Forced conversions among key minority concerns, committee informs Zardari

The committee met Hindus in Sindh and presented their concerns to the president.

KARACHI: The parliamentary committee formed to redress grievances of the Hindu community presented its findings to President Asif Ali Zardari at Bilawal House on Tuesday. The parliamentarians informed the president that Hindus appeared most worried about the kidnapping and then forceful conversion of their girls.

President Zardari had formed the committee, comprising Senator Maula BuxChandio, MNA Lal Chand, Senator Hari Ram Kishori Lal and Dr Khatumal Jeewan, on August 10 to visit various districts in Sindh to meet people from the Hindu community and then report about their grievances.

Forced conversions

Senator MaulaBux Chandio informed Zardari that the forced conversion of Hindu girls led to feelings of resentment and insecurity among the community. The most recent case involved Manisha Kumari, who reportedly converted of her freewill and then married Ghulam Murtaza Channa in Jacobabad on August 10. While the girl insisted that she wasn’t pressured into converting to Islam, her parents claimed that Channa had forcibly converted their daughter. Protests by the minority community ensued, in which 28 Hindus were booked in Jacobabad for violating section 144 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The parliamentary committee told the president that the incident added to the Hindus’ grievances.

Yatra or emigration?

The lawmakers informed Zardari that immigration authorities stopped 222 Pakistani Hindus from entering India on August 10, even though they had valid visit visas. However, after the Federal Investigation Agency had verified that the Hindus possessed valid visas, they were allowed to leave the country for terathyatra.

Media outlets in the country had extensively reported on the migration of Hindus from Sindh in August. The first batch of 60 Hindu families reportedly left for India on August 9. The president had formed the four-member committee on the next day.

Zardari assures minorities of support

President Zardari said that minorities would be allowed to practice their faith freely and that it was the government’s responsibility to provide them a secure environment where they could do so. “No one would be allowed to impose their agenda on minorities, as it is against the teachings of Islam and fundamental principles of our constitution.”

He added that the government was aware of the minorities’ concerns that certain laws were being misused against them, and hoped that that religious leaders, parliamentarians and members of the civil society would recommend measures to deal with the situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2012.