ISLAMABAD:
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.
COMMENTS (73)
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I would like to add the reality of Islam, Muslims (Quran Al Majeed) Holy Book It is clearly written, Islam is not allow to anyone, who will accept Islamic religion forcefully, In any part of the world, where Muslims are govern, it is their prime responsibility to give religious independency to other non Muslims and give him security. In History if force fully people were converted into Islam so it is against the basics rule of Islam.
@wow: you wrote a strange, irrational and let me say senseless comment (which is basic mark of all liberal facists). it is not necessary that if one is in disagreement with ETs policies, should stop reading the paper. I, as well, disagree with ETs policies, but i regularly read this paper. i am of view that if one is going toward wrong direction (as per me), i should tell him what the right path is.. , rest it is upto him that what he choses. Also it is imperetive to have look over all sides / aspects of an issue. However it is truth that our liberal (so called) media portrayes onesided picture.
Are Muslim Girls not good enough?
@alicia: When there is a big IF then why concluding the fact. I am sure they are not forcefully converted. ppl said same about Yusuf Yuhanna and then were hiding their faces.
ET is Appreciable for pulishinf such incident .though we know that this is common phenomen of kafir musli who boast of Mslaan.
@Adnan I am sorry but islam is as much my religion as yours. What I stated were facts. If these girls are forcefully converted to islam then will they ever be muslims from heart? No. Will they ever learn to love Allah? No. They will always remain hindus in their hearts if they are forced. Do you really want those kind of muslims? And yes muslims should learn to tolerate other people. I still stick by my views even if you tell me I hate islam or what not.
Just for your information you can't have love marriage with someone you have never met before and faryal never met her husband.
INDIANS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!!!!
Why are you harping over here?
How much voice did you raise when your Hindu sisters were force converted in your Hindu Majority India?!!!
If you can't protect your sisters in India, then you deserve this. You are weak and cowardly. Stop harping on a Pakistani website.
@ Adnan
dont day dream. No muslim women will marry a Hindu or Christian man. They will be "taken care" even before they take their first step , by their relatives.
look at what happened to three hindus whose relatives hired a muslim dancing girl. Muslims justified their killings, saying that the boys kidnapped a muslim girl.
@Mirza Your comment is foolish because- 1.Muslims managed to hold onto only parts of India at a time. 2.Even in those parts they were under continuous Hindu political and military challenge. 3. Wherever they could hold on for some time they had to rely completely on the support of Hindu kings and Hindu military chiefs. 4.Even those holdings were cleared out by Hindu Kings and Sikh Kings after some time. When the British took power,over 82% of South Asia[yes,South Asia as in the thing bigger than India herself] was under Hindu control,another 14% under Sikh control,only about 4% under Muslim control.[Bengal and Sindh,even Bengal having its independent Hindu chiefdom in many areas].Funny thing is without British intervention in the 1840s Pakistani Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would still be under the sway of non-Muslims. The only thing more pathetic than Pakistani attitude is Pakistani sense of history.So much for your comment.
@M. A. Changezi: I am not pointing at all Pakistanis. I know there are many good Pakistanis who do not support this. My comments are targeted at:
1) Those who indulge in such conversions, be it forced or free will. Even free-wil conversions are not celebrated as if a war has been won, with so much display of guns and public cheering.. Everyone knows this is not free will. Why not a single woman is seen in the crowd that is seen celebrating with guns.
2) Those who know that it is not free will and post their comments opposing forced conversion but in the end try vainly to justify it with statements that it could be free will or let the courts decide. They now the truth in their hearts. They do not even talk about the fact that this girl was only 17 and it is a criminal offense even in Pakistan for anyone to get this girl married. For all you know, the boy could be even younger than her and have no means of supporting her. In short this incidence is a forceful kidnaping and rape by a section of the community that also celebrated this shameful event.
My comments are against all those who say Islam does not permit this and that and who are not Muslims themselves in their acts. Who are they trying to teach this. The Muslims who are supposed to know this or the non-muslim who are the victims. My comments are not directed at those good Pakistanis who have opposed it without any caveat or qualifying statements in the end. They are the true Muslims and I would respect them.
Pakistan is testing the patience of Hindus and threatening its own existence. The worse is yet to come. Mercy is a word that should not apply to Pakistan and its society. This proves why muslims are most critically looked at community across the world. Its a shame that even those 1.3% hindus are not left to live . And muslim population increases to 16% in India from 4% in the last 60 years. Shame!!!!!
