movements on security grounds.

The two MPAs had said they were receiving death threats for raising their voice over the forced conversion of Rinkle Kumari, and the alarming trend of forced conversions and forced marriages of girls and women belonging to minority religions.

On Friday, Amnesty International too had called for urgent action to extend protection to the under-threat MPAs.]]>
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			<title>Amnesty International calls for protection of Sindh MPA</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/380851/amnesty-international-calls-for-protection-of-sindh-mpa</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/380851/amnesty-international-calls-for-protection-of-sindh-mpa#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 12 16:04:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hafeez Tunio]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=380851</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MPA Saleem Khokhar says he is receiving threats for raising his voice against forced conversions.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Human Rights organisation, Amnesty International took notice of life threats to Member of Sindh Assembly, Saleem Khursheed Khokhar for his vocal stance on the Rinkle Kumari case, and his call for Hindu women and girls to be protected from abduction and forced conversion to Islam.

In a press release on Friday, Amnesty called for urgent action from the public, urging them to write to relevant authorities including Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh Inspector General Police Mushtaq Shah, asking for providing Khokhar and his family with adequate security, with guards who have been properly vetted. Investigation into the threats received by the MPA.

The NGO also urged people to demand that anyone who is responsible for threats to the MPA, other abuse against minorities including forced conversion and marriage, be brought to justice in trials that meet international standards.

Khokhar had told Amnesty International that had written to senior government officials that the police had failed to investigate the threat beyond registering the FIR. He said that the handful of security guards assigned to him by authorities are too few and may not have been adequately vetted to ensure they bear no animosity towards him, as they are Muslim and he is Christian.

Late last month, provincial legislature, Khokhar had presented a privilege motion in the Sindh Assembly against the SHO Clifton for not registering a First Information Report against people who have reportedly been sending him threats via text message.

In his privilege motion, the MPA had stated that he and his colleague, MPA Pitanber Sewani, had received text messages from an unknown number.

The message read: “Only Muslims will be allowed to live peacefully in this country. No one else will be allowed to live here with dignity”.  Khokhar said that he received the message following his vocal stance in the Rinkle Kumari case.

Khokhar told The Express Tribune that he started receiving threats after the attended proceedings of the Rinkle Kumari case on April 18, 2012, and issued statements in the media condemning the ‘forced conversion’.

“I then started receiving text messages which read: ‘You should learn from the remarks of Chief Justice, and High Court, only Muslims are allowed to liver here. You should leave the country or you would be responsible for what happens,” Khokhar narrated.

He added that despite initial reluctance, a privilege motion in the Sindh Assembly got the police to investigate the matter. However, he alleged that PPP MNA from Ghotki, Mian Mithu had started lobbying against him, declaring him to be a Mossad (Israeli spy agency) and CIA agent.

Khokhar added that he was still receiving threats and there was real fear for his life.

The MPA had successfully contested on a ticket of the All Pakistan Minority Alliance (APMA), of which he was provincial president. Shahbaz Bhatti, the federal minorities minister who was killed last year, was the central president of the APMA.

Meanwhile, Sewani reiterated that they had received threats on their cell phones in the aftermath of the Rinkle Kumari case, warning him, and Khokhar from raising their voice against forcible conversion on the floor of the Assembly.

Sewani told The Express Tribune that after they introduced a privilege motion against threats, police had managed to trace the number to Ghotki. The MPA alleged that an influential person in Ghotki by the alias Mian Mithu was patronising people who were sending them threats and were behind forced conversion and marriage.

Sewani demanded action against those who were threatening him.]]>
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			<title>Constitution against forced conversions: CJ</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/380625/constitution-against-forced-conversions-cj</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/380625/constitution-against-forced-conversions-cj#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 12 04:00:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=380625</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says no need for special legislation regarding minorities rights.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry while disposing of petition of Pakistan Hindu Council on Thursday declared that in the existence of article 20 of the Constitution there was no need for special legislation regarding the protection of the rights of minorities.


Heading a three-member bench, the chief justice remarked that article 20 says subject to law, public order and morality, — (a) every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion; and (b) every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions.

Akram Sheikh, counsel for the Hindu Council, stated that incidents of forced religious conversion were being witnessed in rural areas, therefore the court should ask the parliament to enact legislation for the prevention of such incidents because it is the matter of fundamental rights.

The bench observed that there was no forced religious conversion in Islamic teaching as Islam was spread all over the world through love not sword.

Sheikh said that there should be a law for giving punishment to those, who forcibly convert the religion of others.

Upon this, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja reiterated that article 20 guarantees the religious freedom and there is no need for further complication.

He said that in Pakistan people believe that new laws would resolve the problems but the matters would be settled through the implementation of laws.  The chief justice said that minorities’ rights were already protected in the constitution and if someone tried to covert people of other religion forcibly, the law would take its own course.

Hearing another case regarding the illegal Jirga System, the court directed the federation, KPK and Balochistan government to furnish their replies within two weeks. Punjab and Sindh government have already submitted their replies on the petition, filed by National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Anis Haroon against vani and swara customs exercised through jirgas and punchayats to settle disputes.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Conversion of Hindu girls</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368810/conversion-of-hindu-girls</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368810/conversion-of-hindu-girls#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 18:22:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[letter.]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368810</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A PPP MNA has, according to several media reports, been instrumental in such cases.]]>
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				<![CDATA[This refers to the recent cases of the three Hindu girls who ‘converted’ to Islam and got married to Muslim men. A PPP MNA has, according to several media reports, been instrumental in such cases, facilitating the ‘conversion’ of Hindu girls to Islam. After the recent decision of the Supreme Court under which the girls were allowed to go with their husbands, the legislator organised celebrations on the return of the girls to their new homes and distributed sweets, claiming that the girls had married of their own choice.
I have a very simple question to ask of the MNA. If any young girl from his family decides to get married of her own accord, even if it is to a Muslim boy against her parents’ will, what will be his reaction?
Mohammad Khan Sial
Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/367098/forced-conversions-3</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/367098/forced-conversions-3#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Apr 12 18:15:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=367098</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[There can be no denying that Hindus are not treated equally under the law.]]>
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				<![CDATA[“There is no compulsion in religion”, is a well known saying that most of us who live in the land of the pure often tend to forget. The point is very clear but lost on many of us: that while religion encourages conversions, it in no way tolerates coercion. Yet, that is what the Hindu community in Pakistan says is happening to it, especially to many young Hindu girls, who are kidnapped, forcibly converted and then married off to Muslim men. This reality should be kept in mind when considering the Supreme Court’s decision on April 18 to let three women — Rinkle Kumari, Dr Lata and Asha Kumari — choose if they wanted to return to their Hindu families or stay with their Muslim husbands. In all cases, their families and the Pakistan Hindu Council had alleged that the women had been abducted and coerced into marrying. All three women decided to stay with their husbands, although it is entirely possible that they did so out of fear after being threatened, leaving the Supreme Court with no choice but to let them go with the men. Besides, in the case of Ms Kumari, at the last hearing, it was reported in several newspapers that upon seeing her mother, she expressed a desire to return to her parents’ home but was instead sent to a girls’ home to make up her mind.

There can be no denying that Hindus are not treated equally under the law. Shamefully, Hindu marriages are not registered in the country and a bill to recognise their marriages has been stalled in parliament for unexplained reasons. This, in fact, makes it all the more easier for such Hindu women to be abducted and forced to remarry after conversion. It becomes very hard for the courts to intervene when no law exists to protect Hindu women in the first place. As the situation stands right now, in cases of suspected forced marriage the matter usually comes down to the word of one party against the other and, as we well know, the implied threat of force — almost always from the majority towards the minority — also comes into play.

It is now time to ask ourselves if we want to be a tolerant, pluralistic country that can treat all its citizens equally or if we prefer to cater to the whims of the majority while denying the humanity of the minority.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversion: Asha’s family raises questions about her statement to the media</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/365256/forced-conversion-asha%e2%80%99s-family-raises-questions-about-her-statement-to-the-media</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/365256/forced-conversion-asha%e2%80%99s-family-raises-questions-about-her-statement-to-the-media#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 15 Apr 12 23:19:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=365256</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Asha, who disappeared on March 3, says she converted to Islam]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Hindu community rejected the claims of 15-year-old Asha Kumari, who on Friday said that she embraced Islam and married a Muslim man of her own free will.

