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Forced conversions
There can be no denying that Hindus are not treated equally under the law.
It becomes very hard for the courts to intervene when no law exists to protect Hindu women in the first place. DESIGN: JAHANZAIB HAQUE
“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.
Read more:
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Reader Comments (31)
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Thanks ET for this Editorial. But the inhuman acts shall continue in the land of pure.
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Absolutely Biased. Even after the decision of the court still you are writing them Rinkle, Lata and Asha instead of Faryal, Haleema and Hafsa. It seems you have not digested the reality and you always wanted otherwise. In that case you would be very happy to pronounce that all your fake allegations proved right. very unfortunate on your part ET.
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The only possible solution is for the Hindus to leave Pakistan as soon as possible, or to get picked off one by one until there are none left. As the former Rinkle Kumari said, they are all in it together.
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Dear All who ever feels oppressed be it Hindu or Muslim u r welcome to cme 2 India n stay here as an Indian citizen , rules have been relaxed pl refer news 19 April on d front page of d hindustan times.
See u then
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Women made their choice and the CJ made sure there was no pressure on them. They wanted to be with their husbands. Logical, except you see conspiracy. ET your choice of words and arguments are deplorable and pathetic.
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Forced conversion is not allowed Islam so any body who is forced to covert are allowed to revert back and those who forced any body should be punished. these Girls are educated they could have opted to go with parents and would have enjoyed far batter life then with their husbands such media attention would have provided them golden opportunity to become famous rich and might have got Foreign nationality but they did not that gave answer to most of the questions
Parents will always say that his children are forced one of my school friend left Bralwi fiqa for deobandi his father disowned him and family kick him out of village he was not forced just choose what he thinks best for him Parents will always oppose children converting
One of the biggest reason to convert in subcontinent was to improve social standing and economics condition. most of deprived Hindus were converted to Islam to improve their social standing and economics condition we cant say that they were forced they have seen opportunity they go for it.same thing imply with Pakistan as third world country people do see( if not forced ) opportunity to convert that will give them batter life and social standing they should be free to choose we can only blame govt for not providing them equal opportunity
not the poor Girls.
And who gave right to ET to criticize the SC judges decision these judges are only their because of one Hindu judge if a girl above 18 says in the court she want to live with husband who are you to decide what SC could have done.
Tommarrow if a girl after being declared Vani by parent run to SC should SC side with parents and village council who declare her vani or with poor Girl ?
hope these Ngos spend some money in poor areas in sind to improve condition of hindus So they can leave peacefully.
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It seems that the young Hindu women of pakistan have the hots for macho muslim men that they are ready to convert and even renounce their parents in droves. Muslim Pakistani men must be having something special in them. Wonder what that it is?
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@Ashar: “Even after the decision of the court still you are writing them Rinkle, Lata and Asha”
Are you talking about the same court system whose lawyers throw rose petals on assassin Quadri and whose judges are afraid of the “religious leaders” like Hafiz Saeed and Malik Ishaq and because of threats against their lives? Your trust in the judicial system is touching. By the way, where is the judge who convicted Quadri hiding now?
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Justice Not Served By Pakistan Supreme In The Young Hindu Girls Cases . The Story Of Rinkle , Lata And Asha’s Is Look Like A Force Conversion .
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this is very shamful.the hindus who are crying for justice,do they not know what is happening with shia minority in pakistan? They do not know know what did happen with founder of pakistan.all who expect justice in this holy land are mad
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@Billoo Bhaya:
Where is open court proceedings to support your claim? The girls were not allowed to make statements in the court neither were parents allowed to present their case. What sort of justice process is this? Village Panchayats can do better. To hand over the girls to the abductors and someone else making a claim on girls’ behalf that they are in agreement is no justice. This is typical Punjabi way of dealing with such issues. Kinda like how Raymonds Davis was taken out of country after “settlement”.
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Thanks ET for this editorial. Now-a-days, the truth is really hidden behind mesh of untruth and falsehood.It is not easy to see the facts behind the smoky social scenes.
