Karachi: On an average around 20 to 25 Hindu
girls are being forcibly converted to Islam every month in the
southern Sindh province, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
(HRCP) has said.
Urging the authorities to take note of these forced
conversions, HRCP officials told reporters yesterday that
culprits were taking advantage of loopholes in the law.
Amarnath Motumel of the HRCP said that within a month 20
forced conversions had taken place.
"Apart from minor school girls, married women with
children are not spared either," he said.
The issue of Hindu girls being forcibly converted has
come to the fore after the case of 18-year-old Rinkle Kumari
from Sukkur who has converted and taken the Muslim name of
Faryal after marrying a Muslim boy.
The family of the girl claim she was kidnapped and
forcibly converted even after she appeared in court in Sukkur
and claimed she converted out of her own free will.
But Motumel pointed out that not only were affected
families warned of dire consequences but whenever a Hindu girl
or her family appeared in court hundreds of religious zealots
gather to pressurise them or they take to the streets as
pressure tactics and to create an atmosphere of fear.
The families of Rinkle Kumari were also present at the
conference in which her brother Inder said that had she been
allowed to meet with her family members privately and even
once she would never have converted.
"Despite the President's orders for the girl's rescue we
are still waiting for something to be done."
HRCP official Professor Badar Soomro said there was a
need to enact new laws to restore a sense of security among
the Hindu community.
He also said if a girl is kidnapped and her family
registers a case she should be kept in a Darul Aman at least
for a month before she is produced in court to record her
statement.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 13:19