“She was kidnapped from a beauty parlour and for more than forty days, there was no news about her whereabouts,” said Asha’s uncle, Sundar Das, in bafflement. “On April 13, she suddenly turns up at the Supreme Court and says that she chose to change her religion. What is this?”

At a protest held against forced conversions at the press club on Sunday, Das said that Asha’s family refuses to believe her statement as they know that she was forcefully converted and married off.

The community blamed MNA and Pir of Bharchondi Sharif, Abdul Haq aka Mian Mitho, for backing the alleged kidnapping, conversion and marriage of Asha Kumari, who disappeared from a beauty parlour in Jacobabad on March 3.

The Pakistan Hindu Council patron, Ramesh Kumar, who was at the Supreme Court hearing on Friday, alleged that Asha’s appearance was merely a drama staged by the kidnappers. “She came to record her statement before the date of her hearing which is on April 18,” said Kumar, while referring to her absence at the earlier scheduled hearing on March 26. “No statement was recorded but she spoke to the media in the presence of Mian Mitho’s sons and said that she converted of her own choice.”

Raised suspicions 

Meanwhile, the community demanded that action should be taken against the parliamentarian. “Why is Mian Mitho involved in each and every case of kidnapping and forced conversion?” asked the protesters. “She embraced Islam at Bharchondi Sharif and his men also accompanied her to the court. Why is the government not taking any action?” The protesters also called for a judicial commission to investigate forced conversions. Mangla Sharma, the Pak-Hindu Welfare Association chairperson, said that the commission should look into at least the six-month old cases of alleged forced conversions and inquire about the conspiracies being hatched against the Hindu community.

“The man Asha has claimed to marry of her own free will is a father of four children. Also, if she was not forced to convert, then why wasn’t she presented earlier,” added Sharma.

Rinkle Kumari’s case

The family of Rinkle Kumari also participated in the demonstration.

Rinkle, who now goes by the name Faryal, had also stated earlier that her conversion to Islam and her marriage to a Muslim boy were by her own choice. While the family had come to express solidarity with Asha, they came forward with their own demands. “The parents should be allowed to meet Rinkle at the women’s shelter,” said Rinkle’s brother-in-law, Shankar Das. “Her mother’s condition is deteriorating day by day and she just wants to meet her daughter.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversions, marriages: SC bars parents, husbands from meeting girls</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/362862/forced-conversions-marriages-sc-bars-parents-husbands-from-meeting-girls</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/362862/forced-conversions-marriages-sc-bars-parents-husbands-from-meeting-girls#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 11 Apr 12 03:59:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=362862</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hindu girls allegedly forced to convert to Islam to remain at shelter and make a choice ‘out of free will’.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Parents and husbands both lost out before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, when the court rejected pleas in two separate cases to meet Hindu girls allegedly forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslims. 


The court observed that both girls should make a decision about their future and whom they wanted to return to – parents or husbands – with ‘free will’, and it will take up the matter in this regard on April 18.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a three-judge bench, took up two separate applications seeking permission to hold a meeting with the Hindu girls at a shelter in Karachi.

Naveed Shah, the husband of Faryal (Rinkle Kumari), moved an application through his counsel Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada. Pirzada said that Faryal was being kept like a prisoner but the bench dismissed the argument, saying Majida Rizwi’s shelter home was not a prison.

Dr Ramesh, father of another Hafsa (Dr Lata), also submitted a plea through his counsel Nasir Mangle to hold a meeting with his daughter at the shelter. The court also turned down his application, saying the issue would be examined on April 18.

Naveed Shah’s attorney said that policemen were not allowing his client to meet his wife at the shelter. He added that his client was not even permitted to provide his wife with clothes.

“You must be aware that she (Rinkle) wanted to go with her mother at the last hearing and think about her future till the next date of hearing,” the chief justice told him.

The court, however, asked the counsel to give the clothes or other products to the Sindh advocate general who would provide them to Rinkle.

On March 26, the court sent the two girls to the shelter in order to make a decision about where they should return on their own.

MNA Abdul Haq alias Mian Mitho Pir of Bharchondi Sharif also attended the court proceedings. While talking to The Express Tribune, the Pakistan Peoples Party’s MNA said that Rinkle was like a daughter to him and expressed concern over her health. Responding to a question, he said that despite the party’s pressure, he would not leave Rinkle at the mercy of anyone else.  

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Harmony minister speaks out: Gill wants tougher legislation against forced conversion</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/354358/harmony-minister-speaks-out-gill-wants-tougher-legislation-against-forced-conversion</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/354358/harmony-minister-speaks-out-gill-wants-tougher-legislation-against-forced-conversion#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 24 Mar 12 04:40:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=354358</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Minist­er cites ‘sexual lust’ as the key reason men force non-Muslim girls to conver­t.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The minister for national harmony has alleged that about 100 non-Muslims, mostly Hindus girls, were forced to convert to Islam in recent months. The minister, Akram Masih Gill, told The Express Tribune that stronger legislation was required to protect minorities from forced conversions.


Gill stressed that such practice on the part of Muslims was against the injunctions of Islam. Islamic laws prohibited forced conversion, Gill remarked.

“We will seek a religious decree from the Council of Islamic Ideology and a ruling by the federal shariat court on the issue before introducing the required law,” the minister added.

The draft of the proposed law is likely to be tabled before the Parliament after the passage of the national budget in June, this year. About the proposed legislation, Gill recommended the formation of official bodies to authenticate whether or not anyone had converted to Islam or any other religion with his or her free will and not under coercion.

“Learning the basic principals and teaching of Islam should be made obligatory, under the proposed laws for all those non-Muslims who decided to embrace Islam.”

“I am not sure about the exact number of such cases in the absence of accurate data for such incidents, but the figure of such cases is about 100,” he said. Gill added that the minority members of the Parliament have recommended that the federal government introduce legislation to check forced conversion.

The minister cited ‘sexual lust’ as the key reason that made Muslim men force non-Muslim girls to convert. “The Hindu girls were being sexually abused by the young Muslim men who forced them to convert when their sexual offence became an issue in the society,” he explained.

“Those young people accept such girls as their legal wives with the pre-condition that they embrace Islam. The girls were kidnapped by young men and after meeting their sexual desire they were forced to change their religion and convert to Islam,” Gill said.

Meanwhile, the ministry of law is of the view that there is no need for a piece of legislation to check the forced conversion of non-Muslim minorities to Islam, a highly placed source in the ministry of national harmony said.

The law division’s views came under consideration after the national commission for minorities recommended that the federal government introduce laws against the forced conversion.

The commission, with Gill as its chairman, at a recent meeting had asked the government to enact the desired law to protect the minorities against forced conversion.

The source recalled that the law division had opposed the legislation against the forced conversion in 2010 when the federal ministry for minorities referred a draft to it for shaping it as a piece of law.

The law division, while opposing the new legislation, had maintained that provisions already existed in the Pakistan Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code against forced conversion, the source concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Double jeopardy: The smaller the minority the bigger its problems in Pakistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352795/double-jeopardy-the-smaller-the-minority-the-bigger-its-problems-in-pakistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352795/double-jeopardy-the-smaller-the-minority-the-bigger-its-problems-in-pakistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 12 22:32:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=352795</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Report released on survey of 1,000 Christian and Hindu women from Sindh and Punjab.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Nearly 62 per cent of Hindu and Christian women fear that a majority of Muslims would not come to their aid if they were being discriminated against.


This was one of the findings of the study “Life on the Margins,” which was released by the National Commission for Justice and Peace at the Pakistan Medical Association House on Tuesday. The study is based on interviews of 1,000 women in 26 districts of Punjab and Sindh from 2010 and 2011.

Forty-three per cent of the women surveyed complained that they faced religious discrimination at either their workplace, educational institution or neighbourhood, while 27 per cent of them faced difficulties in gaining admissions to educational institutions. A majority of non-Muslim children polled said that they were forced to study Islamiat in school. Of the working women, 76 per cent said that they had to deal with sexual harassment.

