In Pakistan, the laws applicable to the rights of religious minorities have shifted from being neutral to blatantly discriminatory. A 13-year-old Christian girl, named Arzoo, was reportedly abducted from her house in Karachi and forced to marry a 44-year-old man who made her convert to Islam.
This is yet another case in a series of such abductions taking place across Pakistan in which economically vulnerable non-Muslim girls or young women are ‘abducted’ and then conveniently discovered with their newfound identity as converts to Islam.
The discrimination against women belonging to religious minority groups has worsened; they become victims of rape, abduction, forced marriage and forced conversion. A 2015 report by the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK) in collaboration with Aurat Foundation found that that at least 1,000 girls are forcefully converted to Islam in Pakistan every year.
To us, these are just numbers, but in reality, these are the number of families who have suffered humiliations. It is disturbing that our country has failed to protect minorities. It’s the tragedy of our society that the media is not free. It is bound in the strong shackles of influential people in our country, and when such incidents occur, the media only highlights it for a few days and then it all goes in vain.
And then come these so-called religious parties that claim to defend Islam and called themselves the most pious persons in the world. Will their prayers, their fasting, their Hajj be accepted? Not a single religious personality has raised his voice against the forced conversion. And I ask why? Because the girl has been converted to Islam?
The Holy Quran clearly prohibits forced conversion when it says, “There is no compulsion in religion. Surely, the guidance has become evidently distinguished from error. So he who rejects false gods and believes in Allah has grasped such a firm handhold that will never loosen. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” (2:256).
Islam is a religion of peace and it encourages its followers to be peaceful and live in harmony with one another as well as with people of other faiths. Yet these nominal Ulemas preach the opposite. Are they then not unfit to teach the Holy Quran and Sunnah?
The Pakistani government is taking no steps to counter such incidents. The Sindh government twice attempted to outlaw forced conversions and marriages including laying guidelines for the court process in the Protection of Minorities Bill, placing an age limit of 18 years upon conversions and enabling better due process.
In 2016, the bill was unanimously passed by the Sindh Assembly, but religious parties threatened to besiege the assembly if the bill received the approval of the governor, who then refused to sign the bill into law. In 2019, a revised version was introduced, but religious parties protested once again.
A sit-in was organised by Pir Mian Abdul Khaliq (Mian Mithu), a central character in many cases of forced conversions of underage Hindu girls in Sindh. He and his group claim the girls are not forced, but fall in love with Muslim men and convert willingly.
It is a particularly inegalitarian society, where a few individuals enjoy a privileged status and the impunity that goes with it. In contrast, others have to struggle for even their fundamental rights to be recognized. The only question left behind is: are we even Muslims?’