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Forced conversion is not allowed Islam so any body who is forced to covert are allowed to revert back and those who forced any body should be punished. these Girls are educated they could have opted to go with parents and would have enjoyed far batter life then with their husbands such media attention would have provided them golden opportunity to become famous rich and might have got Foreign nationality but they did not that gave answer to most of the questions
Parents will always say that his children are forced one of my school friend left Bralwi fiqa for deobandi his father disowned him and family kick him out of village he was not forced just choose what he thinks best for him Parents will always oppose children converting
One of the biggest reason to convert in subcontinent was to improve social standing and economics condition. most of deprived Hindus were converted to Islam to improve their social standing and economics condition we cant say that they were forced they have seen opportunity they go for it.same thing imply with Pakistan as third world country people do see( if not forced ) opportunity to convert that will give them batter life and social standing they should be free to choose we can only blame govt for not providing them equal opportunity
not the poor Girls.
And who gave right to ET to criticize the SC judges decision these judges are only their because of one Hindu judge if a girl above 18 says in the court she want to live with husband who are you to decide what SC could have done.
Tommarrow if a girl after being declared Vani by parent run to SC should SC side with parents and village council who declare her vani or with poor Girl ?
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Freedom and justice won. Leftist conspiracy theories lost. Faryal, Haleema, and Hafsa are free women who chose their life partners in the face of pressure from close-minded leftists and communal lobbies.
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@Abishek: Thank you dear..
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@Domlurian:
Ability to make death threats to Hindu girls and their parents and able to carry them out too if needed?
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@raja:
What are you talking about? Religious extremists who are persecuting Hindus same as they are killing Shias. How are Shia atrocities a fault of Hindus?
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@Umer:
You forgot the operative sentence. They wanted to be with their husbands. That’s why they ran away from home in the first place!!! Sex is the strongest emotion and attraction for healthy young people. What do you expect, these women are going to go to mummy and daddy to have sense knocked out of their heads???
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@raja: ” … One of the biggest reason to convert in subcontinent was to improve social standing and economics condition. most of deprived Hindus were converted to Islam to improve their social standing and economics condition we cant say that they were forced they have seen opportunity they go for it. … “
We’d like to have all of you back !!
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nonsense, totally biased!!
These accepted Islam without any pressure, if had been under pressure they would have never picked to stay with their husbands in front of everyone in court of law!!!
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@Ashar:
India should officially request all Hindus of Pak to come to India.When Hindus have their fatherland in India,I dont understand why they should suffer in the hands of inhuman Pakistanis who dont even fear Allah when it comes to committing injustice to hapless,destitute and poor fellow human beings!!
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@Billoo Bhaya:
Where is the evidence of it except that this is what you want to believe? Girls did not say any such thing in the court except they wanted to go with their families which they were not allowed.
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@ Bilal,
read the news with attention, the statement was not taken in open court, none from rinkle’s family was allowed inside the court. this is the only objection we have now. had the statment been taken in open court we never have cried so much.
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Purely Islamic state so no arguments, can’t believe this!
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The country where no respect for their own religion how can they respects other religions? The people of pakistan forget the meaning of islam.Recommend
ET : “if we prefer to cater to the whims of the majority while denying the humanity of the minority”
Isn’t it the democracy that you support ? isn’t it in your secular agenda?
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After all what has been written a lot by our media, it doesn’t seem that our media is unbiased, the girls are totally free to choose and practice any religion, but i cannot understand why our media is forcing them to become Hindu again, is that what is Humanity, if every person is free, let them choose by their own. It clearly indicates that media all around the world are simply against Islam and the people who want to follow Islam in their lives. Our media is also playing a SATANIC ROLE in our country. Shame on all such electronic and print media persons…
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@ZorbaTheRealGreek: for you information that judge was also part of same judiciary and on court system the lawyer are from people and so do the judges have you seen the mirror lately I do and feel sorry for my country
what decision they could have given will you please elaborate please give judicial reasoning not political
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No open session, no cross examination, just a decision.
What kind of court is this? Too many judges, too little justice.
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If you guys go back and read my comment 20 days back, I have already predicted the same decision. You cannot expect anything else from brainwashed people.
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@Ashar:
You are biased, those poor girls were forced to convert, one can see on their faces that they are under duress caused by those deobandi “thekedars” of Muslim faith Get real, I salute ET for their unbiased reporting. people like Ashar can go bang little boys around and claim conversion all on their own. Recommend