The report points out that the literacy rate of these women is 47 per cent, which is below the 57 per cent national literacy rate. The infant mortality rate among minority communities turned out to be 314 infant deaths for every 3,050 live births, or 10.30 per cent, which is higher when compared with the World Health Organisation’s figure of the 8.7 per cent national infant mortality rate. Nearly 20 per cent of women were earning less than the minimum wage, 15 per cent of them lived in mud houses and 12 per cent in semi-brick ones.

While speaking at the occasion, the newly ordained Archbishop of Karachi, Joseph Coutts, emphasised action and support. “These issues will not be resolved unless the silent majority accepts that they exist in society,” he said. He compared the current state of denial of these issues to the one that once existed about  Aids when people would not even talk about it. He called for a documentation of cases of kidnappings, forced marriages and conversions within minority communities.

Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi declined to comment about the controversy surrounding Rinkle Kumari’s conversion as the case was in court. However, she tried to raise the morale of members of the minority communities by saying that most of the people in the country were standing with them. “A majority of our population is not biased. It is just a small population of maulvis who spread hatred.”

Nearly 80 per cent of Pakistanis live on the margin, as they do not have access to justice and resources, and that the problems faced by women of minority communities were similar to those faced by Muslim women in the country. Nearly 66 per cent of non-Muslim women were not allowed to marry of their own free will, according to the report, and Rizvi said that a majority of Muslim women were also forced into marriage.

Mangla Sharma, who is the chairperson of the Pak-Hindu Welfare Association, said that minority women felt alienated from the country’s politics because they are not currently represented in parliament, and called for a quota to be established to resolve the discrepancy. Sharma also claimed that Rinkle Kumari was brainwashed and forcibly converted, and said that when a man claims to convert a woman, his religious background should be checked.

MPA Saleem Khokhar lauded the commission’s efforts for presenting a report on such a topic while extremism and injustice are on the rise. He said that blasphemy laws were being misused in the country, and referred to the deaths of a governor and a federal minister when they sympathised with Aasia Bibi.

The commission’s Peter Jacob called for a body to be set up to look into cases of forced conversions of non-Muslim women. The definition of the word “discrimination” should also be established, to include restrictions on the basis of religion as well.

Nazish Brohi, who contributed to the study, said that that women of minority communities face “double jeopardy,” as they have to face discrimination on two accounts: because of their sex and their religion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Hindu conversions: Families plead for meeting with their daughters</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352362/hindu-conversions-families-plead-for-meeting-with-their-daughters</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352362/hindu-conversions-families-plead-for-meeting-with-their-daughters#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 12 21:28:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=352362</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Asha’s family demands that their missing 15-year-old be rescued.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[On Monday, Lata and Rinkle Kumari’s families wept and appealed to the government to let them meet their daughters, while 15-year-old Asha’s family demanded that the authorities should find and rescue their missing daughter.


While speaking in Sindhi at a press conference at Karachi Press Club, Rinkle’s mother begged and pleaded for an opportunity to meet her daughter. According to Asha’s mother Reshma, her daughter went missing 18 days ago from Jacobabad. While wiping her tears with her dupatta, she said that it was cruel that the authorities had not found her as yet. While talking to The Express Tribune, Asha’s brother Vinod Kumar said that he used to drop and pick his sister from the parlour where she was doing a course. “When I went to pick her up on March 3, the parlour owner told me that she had already left,” he said. “She was so tired of the course. She did not want to go there anymore but I kept pushing her to do so.”

The family registered the FIR and nominated the parlour owner. So far the case is still under investigation.

According to Lata Kumari’s father, the Hindu doctor who converted to Islam, his wife was in the hospital because of what had happened.

The patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar, spoke out against the recent incidents of abduction and forced conversion in the Hindu community. “Girls from our peace loving community get scared when they see a bullet,” he said. “Imagine how Rinkle felt when she went to court with 500 people carrying weapons! Can we ever say that her statement was recorded of free will?” He added that if Asha was not rescued soon, 20 days later they would find out that she had also converted.

According to Ramesh, the country’s economy was dependent on the minorities. “There are eight million Hindus in Pakistan, out of which seven million live in Sindh,” he said. “Their current state is forcing them to leave their homes. So far 200 to 250 families have moved from Jacobabad. We don’t want to leave the country.” The chairperson of the Pak-Hindu Welfare Association, Mangla Sharma said that this was not the first time the community had to step forward to raise their voice against injustice. Sharma added that they would appeal to the Federal Shariat Court against the forced conversions. “Our girls are being brainwashed,” said Sharma. “They need counselling.”

Rinkle’s uncle Raj said that protests were being held by religious extremists every day in Mirpur Mathelo. “They are threatening us that if Rinkle returns home, four Hindu women will go missing,” he said. “What will we do now? Where will we go now?”

According to Qadir Khan, a lawyer, under Article 36 of the Constitution minorities should be protected but were not given security.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s wing chief in Sindh, Michael Javed said that a judicial commission should be set up to look into these cases. The patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council clarified that they were satisfied with the court proceedings but wanted a judicial inquiry of the policeman who mishandled the cases in Ghotki. He said that it was no use to approach the minority parliamentarians as they were not representatives of the minorities. “We prefer to lodge our complaints with top government officials,” he said. “However, it is only the Supreme Court that takes notice of such cases.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Abduction cases, forced conversions frighten Hindus</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/351900/kidnapping-for-ransom-abduction-cases-forced-conversions-fright-hindus</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/351900/kidnapping-for-ransom-abduction-cases-forced-conversions-fright-hindus#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 12 05:11:27 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Shezad Baloch]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=351900</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Around 50 famili­es report­ed to have migrat­ed from Quetta.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Forced conversions to Islam and increasing incidents of kidnapping have instilled a deep sense of insecurity among the Hindu community in Balochistan, said Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs Basant Lal Gulshan.

As many as four girls and three boys of the Hindu community forcibly converted to Islam in 2011. “At least 50 Hindu families have migrated from Quetta alone,” Gulshan told The Express Tribune. “The families migrated to rural Balochistan and Sindh because their rights were not safeguarded in Quetta.”

The minister claimed that investigations have not begun in the conversion cases reported in Loralai, Chaman and Sibi.

He criticised the Balochistan government for its lack of interest on minority rights and said: “I took up the issue with Chief Minister Aslam Raisani and also discussed it on the provincial assembly floor, but they are not serious in addressing the grievances of minorities.”

He added that at least 25 people of his community have been kidnapped for ransom this year. “There were 55 cases last year and we are witnessing a sharp rise this year.”

Dr Rajesh Kumar, a pharmacist, was kidnapped in broad daylight from outside the Bolan Medical College Complex in Quetta approximately one and half month ago. His whereabouts are still unknown.

According to a rough estimate, around 200,000 Hindus reside in different parts of Balochistan and most of them are either businessmen or traders. “Criminals consider Hindus an easy target for earning money.”

Gulshan assured that as a member of the provincial cabinet, he will continue to raise his voice for his community, regardless of his reservations being ignored. “My colleagues in the cabinet often say that this is not happening only with Hindus and that Muslims are being kidnapped as well. In some way, they justify the abductions.”

In a statement, the Human Rights Organisation of Pakistan (Balochistan chapter) expressed strong concern over the kidnapping of Hindus and urged the government to curb this menace. The kidnapped pharmacist was also a member of the HRCP. They organisation has blamed influential people for the kidnappings.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversion</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/351360/forced-conversion</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/351360/forced-conversion#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 17 Mar 12 15:23:53 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=351360</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The operation of forced conversions is taking place in a far more organised manner than previously thought.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The issue of forced conversions of Hindu women to Islam, after being abducted and made to marry Muslim men, has been raised vociferously by leaders of the Hindu community. But now, it seems that the whole operation of forced conversions is taking place in a far more organised manner than had been previously thought.