@Abdul Qayyum Bhatti:
You say: If it is forced conversion it should be stopped.
Is it not blasphemy of the religion itself to force a non-believer to change and more importantly presenting someone who has not really converted to Islam as a Muslim and allowing him / her to touch and recite holy verses of Koran, etc. As far as I know Blasphemy of Islam religion, as per laws of Pakistan is punishable by death.
What really happens when a person undergoes the process of converting. He / she is asked to recite Kalima three times, which is in Arabic and the person being converted has no idea of what it means as he / she has not read Kuran before and nor does he / she understands Arabic. Is islam so insignificant a religion that anyone can understand it in a few seconds and start to appreciate it just by saying Kalima thrice ?
@alicia:
It;s not you but your hatred against Islam speaking out.
Since the lady converted to Islam or I say, REVERTED to ISLAM, every liberal fanatic group in Pakistan now whining about this. Now where is the Slogan of Freedom and Love Marriages?
Imagine if some Muslim Pakistani girl marry a Christian or Hindu Pakistan then so called Civil Society and Liberals were going to to support the couple. Even US and Liberals' Mama Obama would have called Zardari to support the couple but since the girl converted to Islam, it gave sad tidings to our Pakistani Liberals and they are worried more than "Official Kaafirs" why someone reverted to Islam.
Hypocrisy is the virtue of Liberals.
@Raj - USA: By pointing your finger at all Pakistanis you are generalizing buddy. It is a bit over the top, don't you think? Don't forget those people who are voicing their concerns over such shameful acts. They are Pakistanis too. No? even these poor souls are Pakistanis and deserve full protection just like any other citizen.
@muhammad irfan:
The person or community who believe in excuses only for any thing are sure to be non achievers. Problems are to be faced then only they can be solved.
We are living in such country where miniority has no right to express his freedom... Is this the same Pakistan for which our leaders gave sacrifieses... If this was free will conversion than why do they brings lot of terrirost with themselves.? Were the hindus of that region was so powerful that they could kill them..? Why they didn't allow any family member to enetr in courtroom..? Why the case was started before time..? Why they ignored Rinakl's statement in Ghotki court that she wanted to go with their parents...? There are so many why's which these extimist can't answer. They are presenting the negative meanings of Islam, which is the religion of peace and tolerence as per my knowldge. First they called it love marriage but what happend to them when they forcefully taken the statemeent from Rinkal that she doesn't know that Naveed Shah..? This case is clear like mirror that this is pure kidnaping and forcefull conversion... They are not doing this conversion for religious purpose but they want their profit. They rape these inocent girls and then sale them... They even don't know true meaning of Islam which is the protection and safety of girls but they sale these girls... Shame on all those people and we request from the Supreme court to sent back all these girls to their home and ensure their safety and security of the miniorites living in Pakistan....
read most of the comments ...some days before i have seen a video clip of that girl saying i converted on my own will and pls let me live with my husband .....if it is forced conversion then i strongly condemn it as Islam teaches us to give rights to non Muslims and my condolences r with Hindu family and that girl if it is not then pls let them live nowadays no one knows the truth bur will try triee like rabit that he knows everything ...apart from that nobody says anything about Muslims being dead in Palestine and northern areas of Pakistan ..civilian innocent people r being boomed under the flag of un and USA ....i say every one including Muslims Hindus or any religion he believes in have right to live ....and believe in that he or she wants to believe ...and there should be tolerance and sympathy among us....
It is biased title given by the story, to be reported as Hindu Girls. till then it is confirmed that it was forced or not, one should see their original report to the Judges where they appeared. If it is proved that it was forced conversion then culprit be brought to justice. And if it is proved that it was not forced conversion then what will the reporter do? So please be realist no biasness.
@Kinard: Moreover, they occupied only parts of India in four phases (khilji 30yrs, tughlaq 90 yrs, Lodi 90 yrs and Mughals 160 yrs) a combined period of 400 years only.
may I add, Mughal rule itself was a coalition government between rajputs and mongols (mughals) for most of the time and remained somewhere halfway between an Islamic state and secular state. Akbar who ruled for many decades practically gave up Islam. Even mullahs declare Akbar was non-Muslim. Last Mughal emperor Aurangzeb used Islam and Mullahs to gain power and tried to bring back Islamic state but that resulted in multiple revolts all over India. Mughal empire ended with death of Aurangzeb, what remained was a small local kingdom of Delhi which was protectorate of Marathas. Also there were pockets in India where no Muslim ever ruled like Travancore and Assam. Had Muslims truly conquered India completely, India would have been like Iran, Arabia and Central Asia.
