The minorities of Sindh have been abused for a long time by governments and by sections of the majority community. They continue being further marginalised, as they enjoy only a withering presence in politics. Without support from law-enforcement agencies, which are controlled by the government, minorities in Pakistan seem to have absolutely no protection. The injustice perpetrated by the majority now includes producing false marriage documents — possibly issued by clerics and with no government or official review — to wreck Hindu families and homes. This wrongdoing continues and we can only hope that oppressed minority communities will one day be able to achieve the freedom that international human rights laws grant them. The lack of protection accorded to minorities by law-enforcement agencies upholds the argument that the police need to become independent of the influence of those occupying the corridors of power. Alas, revamping the system and mindsets might be eons away for Pakistan, but the problem of lack of provision of basic human rights needs to be addressed immediately. Women of all faiths frequently have to fight for the right to marry whoever they want to, but if that woman belongs to a minority faith in Pakistan, her chances of being forced into a situation against her will increases several-fold.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (16)
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When one reads an article such as the one above, the only question is would it not have been much better if Pakistan was not created in the first place. This is a sick nation, with very sick people. Only those who are indoctrinated to the extreme, i.e. very mentally sick people do this sort of thing.
@Moiz Omar: Try telling this to those ISIS and their Kalifaaa leader who is kidnapping,raping and converting innocent Yazidi girls whose only crime is that do not want to be converted.Go back in History and read about Rajput women who commited jouhar by burning themsleves rather than fall into the hands of invaders and be taken as slaves or converted.
I have always had the view that Indian Muslims, irrespective of level of enlightenment and access to authentic history, are susceptible to thoughts of "Muslim Exceptionalism". G E Vahanvati's emotional outburst does lead me to reaffirm my belief.
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai: Did I not read your mind so correctly when I made my comments on Aug 12, in ET. Here is the link to my earlier comment. http://tribune.com.pk/story/747614/vatican-calls-on-muslim-leaders-to-denouce-is-brutality/
Read also what I had said earlier on August 8 in ET.
Here is the link to my earlier comment. http://tribune.com.pk/story/745655/minorities-under-siege/
There may be some muslims who really are against these conversions. But by keeping quiet, and worse still, by justifying these with their own allegations on others, they only bring a bad name to all muslims in general and also to Islam.
In my comments I have asked for very simple action i.e., to probe NADRA records on few of the converted girls. Not even one has answered these very specific question. Why? Don't the muslims not want to find out the truth themselves?
In many of my comments, I had supported shias whom I consider are better educated than the sunnis. Also, I believe that shias do not indulge in these sorts of conversions by kidnaping and rape. But, when they also keep quiet on the questions I have asked, it is deplorable. Same goes to Ahmedis also.
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai: So many factual errors in what you have written....which world do you live in?
Forced conversions are wrong and need to end.
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai: Pls stop cooking up sensational stories to feed your victim complex - as a consequence you force people like me to defend the acts of goons, which I would normally find abhorrent. Yesterday's news said that some people were beaten up by a mob for selling beef - now according to you they were butchered. The Pune techie was killed by some fringe outfit called the Hindu Rashtra Sena - you made that the Shiv Sena, which makes me believe that you can't really be from Mumbai. And last, you mention thousands of mothers and fetuses on tridents - you really must be delusional.
@ET Mod: Why was my post censored? I should be able to defend my country against those who blatantly spread lies.
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai: Buddy, you need to read the news better and not get carried away by the miscreants in your own community. I too am a minority. though not a Muslim. and for you to say that Hindus in Pakistan are much better than Muslims in India means that you have no clue or sense of proportion of what is going on with minorities across the border.
Below are the lies in your post:
The two Muslims were attacked by a mob of customers for selling beef in Gurgaon. They were not murdered.
The Muslim engineer was not lynched by the Shiv Sena in Pune. Though I am not a fan of Shiv Sena, this was not done by them.
During the 2002 riots, no fetuses were pulled out of wombs, dead or alive, nor were they displayed on trishuls. This was a canard spread by one community to incite their own people.
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai: Hello mr talib do you even have brain? how did you muslims run amock and kill hindus in india? did you forget what you muslims did saharanpur? if you keep troubling people of other religion they will eventually retaliate that is what happened in gujurat. now about hindus of pakistan who are reduced from 20% to less than 1% what you say about that? if you were treated so badly in india why is your population increasing so exponentially? you have problem with jains in india , you have problem with christians in india. you have problems with sikhs in inida . you have problem with hindus in india. and yet you act like victim. IF MUSLIMS WANT SECULARISM FIRST THEY SHOULD PRACTICE IT. ET please allow my reply to vahanvati.
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai:
Then, why don't Mr. Anguished Indian Muslim migrate to Pakistan which treat Hindus million times better than India does to its minorities.....I am sure they will treat you "billion" times better in the same way they treat the Mohajirs.........
ET, also please print this as well.....
@nishant: Yet no one is punished, let alone by death, for forced conversions. Instead, they are lionized.
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai: abe oh miyan , those criminals were selling beef illegally. we know what you people shamelessly did in meerut. so don't give this nonsense of secularism. when muslims are in minority they scream for secularism when in majority they are scourge .
@G E Vahanvati, Mumbai: Are there communal riots in India? Yes. Do people/media/Political system in India show outrage at these incidents every time it occurs? Resounding Yes. Now this article talks about forced conversions. Can you please tell me last time a muslim young girl was forcefully converted to Hinduism and married to a Hindu guy in India. This does not happen in India. Mr. Vahanvati, if Muslims in India are worse off than Hindus in Pakistan, how come we do not have a single muslim moving to Pakistan while we have scores of Hindus knocking at our border. How come Muslims numbers keep growing every day in India while Hindu numbers keep reducing by the day in Pakistan.
Every human should ensure their actions never attract curses from those whose lives they play with, motivations being irrelevant. If a country overlooks transgressions like forced conversion and rapes for ideological or any other reasons, it is failing in its duties to protect citizens, with unhappy consequences that will manifest at some future date.
@nishant: And what about the two Muslim brothers butchered by a mob of 50 people outside Delhi yesterday. What about the Muslim engineer lynched to death by Shiv Sena in Pune not two months ago just for the crime of wearing a pathan suit. What about the thousands of hamla women butchered and fetuses pulled out of their dead wombs and displayed hung on hindu tridents during 2002 riots. Please do not show selective liberal outrage for some minor incidents in Pakistan. The hindus of Pakistan are a million times better off than the Muslims of India.
Dear ET - Please publish this anguished cry of an indian Muslim if you wish to uphold truth, justice and fair reporting.
If apostasy in Islam is punishable by death, then so shall be forced conversion.