The PPP MNA Dr Azra Fazl, who is also President Asif Ali Zardari’s sister, has said that Hindu women are being kept in madarssas in Sindh and then forced to wed Muslim men. She stated this is what had happened in the case of Faryal Shah, a Hindu girl whose conversion has created much controversy in Sindh. Dr Fazl’s words come just as California Congressman Brad Sherman’s letter on the case reached President Zardari, demanding that Faryal be returned to her family.

Several other members of the National Assembly backed Dr Fazl, including members of the minority communities. The attention directed towards the matter by the legislature is important. What is happening to minority community members — especially women, who are doubly vulnerable, needs to be taken up at the national level. Clerics and madrassa leaders, acting against Hindus must be penalised under the law. There must also be a wider effort to alter mindsets, which lead to the harassment of the community and the increasing cases of abduction in the first place. As a result of these and the kidnappings for ransom seen in Balochistan, thousands of Hindus have fled their homes and moved across the border into India.

It is shameful that we cannot keep our minority communities safe. The long delay and the equally long silence from mainstream society on the issue have worsened matters. It is hard to say what will happen next. The tide of hatred and intolerance that has swept across our country is difficult to reverse. But some effort to do so must be made, so that, in time, we can return to a situation in which members of different religious communities are able to coexist.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Threatened Hindu girls to be moved to Islamabad</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/351192/%e2%80%98forced%e2%80%99-conversions-threatened-hindu-girls-to-be-moved-to-islamabad</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/351192/%e2%80%98forced%e2%80%99-conversions-threatened-hindu-girls-to-be-moved-to-islamabad#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 17 Mar 12 04:57:00 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=351192</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[NA panel directs Sindh police to fly Rinkle, Lata Kumari out of Karachi.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A National Assembly panel directed on Friday the Sindh police to shift two Hindu girls to Islamabad for protection against severe threats to their lives at the Panah Shelter Home in Karachi.


The panel gave the directions after the Sindh police expressed concern over the security for Rinkle (now, Faryal Bibi) and Lata Kumari, who were allegedly abducted and forced to get marry after embracing Islam.

Both girls will be shifted to Islamabad via the first flight available on the Pakistan International Airlines on Monday, according to the chairperson of the National Assembly Standing on Human Rights, Riaz Fatyana.

“I have directed the Sindh police to shift the girls to Islamabad for better security,” Fatyana told The Express Tribune.

Additional IG Police Sindh Falak Khurshid informed the panel that both girls were forcibly abducted in connivance of some political families. He, however, made it clear that both girls in their statements said they did not want their reunion.

Fatyana told The Express Tribune that some sitting parliamentarians are allegedly involved in such heinous crimes and are trying to cover up the issue. However, he avoided mentioning their names.

The lawmakers were also informed that Rinkle is facing death threats from a sitting MNA and his sons. Due to sensitivity of the matter, they did not disclose the name of the lawmaker.

During the course of proceedings, the committee was also informed that two other Hindu girls – Bharti, the daughter of Narain, and Rajee, the daughter of Moro Kolhi – were also abducted.

The police were directed to recover the two girls on a priority basis.

Rajee was kidnapped from Pir Sakhai village near Tando Muhammad Khan district and Bharti was abducted from Mohammad Khan Road Khadda Baghdadi months back, police officials informed the lawmakers.

Special cell for minority protection

The NA panel also directed the Sindh police to form a special cell to deal with cases of forced conversions, which seem to be rising with every passing day.

“A cell should be formed in the IGP’s office,” said Dr Araish Kumar, another member of the committee. It will address the grievances of minorities facing such problems in Sindh, particularly in far-flung areas.

President Asif Ali Zardari’s sister MNA Dr Azra Fazl had informed the National Assembly that Hindu girls were being forcibly kept in various madrassas around Sindh and are later forced to marry Muslims. She stressed the need for legislation to protect minority rights and to end forced conversions.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>National Assembly: MNAs demand legislation to end forced conversions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/350710/national-assembly-mnas-demand-legislation-to-end-forced-conversions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/350710/national-assembly-mnas-demand-legislation-to-end-forced-conversions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 16 Mar 12 05:12:08 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[MQM stages walkout in protest against extortion cases in Karachi.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The state of minorities in the country seemed bleaker than the state of the union on Thursday. Minority rights took up a major chunk of the National Assembly proceedings as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Dr Azra Fazl made startling revelations about how Hindu girls were being forcibly held in various madrassas in Sindh, only to be forced to marry into Islam upon their release.


The PPP MNA made the shocking revelations while discussing the case of Faryal Shah (Rinkle Kumari), who was allegedly abducted and later forced to marry and convert to Islam in Sindh, earlier this month. Speaking on the point of order, the PPP leader pleaded to fellow parliamentarians to enact legislation to protect minority rights and end forced conversions.

“Minorities are being forced to leave Pakistan --- their daughters should enjoy same respect as ours do.”

Fazl, who is also the sister of President Asif Ali Zardari, highlighted the issue in Parliament coincidently after the president himself received a sharply worded letter from California Congressman Brad Sherman regarding the Faryal Shah case. The congressman urged the president to ensure the safe return of Faryal to her family as reports had pointed out that she had been abducted with the help of a PPP lawmaker.

The PPP leader picked an opportune moment to take up the cause of minorities in Pakistan as a non-governmental organisation also revealed that over 568 FIRs for forced marriages had been lodged last year in 40 districts of Pakistan with a majority of the cases filed in Sindh. According to a report compiled by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), around 255 FIRs for assault or rape had been registered in 35 districts; another 173 for rape in 40 districts and 60 for offences related to marriage filed in nine districts.

Nafeesa Shah, another PPP MNA from Sindh, also endorsed her colleague’s push for minority rights, adding that the Parliament should introduce legislation on forced conversions. Non-Muslims were being forced to accept Islam as reported by the media, she observed.

“Protection of the minorities should be ensured as it is enshrined in the Constitution.”

PPP MNA Mian Abdul Haq also informed the House that over 15 to 20 Hindu girls were forced to marry Muslim men and later asked to embrace Islam.

“This kind of act is stigma on our [Muslims’] face,” Haq added.

MNA Justice Fakharun Nisa stressed on the implementation of laws to solve the issue of minorities, adding that minority rights had to be protected at all cost.

Majority of the lawmakers, including minority leaders Lal Chand and Mehish Kumar, expressed concerns over the kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls.

Presenting a policy statement on floor of the House, minister of state for interfaith harmony and minorities affairs, Akram Masih Gill, said that the current government had taken unprecedented steps for the uplift and empowerment of minorities, including the fixation of a 5% quota in government jobs and the declaration of August 11 as ‘Minorities Day’ while Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Shahnaz Wazir Ali said that under the 18th Amendment, four seats had been reserved for minorities in the Upper House.

Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Dr Araish Kumar contributed to the debate, informing the Parliament that minorities were being forced to take up Islamic studies in schools.

“Our students are being forced to read Islamiat in government schools,” Kumar said, adding “if they refuse to study Islamic studies, they are struck off by the school administration.”

MQM threat 

Meanwhile, in protest against the rise in extortion and target killings in Karachi, Pakistan Peoples Party’s key coalition partner -- Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) walked out of the National Assembly on Thursday.

The party also went as far as to announce that it may boycott the joint session of Parliament on Saturday, which is going to be addressed by President Asif Ali Zardari.

Speaking on the point of order, MQM Leader Haider Abbass Rizvi said his party may not attend the joint session of Parliament if PPP doesn’t curb extortion and street crime in Karachi.

Transgenders enrolled for elections

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Maula Bux Chandio informed the National Assembly on Thursday that a total number of 782 transgenders have been enrolled with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the upcoming general elections.

Transgenders, for the first time, will not only be able to exercise the rights to cast their votes but also be able to contest elections, Chandio told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhattakhori and forcible conversions on the rise in Sindh</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/350769/bhattakhori-and-forcible-conversions-on-the-rise-in-sindh</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/350769/bhattakhori-and-forcible-conversions-on-the-rise-in-sindh#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 16 Mar 12 05:08:19 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[nusrat.javeed]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Haider Abbass Rizvi of MQM felt no qualms while taking the floor immediately after completion of the question hour.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[In our God-given Republic, politicians often tend to act strange and Thursday’s proceedings of the National Assembly fully reflected their inherent inanities.