My apology to all, I was so ashamed of these events that I could not write anything on this awful subject. However, after reading the comments of somebody pretending to be me I want to apologize to all with the bottom of my heart. I cannot imagine worst scenarios than the religious goons abduct our children rape them and force convert them. Terrorize them to the extent that they cannot even join their parents and go back to their homes. What Muslims did or not do in the past is not important. What is imp is this is all happening in this day and age and so frequently with the mullahs aiding and abetting these rapes and abductions. If increasing the numbers of Muslims by any means was such a big deal then why would more than a billion Muslims be in such shape these days? Historically the countries that made the most progress and led the world have not been the most populated. Can 100 donkeys are better and more valuable than 10 race horse? I am ashamed, sorry and disillusioned on these brutal and systemic tactics by my countrymen and that too at the name of religion. Let us hope there are still some secular elements in the coalition govt and find enough support and courage to stop this madness. These elements did not want democracy, PPP and ZAB. They wanted Islam and change and brought in Gen Zia. Now again they are for the removal of coalition govt and bring back Islamist parties. God help Pakistan and its sane elements.
@ Kinard. I will like to add further what you said about Muslim rule in India. There was no time during Muslim rule without strong local resistance. Maharana Pratap fought with Akbar, Shivaji with Aurangzeb. Muslim rule was only name sake after Aurangzeb. Most of present day Pakistan came under Sikh rule. Ranjeet Singh even raided Iran and brought back the Kohinoor Diamond. Marathas controlled a large part of north India. Issue is not of Hindu vs Muslim rule but of local vs foreign rule. Muslims who ruled India, were outsiders and therefore occupiers. Problem is not with Islam, but with Arabic culture. How come Indonesian Muslims have local names and not Arabic?
@muhammad irfan If we indians had snubbed abdul kalam just because he was a muslim we would not have been a nuclear country by now... In this regard Pakistan has to be ashamed of itself as u have dishonored one of the greatest theoretical physicist of the century Dr. Abdus Salem just for the petty reason that he is an Ahmedi.... how can a nation develop if u behave like this?? Thats why western nations and india are progressing today as we accept good research and good work from a person irrespective of his religion...If west showed Hitler's attitude to jews they could not have extracted wisdom from them... If israel had this religious fundamentalistic and non scientific attitude they would have been wiped off from the map by now(Israel is terrorising in palestanian occupied territories ofcourse but thats not an issue here).. Who knows??? these two women u have abducted may become marie curie of tomorrow and serve pakistan????
@muhammad irfan:
It’s the majority values that are hurting both majority and minority so the blame lies squarely with the majority.
This is really the Blackest side of Pakistan (forced conversions) and ineffaceable blot on Islam...Islam is really the religion of Peace and its a great religion but these so called ULEMAS who consider themselves custodians are spoiling the real image of Islam with their heinous and shameful acts..Curse on them!!!!!!!!
@Mirza: Your forefathers all were forced to convert from Hinduism by Muslim rulers and now you say that you came directly from Saudi Arabia.
@Mirza: dear sir, they DID try to to that... but Hinduism somehow survived despite all attempts.
@Babloo: indeed they are reporting. an article in toi has attracted close to 2000 comments on this matter.
In country where majority is disturbed then how could u expect something good for moinority.
Thanks to ET, Dr Fazl the brave and upright sister of Mr Zardari, Pak judiciary, Na panel and the honest IG under whose efforts the truth regarding the forcible abductions and conversions of Hindu girls has come to light. The Hindu community needs to be applauded for standing up against the atrocities despite risk to their lives. It is to be seen whether more abduction and conversions are stopped henceforth and present cases reach to a logical conclusion.
if it is real that this is forcible conversion then it is shameful for us muslims.
I think Nusarat Javaid who also writes for ET should be commended too for constantly raising the issue in his TV programme.
Mr Fatyana, With friends like that, who needs enemies?Thanks for mentioning the flight schedule and day of departure in press!
Well done DIG, also thanks to ET, sister of Mr Jardari and all those MNAs who took the initiative.
