KARACHI:
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.
COMMENTS (23)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1713264570-0/Tribune-Collage-Feature-Images-(9)1713264570-0-270x192.webp)
@Pakistan politics: Nobody converts his or her beliefs as Muslims believe that Allah is one in the same way we also strongly have our own religious concepts which should not be distracted.No, she did not convert on her own she must be forcefully made to change.this does not mean that she is going to be pronounced a Muslim .ONE CANNOT CHANGE THE BELIEFS ONE IS BORN WITH.EVEN IF SHE THINKS ONCE OF HER PREVIOUS PATH WHAT CREDIT WILL THE CONVERTOR GET .i strongly condemn this .Hindus must be given protection against all such evil attempts.
these hindus lie, she did it on her own will
Want to know the irony in all this? What if this was the other way around? Muslims women being forcibly converted to Christianity, Hinduism, or some other religion. What do you think would happen?! I'll tell you what would happen and tell me if I am wrong!
1 - rioting 2 - killing the bride and groom(especially the groom, how dare he marry a muslim women) for insulting the "religion of peace" and restoring "honour" 3 - burning the homes/villages of the people of the religion the women was converted to 4 - muslims, clerics, sheikhs, and imams demanding an apology from the whole community at large or else heads will roll!
Did I miss anything?
All sarcasm aside, I have to be honest, the future doesn't look good for Pakistan at the rate it is going. I feel very sad because it has so much potential but when you let religion run the show, this is what happens. Ali Jinnah must be turning in his grave right about now. Bare in mind some of my good friends are Pakistani and they only shake their heads in bewilderment at what is going on in Pakistan.
@Jay: I can understand it quite well. I have the very same observations. Can you propose some way forward?
All those who were trying that Minorities are converted forcedly in Pakistan should get try answer by girl on reply
http://tribune.com.pk/story/347239/forced-conversion-teen-insists-she-converted-of-own-free-will/
It's been 26 yrs of my life I have seen these problems in Pakistan...but I never seen that govt of Pakistan is going to help our community. Being a minority hopeless Hindu my father made alot money in Pakistan by working hard in 35 years but what we get when Benazir was asisnated these people burn my whole business and my house however we were in that house..the reason why I m in Australia bcz I can see no change in govt no change in courts no change in police...we have done protests many times long time ago every time when this thing had happened ever but I never saw results but I m damn sure and very confident if we being hopeless try to change our strategy...if this strategy is not working thn v shouldn't rely on govt and justice we must go out and do something different....
All I can say is wow.
I feel so bad for Pakistan. Quaid must be turning in his grave right about now. So shameful.
On paper, least according to Ali Jinnah, Pakistan was supposed to be the model secular islamic country especially when I read what he spoke about. I see news like this and I can shake my head; bear in mind I'm not even Pakistani.
I only ask, when will common sense prevail?
The way I see it its better for the girls and Hindus or other religious minorities get converted to Islam (possibly Sunni , if they allow it) and survive rather than holding on to their beliefs and lose their lives and honor. That way they will have legitimate right to kill the other guy (who offended them) without being persecuted. Live and let live, If you want freedom for friends in the neighboring country give freedom to the oppressed people in your own country. If you want to convert other religious people then let other religious people convert you too without facing death. All I see is hypocrisy from Pakistan, what they say and what they do are mutually exclusive.
Both Jinnah and Gandhi would be so, so proud of us all. Looks like, the British lost India ... and won their 'peace'. Because they would have a hard task reforming us. But then, who knows, maybe they would succeed, where we have failed. But, wait a minute ... they are bankrupt ... oh! My bad!
@ Aryabhat the minority of pakistan "vanished" when East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Most of the Hindus of Pakistan lived in this region when it was formed in 1947. You are not comparing apples to apples. The independence of Bangladesh led to a large decline in united Pakistan's percentage of minorities.
@Umer: "The punishment for standing up for oppressed like Asia Bibi is death without even a trial in Pakistan …and murderer gets free hugs, kisses and jubilation. Beat that." Fully agree with you my friend. No one can defend such henious acts, but the thing is two wrongs don't make one right.
@Truth Seeker:
The punishment for standing up for oppressed like Asia Bibi is death without even a trial in Pakistan …and murderer gets free hugs, kisses and jubilation. Beat that.
@Zalim Singh: "and Pakistan cribs when one women is put in Jail in USA???" Are these two cases related in any way? Or, you are just feeling empty headed. Nowhere in this world, except in USA - not sure about India, the punishment for just pointing a gun is 86 years imprisonment.
Shameful
"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."
Look like most of the cases of Hindu girls marrying Muslim boys were not forced marriages, as claimed by the Indian bloc in various articles.
"She alleged that during the judicial hearing, Rinkle was forced to change her statement."
Given the kind of independent judiciary in Pakistan nowadays, if she does not tell her grievances to the judge then PHC cannot blame anyone but her. And, if somehow the PHC is not satisfied with the hearing and is sincere with the plaintiff, the proper recourse is to file a petition in Sindh High Court because this is the only way to get her justice and punish the culprits. Doing self-serving press conferences won't get her justice and punish the offenders, .
and Pakistan cribs when one women is put in Jail in USA???
In a way, the fact that muslims of Pakistan suffer so much at the hands of muslims of pakistan, is, kind of a poetic justice.
And I think they will keep suffering and the country will keep going down until they learn to treat the minority!
Its sad to see a country that was created to provide safe haven to a minority of British India turns to treat its own minorities this way. The irony of this situation has lost to most of Pakistani society. In many ways, India turned out to be the Jinnah's imagined Pakistan. Just sad.
It's an age old tradition.Md Bin Qasim took Raja Dahir's daughters as part of the war booty and send them off to his master's harem. Nothing much has changed since then.
I thought Pakistan is Citadel of Islam and there was no force in subscribing to Islam?
Yeah, Right! If that was so we all wonder where 30% non-Muslim minority vanished after 1948?
My country has let me down once again.
Quaid-e-Azam said, "You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State. "
He also said "Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State."
Why do we always forget these words of Quaid?
what else can we expect from Pakistan?