Law and order, to begin with, is an issue that the provincial government is exclusively responsible for. There supposedly is a democratically elected government “functioning” in the province of Sindh as well.

Although after returning to the provincial assembly with a clear majority in 2008, the PPP preferred to form a coalition government with full participation of the MQM nominees. This was done to provide visible content to much trumpeted notion of ‘national reconciliation’ and to ensure smooth relations between the so-called urban and rural stakeholders of the power pie.

Conveniently disregarding the abovementioned facts, Haider Abbass Rizvi of the MQM felt no qualms while taking the floor immediately after completion of the question hour. “The masses of Karachi residents are feeling depressed and besieged these days. As if electricity and gas load shedding were not enough to make their lives miserable, street crimes have turned rampant to force them to remain confined to their homes. Far more serious than frequent mobile snatching is the recent trend of ‘BHATTAKHORI (extortion)’. With reckless immunity, criminal gangs are targeting even mid-level traders to collect protection money,” he wailed and wailed.

He finished the speech by forewarning the government that in case immediate and visible steps were not taken to improve the situation, the MQM legislators would boycott the joint parliamentary sitting that President Asif Ali Zardari is scheduled to address on March 17. Just to show that he had not made an empty threat, Rizvi also walked out of the house. All MQM legislators followed him by aggressively chanting slogans against ‘BHATTAKHORI.’. No one from the ruling party made any serious attempt to bring them back. Dealing with the MQM has obviously been ‘outsourced’ to the interior minister by Zardari-Gilani government and Rehman Malik was not around.

Far more pathetic than the conduct of MQM legislators remained the behavior of a few ruling party MNAs. Dr Lal Chand, a Hindu representative from Sindh, triggered another controversy. It related to the alleged kidnapping and ‘forcible conversion’ to Islam by Ms Rinkle Kumari. The vocal segments of the Hindu community had been flooding various social sites with claims that Rinkle was lured to elope by a Muslim tailor. Both ended up at the shrine of Bharchoondi Sharif in Gothki district. Mian Abdul Haq alias Mian Mithoo is the custodian of this shrine and he also happens to be a PPP MNA from that area. He is alleged to have “facilitated the conversion and eventual marriage” of Rinkle and ‘protected’ her from her family and community. After much noise making, the Sindh High Court took up the matter, suo motu, and the girl was sent to a government-run shelter to make a final decision about her life in protected isolation.

Lal Chand and the minority MNAs following him continued to claim, however, that Rinkle was denied the required isolation and disconnect from conflicting pressure groups. They kept insisting that the DPO of Ghotki had visited her Wednesday, ostensibly to “force her to stay firm with her conversion and the decision of marrying a Muslim”

The controversy could have ended there without much ado. But then Dr Azra, sister of President Zardari, stood up. In a choked tone, she confirmed that minority members were not so wrong in feeling insecure living in Sindh these days. She was fully supported by Nafisa Shah. Sitting in the gallery, I could just not fathom why these two noble-hearts were feeling so helpless. If Azra’s brother, President Asif, and Nafisa’s father Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah couldn’t instill the feeling of security amongst the Hindus of Sindh, who else could?

Mithoo, the custodian of Shrine, was present in the house. Initially, he tried to act deaf. Then he resorted to non-verbal bullying by aggressive posturing and finally took the floor to tell his side of the story. He claimed that before welcoming Ms Rinkle to the fold of Islam, he tried hard to talk to her father and various community leaders of Hindus. No one cared.

Telling his side of the story was not his priority, however. He insisted that some “foreign funded NGOs were trying to scandalise the conversion of Rinkle to malign Islam.” Too ominous he sounded while forewarning his PPP colleagues that by racking up the issue they were “annoying and alienating their voters in Sindh, who after all hailed from the Muslim majority.” No one dared to confront Mithoo after his speech. With a proud grin, he got away with his version and forewarnings.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>‘Hindu girls being forcibly kept in Sindh madrassas’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/350431/%e2%80%98hindu-girls-being-forcibly-kept-in-sindh-madrassas%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/350431/%e2%80%98hindu-girls-being-forcibly-kept-in-sindh-madrassas%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 12 11:54:18 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Minorities are being forcibly converted and forced to study Islamiat, say MNAs.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Hindu girls are being forcibly kept in various madrassas in Sindh and are later forced to marry Muslims, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Dr Azra Fazl told the National Assembly on Thursday. She was speaking on issue of Faryal Shah (Rinkle Kumari) who was allegedly abducted and forced to marry and convert to Islam earlier this month in Sindh.

While speaking on the point of order, Fazl said that Hindus are facing a lot of challenges in Sindh. She stressed the need for legislation to protect minority rights and to end forced conversions.

Fazl, who is also the sister of President Asif Ali Zardari, highlighted the issue in the parliament at a time when her brother received a sharply-worded letter from California Congressman Brad Sherman urging him to take action to ensure the return of Faryal to her family, pursuant to reports that she had been abducted with the help of a PPP lawmaker.

Nafeesa Shah, another MNA from Sindh also endorsed her colleague’s idea and said that the parliament should introduce legislation on “forced conversions”.  Various non-Muslims were being forced to accept Islam as being reported by the media, she observed.

“Protection of the minorities should be ensured as enshrined in the Constitution,” Shah added.

Majority of lawmakers including Lal Chand and Mehish Kumar representing minorities in the parliament expressed concerns over the kidnapping and forced conversions of Hindu girls. They said it was the right of every person to accept any religion but nobody can be forced in this regard.

MNA Justice (retd) Fakhar-un-Nisa stressed on the implementation of laws when it comes to solve the issue of minorities. “Minorities’ rights should be protected at all cost.”

Giving a policy statement on floor of the House, Minister of State for Interfaith Harmony and Minorities Affairs Akram Masih Gill said that the present government has taken unprecedented steps for the uplift and empowerment of minorities. He said these include fixation of five percent quota in government jobs and declaration of August 11 as the Minorities Day.

“Parliament should enact a law to avoid forced conversions,” he remarked.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Shehnaz Wazir Ali said that under the 18th Amendment, four seats have been reserved for minorities in the Upper House.

“During the last few years several laws have been enacted including Human Rights Commission for the protection of the rights of women and minorities.”

Forced Islamiat lessons for minorities

Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Dr Araish Kumar added to the conversation by saying that the minorities were being forced to read Islamic studies in Pakistan.

“Our students are being forced to read subject Islamiat in the government schools,” Kumar said adding, “If they refuse to study Islamic studies, they are struck off by the school administration.”]]>
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			<title>How come Hindu men aren’t converting, only marriageable young girls?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/348364/how-come-hindu-men-aren%e2%80%99t-converting-only-marriageable-young-girls</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/348364/how-come-hindu-men-aren%e2%80%99t-converting-only-marriageable-young-girls#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 11 Mar 12 03:31:20 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Conference on forced Hindu conversions and marriages brings forward new families.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Their logic is hard to argue with: why are Hindu men not converting? Why is it that only young girls of a marriageable age are surfacing in these cases? And if these girls are so keen to convert, why don’t they go to madrassas, learn the religion and then go through with it?


Shaking with rage, Amarnath Motumal of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), asked this barrage of questions at a press conference on Saturday. It was held with the tearful families of victims of forced conversions who demanded that their girls should be returned to them.

“When a girl is converted, why is she married off immediately?” Motumal said. “If she has converted for the sake of Islam, then why doesn’t she join a madrassa to educate herself and spread knowledge about the religion?”

He said that around 20 to 22 girls are being converted every month, but families do not go public as they fear the incident will ruin their reputation.

The family of 19-year-old Rinkle Kumari, who was allegedly abducted, forced to covert and marry a Muslim, claimed that they are receiving death threats.

“Take the case back or we will kill you all,” is the threat the family received on March 8, according to the Rinkle’s brother-in-law Inder Lal.

A frustrated Lal said that if Rinkle had converted and married of her own free will, she would have held a press conference immediately after the court’s decision. “For six days, she was quiet. It was only when the issue was raised internationally, that she came in front of the media.”