@Iram: My question still remains the same. How can you convert others or even accept them to be a part of your religion, which you yourself do not belong as you are not practicing it ? Can anyone claim to be belonging to a religion if they themselves do not practice? Not practicing it shows that they themselves do not believe in that religion. So they are Kafirs and how can a Kafir convert others to Islam. The simple truth behind conversion is that parents and grandparents constantly teach at home that you shall go to heaven if you convert others to Islam. Many may blame Mullas but it is the teaching that are reinforced in the home-schooling that need to be corrected. The very idea of supporting and praising conversion, even free-will conversion is to get a good-feel that you are somehow superior to others. Only those who suffer from inferiority complex long for such good-feel factor. Think deeply and you shall understand. i would bring you one great example you may have seen recently. Sri Sri Ravishankar visited Lahore. Did he bring with him any bodyguards or guns. Why then such open display of mob crowd and open display of guns that too within the city and just outside the court.? Did you notice a single woman in the crowd that engulfed Rinkle Or Faryal as you may say. When Christians convert others to their religion, have you seen them displaying guns and cheering. Surround a young 17 year old girl with guns and say this is free-will conversion. You must be true to yourself first before you can be truthful to others. My comments here do not mean you personally or those who are fair minded. it is only against those who are not so. On the whole, did conversions, forced or free-will, bring any good name to Islam that you serve? This is the question one should ask himself / herself. Christians have converted others. But, have you seen them crying like Mian Mittoo or cheering and celebrating. Conversion is a process of winning over the minds of others but in Pakistan it is considered as a conquest or subordination of others. This is wrong. I am not against good conversions. But what is happening in Pakistan is barbaric and inhuman. Would I be wrong if I say that Muslims who indulge in such activities are not Muslims themselves? For your information, I am a Hindu who studied in a Catholic school that was in the midst of a Muslim locality. Nearly 25% of my classmates were Muslims.
How come this incident and the plight of Hindus in Pakistan, is not covered by the Indian media ?
@Mirza: No "muslim" ever ruled India. The Arabs were squarely defeated by the Rajputs in 738 AD and never ever succeded in invading india. The Arabs were only successful in conquering what is now Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, NEVER India.
The only people, who followed islam, who ever occupied India were Turkic people from northern Iran and Uzbekistan and they do not identify themselves as "muslims" as they valued their Turkic identity far more than Islam. Moreover, they occupied only parts of India in four phases (khilji 30yrs, tughlaq 90 yrs, Lodi 90 yrs and Mughals 160 yrs) a combined period of 400 years only.
What options do the girls have ? They and their families have been threatened with death if they go back. Their forced marriage has most like being forefully consummated too. It's euphemism for rape. The girls have a bleak future and may prefer to stay with the alleged abductors given the threats to life they and their families face and the circumstances they find themselves in.
@Mirza: There is no force conversion concept in islam. It Muslims use to force others then the whole India should be Muslims coz Muslims ruled here for almost 800 years.
And there are 500 mn muslims in the Indian sub-continent! Your capacity for self-deception is endless. 500 mn is not a small number (work backwards to find the number at partition) - and is directly correlated to your '800 years of rule', which did not happen continuously in all parts. You will also find that there is significant correlation between length of muslim rule and population of muslims in that state/ region (Afghanistan, Delhi-Agra belt, Punjab, Sindh, Kashmir, Bengal, Awadh, Balochistan, Deccan, Maldives had long stints while Jaipur/ Rajputana, Marathwada, Travancore, Southern Tamil Nadu, Orissa were largely spared direct muslim rule). Probably the only exception is northern Kerala where there has been no muslim rule per se but the state still has a 25% population; however, this also saw a major spike after Tipu's Malabar invasion (late 18th century) in again in 1921 in the aftermath of the violent Khilafat movement and related conversions during that period.
@whoever: That was funny!
@zaid hamid: Ya that was what was being said during the Indo-Pak war of 1971 and the poor pakistani people were fooled like this. The good thing is that pakistani people can now see this because of media and bless ET for giving us the correct picture. TOI and HT are going to loose business because of ET!
@Mirza 3 hours ago Reply There is no force conversion concept in islam. It Muslims use to force others then the whole India should be Muslims coz Muslims ruled here for almost 800 years.///////////////////
There is force conversions in Islam . and your logic is blatantly wrong that If muslims use to force then whole India would converted to Islam . see 20 crore muslims in bangladesh , 20 crore in Pakistan and 20 crore in India all were Hindu and they converted to Islam so actually whole India did converted to Islam . Now the rest 80 crore Hindu were in remote area or were out of reach of Muslims ruler or they are those people who strive hard against Muslims tyrants and kept their Honor and religion .