After the last court hearing in Sukkur, Rinkle appeared before the media and stated that she was not forced by anyone. But her family has stuck to its stance that Rinkle’s conversion to Islam and her marriage to Naveed Shah was forced.

“She did not even know the person,” exclaimed Rinkle’s father, Nand Lal, who is a primary school teacher in Mirpur Mathelo. “We have no internet or telephone connections at home, so there is no way she could have been in touch with Naveed.”  He informed that Rinkle had recently completed her intermediate studies and two days before Rinkle was allegedly kidnapped, she was planning to go to Karachi to shop for her brother’s wedding.

While talking to The Express Tribune, the family provided new information about the alleged kidnapping. “Rinkle’s friend Kiran was the brains behind the plan. She took money from the kidnappers and gave them all the information about Rinkle,” accused Nand Lal. “We wanted to nominate Kiran in the FIR but the DSP refused.”

According to the family, Rinkle was kidnapped by armed men while on her way to the bathroom built in the courtyard.

“If she had planned to elope, she would have taken her slippers and her sweater,” pointed out her family members. “But she was kidnapped barefoot and without any warm clothes in the cold weather.”

The family, who are in Karachi for the time being, asked that Rinkle should be taken to a neutral place for at least eight days and be allowed to meet her family.

Raised voices 

Rinkle’s mother covered her face with a dupatta and wept silently as the HRCP Sindh vice chairperson voiced the community’s troubles. “We can’t even sleep at night, wondering whether our kidnapped girls would become suicide bombers or would they be sold off into prostitution,” lamented Motumal.

He said that forced conversion is not a new practice, claiming that extremists are taking advantage of the religion by preaching at madrassas on how to convert non-Muslims.

“When an underage girl is forced to convert, she is not allowed to meet her family. She is told that the people who gave birth to her and raised her have become Kaafirs.”

Lata’s story  

The press conference was also attended by the family of 29-year-old Dr Lata Kumari, who was kidnapped on February 28 on her way to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in DHA. Her family alleged that she has been forcibly converted and married to Nadir Baig Dhar, the son of a suspended judge.

Lata’s father, Dr Ramesh Kumar, spoke out against the harsh treatment that the family received in the court on March 7. “The police did not even let us meet Lata at the first hearing of the case and they beat us with sticks,” said Lata’s mother, a hypertension patient. “The kidnappers did not leave burqa-clad Lata alone for even a minute. Nadir and his goons would come in front of me every time I approached her. I could not even look at my daughter properly.”

Kumar said that they knew Nadir from before, claiming that the accused had converted five Hindu girls already. According to Lata’s brother Vishal, Nadir works at the quality assurance department of a motor company.

“Lata clutched my arm and asked me to do something for her,” said a teary eyed Joti, Lata’s sister. “Why are the criminals not letting us meet her, what are they scared of?”

Kumar alleged that the signature on the documents were not Lata’s.

Lata, who has an MBBS degree from Larkana, used to live at the Aga Khan hostel and had worked as a medical researcher. Two of her siblings are also doctors and live in Hyderabad, while the rest of the family lives in Jacobabad.

During the press conference, another suspected kidnapping came up. People from Jacobabad said that a Hindu girl Asha Devi, who used to work at a beauty parlour, never made it home from work.

HRCP’s Badar Soomro condemned the forced conversions of the three per cent minority population in the country. “Why are the extremists after the minorities? Let them live freely.”

On March 8, the Supreme Court directed the Sindh police IG to find Lata, Rinkle and another Hindu girl Pooja Devi, and present them at the next hearing on March 26.  However, the families were not hopeful. “They [the courts] record statements under section 164 and then the girl is sent immediately with the criminals,” said Motumal. “She is given no time to think about her decision or talk to her family.”

He suggested that the court should give such girls a week’s time to make up their mind, while they stay at the Darul Aman with their mother.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversions: As SC orders recovery, one woman denies abduction</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/347570/forced-conversions-as-sc-orders-recovery-one-woman-denies-abduction</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/347570/forced-conversions-as-sc-orders-recovery-one-woman-denies-abduction#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 12 06:08:43 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[sarfaraz.memon]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=347570</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Faryal says she converted, married Naveed Shah of her own will.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As the apex court ordered the provincial police chief to recover women of the Hindu community, one of the women named in the petition turned up at the Sindh High Court Sukkur bench and said she was neither abducted, nor forcibly converted.


The apex court was hearing a petition filed by the Pakistan Hindu Council over abduction and forceful conversion of girls from their community.

Dr Ramesh Kumar, patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, informed the court that three women of the Hindu community – Rinkle Kumari from Mirpur Mathelo, Dr Lata from Jaccobabad, and Poja Devi from Larkana – have been abducted recently.

The whole community feels insecure as a result of this, and have lodged a protest in Karachi, Kumar said.

A three member-bench headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed Inspector General of Police Sindh Mushtaq Shah to recover the abducted women and produce them before the court at the next hearing – March 26.

The attorney-general appeared on behalf of the federal government and requested for some time to seek instructions from the relevant quarters.

‘Victim’ turns up

Meanwhile Faryal, formerly known as Rinkle Kumari, was brought to the Sukkur bench of the Sindh High Court amidst stringent security. She was accompanied by her husband Naveed Shah, while Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Mian Abdul Haq of Bharchoondi Sharif, his son and large number of their followers were also present.

The couple had filed a constitutional petition stating that their lives are under threat, and the girl’s relatives are issuing threats of dire consequences.

A seemingly composed Faryal told reporters that she was neither kidnapped, nor converted or married forcibly. She said she converted to Islam and married Shah of her free will, and that nobody pressurised her into doing so.

Our lives are under threat by my maternal uncle Raj Kumar, Faryal said, adding that she wants to stay with her husband.

Advocate Mohammad Murad, representing Faryal’s grandfather Manohar Lal, insisted she was under pressure due to the presence of a large number of Bharchoondi Sharif’s followers.

The judge has ordered the police to present the couple before him in Karachi on March 12, he said, adding that things will be clearer then after Faryal records her statement away from the pressure.

Faryal came to Dargah Bharchoondi Sharif on February 24 to convert and marry Shah, Haq’s son Mohammad Aslam said while talking to The Express Tribune.

The girl, on my instructions, talked to her parents on the phone and informed them that she had come to the dargah of her own accord, Aslam said.

“I personally requested them to come over and meet their daughter to see that she was not under pressure, but they did not come,” he said.

“Everyone saw that Faryal was not under pressure, nor did she utter a word against the pirs of Bharchoondi Sharif,” Aslam added.

Community’s reaction

Following Faryal’s statement at the court, the Hindu Panchayat in Mirpur Mathelo announced they would not celebrate Holi because of the incident.

Rinkle was kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam and married to Shah, said the panchayat’s president Nand Lal.

The Hindu community will appeal to the Sindh High Court (SHC) chief justice to record Rinkle’s statement, Lal said.

Her decision in front of the SHC – whether she goes with her husband or her parents – will be accepted by her family and the community, he added.(With additional input by our correspondent in Islamabad)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>'Forced conversion': Teen insists she converted of own free will</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/347239/forced-conversion-teen-insists-she-converted-of-own-free-will</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/347239/forced-conversion-teen-insists-she-converted-of-own-free-will#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 08 Mar 12 09:20:40 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[sarfaraz.memon]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=347239</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Faryal (Rinkle) tells media she is a Muslim girl and has nothing to do with her parents; married of own free will.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Faryal Shah (Rinkle Kumari) appeared before the media on Thursday and made it clear that she had not been kidnapped and had not been forced to convert to Islam and marry Naveed Shah.

Faryal said that she had converted to Islam and had married Naveed Shah of her own free will, and that nobody had pressurised her into this. Reading out the Kalma-e-Tayyaba, Faryal said she was a Muslim girl and therefore had nothing to do with her parents.

Faryal (Rinkle Kumari) and her husband Naveed Shah were produced in front of the Sindh High Court (SHC) Sukkur bench on Thursday morning amid tight security.

The couple was escorted by SSP Ghotki Pir Mohammad Shah along with a heavy contingent of police. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Mian Abdul Haq of Bharchoondi Sharif, his son Mian Mohammad Aslam and a large number of their followers were also present.

The couple through their lawyer, Achar Gabole, had filed a constitutional petition stating that their lives were under threat from the relatives of the girl, who had been issuing threats of dire consequences.

Answering a question on threats to their lives, she said, “Our lives are under threat from my maternal uncle Raj Kumar”. She once again made it clear that she was a Muslim and wanted to live with her husband Naveed Shah.

Advocate Mohammad Murad Lund, who was representing Faryal’s grandfather Manohar Lal, told The Express Tribune that the single bench comprising of Justice Ahmed Ali Shaikh without recording the statement of the girl had ordered SSP Ghotki to provide protection to the couple and ensure that they are produced before the SHC chief justice in Karachi on March 12.

Advocate Mohammad Murad Lund kept on insisting that, the girl was under pressure due to the presence of a large number of Bharchoondi Sharif followers. He said everything will become “crystal clear” in Karachi, as the girl would be able to record her statement in a tension free atmosphere.

Mian Mohammad Aslam of Bharchoondi Sharif said that everyone had seen that Faryal was neither under pressure and had not said a word against the Pirs. “Rather she gave a statement against her own maternal uncle who is threatening to kill her.”

He said his father, PPP MNA Mian Abdul Haq had also come to the court because the girl’s parents had requested that they wanted to meet their daughter, but they didn’t come to see her.

Aslam said when the couple had come to Dargah Bharchoondi Sharif on February 24, Faryal had spoken to her parents on his instructions and had told them that she had come there to convert to Islam and marry Naveed Shah.

“I personally requested them to come over and meet their daughter to see for themselves that she was not under pressure, but they didn’t’ come,” Mian Aslam said.

He once again said that neither Islam nor the law of the land allowed forced conversion.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversion: With court appearance, hope that truth will emerge on Rinkle’s choice</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/346530/forced-conversion-with-court-appearance-hope-that-truth-will-emerge-on-rinkle%e2%80%99s-choice</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/346530/forced-conversion-with-court-appearance-hope-that-truth-will-emerge-on-rinkle%e2%80%99s-choice#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 12 03:47:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sarfaraz.memon]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=346530</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rinkle’s father Nand Lal has enlisted the help of lawyer Noor Naz Agha who filed a petition.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A Hindu teenager at the centre of a forced conversion controversy is scheduled to appear before the chief justice on March 12 when it is hoped the truth will emerge.


There are two versions to this story. In one, Rinkle Kumari fell in love with Naveed Shah, eloped, converted at Dargah Bharchoondi Sharif and married him. In the other, she was kidnapped, forced to convert and marry him.

Rinkle’s father Nand Lal has enlisted the help of lawyer Noor Naz Agha who filed a petition. Agha told The Express Tribune over the phone that the problem was how the case was handled.

When Rinkle was produced before a Ghotki civil judge on February 25 she asked for two days to think over her situation. But instead of sending her to a shelter, the judge handed her over to the police. Agha felt this was wrong because Rinkle is a victim and not an accused person. It was while she was in police custody that she came under tremendous pressure. When she made a statement in front of the Mirpur Mathelo civil judge two days later, she spoke in favour of Naveed Shah.

Given that this has happened, Agha has requested the SHC to now allow Rinkle to record her statement in an environment free from pressure.

Meanwhile, a lawyer has filed a petition in the Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench, requesting police protection for Rinkle and Naveed.

Rinkle’s family says she was kidnapped from home in Mirpur Mathelo on February 24.

They blame Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Mian Abdul Haq and his men. They say she was taken to Bharchoondi Sharif, where one of the MNA’s supporters, a man named Naveed Shah, forced her to convert and married her, albeit without her consent. There has been an outcry and Hindus, Christians and Sikhs protested in Karachi on Sunday. The matter has even been brought up in the Sindh Assembly.

Dargah supporters

Amid these developments comes a protest by people from the shrine where Rinkle and Naveed are said to have sought refuge.

The supporters of Dargah Bharchoondi Sharif have rubbished allegations that the shrine was involved in the forced conversion and marriage. On Tuesday, the dargah’s supporters marched 13 kilometres from Daharki to Mirpur Mathelo where they packed Bhittai Chowk to register their protest. They maintain that the forced conversion allegation was just an attempt to malign the dargah.

The protest was led by the dargah’s Mian Mohammad Aslam and Mian Shaman of Bharchoondi Sharif. They claimed that the couple took shelter at the shrine.

Aslam said that he immediately contacted Rinkle’s parents and the president of the Hindu Panchayat in Daharki to inform them that the couple was seeking shelter at the shrine. He said that her parents did not come to the dargah even though he waited for five hours. After this wait, he claims that Rinkle embraced Islam and was married to Naveed Shah.

“Nobody can be converted by force,” he said, “because neither Islam nor the law of the land allow it.” Aslam also maintained that Rinkle was allowed to meet her parents separately twice but she went against them. When she was presented in court, he said, she was not under pressure and gave a statement under oath that she wanted to go with her husband.

Aslam said that thousands of non-Muslims have embraced Islam at the shrine and not a single person has claimed to have been forced.

Informed sources from Mirpur Mathelo claimed that Rinkle and Naveed lived in Sufi Mohallah.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced Hindu conversions: Rinkle’s neighbourhood floods into Karachi to demand her release</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/345540/forced-hindu-conversions-rinkle%e2%80%99s-neighbourhood-floods-into-karachi-to-demand-her-release</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/345540/forced-hindu-conversions-rinkle%e2%80%99s-neighbourhood-floods-into-karachi-to-demand-her-release#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 04 Mar 12 21:00:48 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[rabia.ali]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=345540</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Christians and Sikhs also turn out to show support for the cause.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[“Give us our Rinkle back. Give us the daughter of Sindh back,” demanded the relatives of the 17-year-old Hindu girl who was allegedly kidnapped, forced to convert and married to a Muslim boy last month.


Rinkle Kumari’s relatives came from Mirpur Mathelo in Ghotki district and staged a protest outside the Karachi press club on Sunday. Christians and Sikhs came out in support.

The protesters wore black armbands and held aloft well-written handmade posters saying ‘Where should we go?’ and ‘Send Rinkle to a Karachi women’s shelter’. They kept up a chant demanding her ‘release’. One of her maternal uncles, Raj Kumar, said furiously, “Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Mian Abdul Haq and his men abducted our daughter at gunpoint. We want justice.”

The family claims that Rinkle was kidnapped from her home in Mirpur Mathelo by Haq’s men on the night of February 24. She was then taken to Bharchundi Sharif, where Naveed Shah, a supporter of the politician, forced her to convert to Islam and married her, albeit without her consent, they say.

On February 25, the family says, Rinkle refused to go back with the kidnappers while recording her statement in court. But, they say, the court ignored her statement and decided in favour of the other party when it announced its decision two days later.

“We were not allowed to attend the proceedings when the judgment was passed,” said Kumar. “The judge conducted the hearing an hour before the official court timings and he passed the judgment in only half an hour.”

Enraged youngsters from Rinkle’s hometown demanded justice and said that she should be presented before a court again or be sent to a darul aman till a court takes a decision. They said that the chief justice of Pakistan should take suo motu notice in this case.

Another relative, Ravi Kumar, said that videos were uploaded on YouTube in which Haq’s men were seen to be celebrating by firing in the air. He said that the forced conversion of Hindu girls was common in Sindh’s countryside, with around 20 cases being reported every month.

Another supporter, Daya Ram, said that initially the police was not even ready to register an FIR. It was only after a two-hour protest on the Super Highway that the police relented and registered a case.

While parliamentarians from the ruling party did not pay heed to the protest, a Muttahida Qaumi Movement parliamentarian, Munawar Lal, came to show his support to the family. He said that he would walk out of the Sindh Assembly if Rinkle is not returned to her family. “We are tired of picking the bodies of our children, and seeing our women being taken away by criminals,” he declared as people behind him shouted ‘Nai chalay gee, nai chalay gee, ghunda gardhi nai chalay gee.’ It won’t be tolerated, this won’t be tolerated, this hooliganism won’t be tolerated.