If it is forced conversion then it should be stopped but if it is free will conversion then these girls should be given protection.
since when religion became bigger than humanity ?and home come one religion is better than others ? The people who kill and harm in the name of religion need to answer these.. or is it that they cannot be reasoned with .. as they are so 12th century.
Its time Pakistan's sane liberals speak out.. and take charge before country slips in abyss.. and not be scared by mullahs and right wing lunatics. Those who are doing it.. hats off to them for it is scary place to say truth. And conspiracy theorists its time you guys face the truth!!
Ahhh islamabad the land of free <3
Kindly save some Hindus in Pakistan ,so future generation of Pakistan can see Hindus in blood and flesh .It is another thing they will enjoy and appreciate Hindus movies and serials from India.
People exposing such news and those publishing it are taking great risks. the extremist sections must be furious. It's not about these one or two incidents. Their bigger fear would be, after reading such facts, what if common people get suspicious about the history and circumstances under which their forefathers converted? what if they get doubts was it really voluntary?
This is a reminder to all those claim that Mughals didn't force convert the local population.
If this can happen in a modern era Country with free media, imagine how it was 300-400 years ago without any media to report and record this.
We don't want forcefully converted muslims. These girls will always be hindus in their hearts if they are forced to convert to islam. When they pray their prayers will automatically be adresses to bhagwan not allah. We do not need these kind of muslims amongst us. I believe in live and let live. If christians in the west, hindus in India, Buddhists in thailand can tolerate muslims then muslims should learn to tolerate other religions as well. Always remember that only 1 billion people are muslims the rest of the 6 billion are not.
There were Nazis who systematically eliminated Jews and now their are pakistanis who are systematically eliminating Hindus. Difference is Nazis had guts to take responsibility for their actions.
They will be safe il Laal Maszid. Tgen they will accompany us in ghazwa to Laal Quila
Good. Shocking to see that Hindu women have become easy target for these disgusting religious bigots. I feel all the Pakistani Hindus should be granted asylum in India.
@Pakistan politics: 'ET will be embarrassed after the decision of court', 'ET has its own agenda, bias reporting', 'why dont u wanna accept that It was not forced Coversion' and 'then whats the problem with the liberal media??' Guess who is exposed and embrassed, ET or you? ET is a biased liberal media and yet you still read and comment. Any reason why?
Slowly the truth about the forced conversions, threats to life of the women and their family etc are coming out; The DIG himself says the girls were forcibly abducted and threatened by politically powerful people. Shame on all those commentators who took the forced statement of the girls on the face value. Are u guys religiously so insecure, bigoted that u stoop so low, Not only doing such despicable acts but also in supporting it.
Many Muslims scream about Islamphobia ...and here is one of the reasons .Now not only these girls ridiculed Islam , but also dumped their so-called Husbands .You can't change a girl's faith if you abduct her, sleep with her and chant some texts in her ears . The loyalty should come from her heart .
Preet Dharam ka Naach raha hai... Ghost of religion is dancing (Fahmeeda Riaz)
@Raj - USA: Good piece of advice really appreciate but if someone wish to enter in Islam we can't stop him/her by saying that please first let us practice it fully then we will allow you to enter.
Well done. Good move.
All Pakistani Hindus are welcome to peaceful,secular India.
Inhumane and despicable acts. Islamists & Thugs bringing bad name to the nation as a whole!
I wonder if the government will do anything at all, to curb this situation. Who can dare to speak out against this injustice, all in the name of Islam. How would the people committing this crime feel if they were somewhere in Europe or USA and their daughters were picked up by local extremist Christians and forced to convert, then marry. This really is the far side of the wild frontier. Those who have dared, like an ex-governor, have met their fate rather tragically. There is no sincerity on the part of those in the driving seat.
Islam tells you to make your character so exemplary that people/non-Muslims get inspired, attracted and impressed by you as a person, and want to be like you, and then convert themselves. You are supposed to represent Islam, as Muslims, and your moral character is supposed to convert people... there is no room for forced conversions... that's just bigotry... and giving further disrepute to Muslims and Islam.
Thats a very good development and the credit goes to the secular minded people in Pakistan (media like ET and some MNAs). The rights of Pakistani minorities can only be safeguarded when just and secular minded people in Pakistan help them.
Abominable crimes indeed.
Instead of converting others to Islam, either by force or otherwise, would it not be better if Pakistanis convert themselves first to be Muslims and practice the true Islam which they claim is a religion of peace, equality and harmony.