“Is this the same Pakistan that Quaid-e-Azam and our people struggled for?” he asked.

Ramesh Kumar, the father of a 28-year-old doctor, Lata Kumari, who was kidnapped last week from DHA’s Phase II, was at the protest. Lata was on her way to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan.

The patron of Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar stressed that Hindus were peace-loving people. “But sadly these conversions, kidnappings and extortions every day make our lives miserable.”

Sardar Ramesh Singh pitched in by saying that no religion allowed their followers to convert others by force. “Even Islam does not allow it. Then, how can its followers indulge in such wrongdoing?”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>'Forced conversion': Hindu community demands release of 'kidnapped' girl</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/345326/protest-at-kpc-hindu-community-demand-release-of-kidnapped-girl</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/345326/protest-at-kpc-hindu-community-demand-release-of-kidnapped-girl#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 04 Mar 12 12:25:06 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[sarfaraz.memon]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=345326</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The enraged community said that they won’t stop protesting till she is handed back to her parents.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Dozens of Hindus took out a rally and staged demonstration outside the press club in Pannu Aqil on Sunday against the alleged kidnapping and forceful conversion of Rinkle Kumari who was named Faryal.

Faryal and Naveed Ahmed Shah fell in love, eloped  and went to Daharki to Mian Mohammad Aslam of Bharchoondi Sharif. However, nineteen-year-old Faryal’s father, Nand Lal, had told the Mirpur Mathelo police that she was kidnapped by Shah, who lived in Sufi Mohallah.

Mian Mohammad Aslam, the son of Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Mian Abdul Haq had said that the couple had visited him on Friday and the girl had expressed her desire to convert to Islam and marry Shah. Aslam informed the girl’s father and asked him to meet his daughter to confirm her wishes.

The couple was taken to the Dargah Aalia Qadria Bharchoondi Sharif where she had embraced Islam. Pir Mian Abdul Hayee alias Mian Shaman had solemnised the nikkah.

Mirpur Mathelo DSP Syed Abbas Shah was informed about the marriage.

Faryal’s uncle had admitted that the family was informed by Aslam about her wishes to convert to Islam but he remained adamant that she was under pressure to say so.

The protestors today, led by writers SG Bhagia and Raj Kumar Lakhwani, took to the streets from Bhelar Road and while shouting slogans against the government gathered outside the press club.

Talking to the journalists, the leaders strongly condemned what they declared an act of kidnapping and forceful conversion of Kumari, daughter of Nand Lal.

They said, “We are a peaceful community and do not have a tribal backing, therefore we are are considered to be soft targets.”

The protestors blamed that the Pirs of Bharchoondi Sharif pressurized the girl to convert to Islam and marry Shah. They said that even when she was produced in the court for recording her statement, dozens of armed men from Bharchoondi Sharif had gathered outside the courtroom, which according to them, was a pressure building tactic.

They said that hundreds of Hindu families have migrated to India, because of the crimes against them. They demanded of the government to provide protection to the hindu community to dispel the sense of deprivation and insecurity prevailing in the community.

Faryal's family protests outside Karachi Press Club 

Scores of Hindus came together at the Karachi Press Club to protest against the kidnapping and forced conversion of Faryal.

The family accused that Aslam had backed the forceful conversion of Kumari to Islam and marriage to Shah, a supporter of the MNA.

Wearing black armbands, the protestors – members of Hindu, Christian and Sikh communities – chanted slogans against the trend of forceful conversion of young girls.

Daya Ram, Kumari’s relative, said, “We want the girl to be produced in the court again. Earlier when the court took decision in her case, they did not allow her parents to be present there.”

He added, “The girl said that she wanted to go with her parents, but the court did not decide in her favour.”

They appealed the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of this incident and demanded for a fair trial.

The enraged community said that they won’t stop protesting till she is handed back to her parents.]]>
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			<title>Religious rights: Hindus demand action against forced conversions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/344157/religious-rights-hindus-demand-action-against-forced-conversions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/344157/religious-rights-hindus-demand-action-against-forced-conversions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 01 Mar 12 21:18:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=344157</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The leaders of the Pakistan Hindu Council appeals to the government.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The leaders of the Pakistan Hindu Council appealed to the government at a press conference on Thursday, to take action against forced conversions of Hindu girls to Islam in rural Sindh.


The council’s ladies wing president, Mangla Sharma, spoke on the alleged abduction of Rinkle Kumari, a 17-year-old Hindu from Mirpur Mathelo, who converted to Islam and got married to a Muslim boy, Naveed Shah, on February 24.

Sharma claimed that the girl was forced to convert. “We want the government to hand the girl over to her parents as per her request.”

Sharma said that the community has not objected to other cases of marriages between Hindu girls and Muslim boys as they were free-will unions. She alleged that during the judicial hearing, Rinkle was forced to change her statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Forced conversions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/344039/forced-conversions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/344039/forced-conversions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 01 Mar 12 17:57:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=344039</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[According to recent reports, Hindus are being kidnapping and forced into marriage to Muslim men.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[There are many issues that fade in and out of discussion in our society. Some of these, occasionally shock people as figures are revealed, or stories told by victims surface to the fore. Otherwise, it is frightening how many people are oblivious to such basic problems relating to fundamental human rights. Take the matter of the forced conversion of Hindu girls. The crisis has rarely been discussed on the dozens of television talk shows, or at other forums which help shed some light on the priorities these issues should take. This in turn, of course, acts to worsen the suffering of marginalised communities, whose voices are rarely heard in a nation where silence prevails too often. The majority rarely speaks out for the minority, and this, of course, adds to their overwhelming sense of abandonment and isolation.

According to recent reports, Hindus — who make up around two per cent of the total population of the country — are being kidnapping and forced into marriage to Muslim men. Often times, they are even forced to convert to Islam. This trend has been increasing over the past decade and things appear only to be getting worse. In Karachi alone, 15 to 20 Hindu girls are being abducted each month, mainly from the Lyari area and wedded to Muslim men. Most are minors; some no more than 13 or 14 years old. The leaders of the Hindu community point out that they accept the right of adult women, aged over 18, to make their own choices as far as marriage is concerned, but they object to the kidnapping of younger girls. Reports indicate that seminary students are frequently involved in these practices, with the limited research carried out suggesting that these girls are then treated much like slaves.

We need to take much greater notice of the abuse inflicted on the minorities within our borders. Their condition is worsening rapidly; tens of thousands have already fled abroad and we should feel ashamed that we have failed so miserably to end the persecution they suffer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Perils Of Faith: HRCP warns of rise in forced conversions of Hindus</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314731/perils-of-faith-hrcp-warns-of-rise-in-forced-conversions-of-hindus</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/314731/perils-of-faith-hrcp-warns-of-rise-in-forced-conversions-of-hindus#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 12 02:18:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=314731</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Minor girls, at times younger than 15 years old, married women are kidnapped and then forcibly converted to Islam.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The increase in the number of reports of Hindu girls being kidnapped or made to convert to Islam has sparked concern from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).


At the launch of its report on minorities in Pakistan titled ‘Perils of Faith’, HRCP’s Amarnath said minor girls and married women are kidnapped and then converted to Islam.  “They kidnap girls who are younger than 15 but they say they are adults and that the girls have accepted Islam and been married of their own free will”, he said. He also pointed out that no one is supporting the Hindu community on the issue. “We are Pakistanis first, and then Hindu. We earn enough and have food to eat but this conversion issue is not acceptable, it has discouraged Hindus in Pakistan.”

HRCP chairperson Zohra Yusuf noted that the “situation of religious minorities in Pakistan has grown worse over the last year. The government has not taken steps which could improve the status of minorities.”

Yusuf also highlighted the condition of the Hazara community in Balochistan, who are targeted and killed or kidnapped for ransom.  “Minorities are not considered equal citizens in Pakistan.  Some incidents that happened in 2011 have increased their vulnerability”, she said, citing the assassinations of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and the ex-federal minister for minorities affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti.

Yusuf also pointed out that the curriculum taught in schools, only teach children about “Islamic and Pakistani heroes. Other communities including Parsis have a role in the development of Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.]]>
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