(HSCR) Reported

(Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan)

In Pakistan, there have been allegations that underage girls belonging to the minority Hindu, Christian and Sikh community are kidnapped and forcefully converted to Islam and forcibly married and subjected to rape.According to human rights organisations hundreds of Hindu, Sikh, Christian girls are abducted and converted every year. The National Council of Churches in Pakistan (NCCP) said that the number of abduction of Christian girls are increasing every year. Alleged forced conversions of girls belonging to the Kalash community were also reported in media. Most of the targets are Hindu and Christian girls from lower Castes and poor families. Such cases of forced conversions are being reported increasingly in the Southern Sindh districts of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpur Khasand in the South Punjab, particularly the Rahim Yar Khan District and adjacent areas. Some of these victims are allegedly as young as 12 years old.

Forbes reported that the Human rights organizations estimates that every year 1,000 such girls are forcibly converted to Islam. This estimate could be even higher than 1,000 as many cases remain unreported The 2020 US media report also estimates the number of forcibly converted girls to be around 1,000 per year. However the Pakistan government rejected it and termed the report as "rubbish and baseless". The Catholic news site Aleteia reported that in 2020, the number of forced conversion cases rose to more than 2000.

According to the HSCR International the Child Protection activists, these forced conversions money-making network which involves Islamic clerics who solemnize the marriages, magistrates who legalize the unions and corrupt local police who aid the culprits by refusing to investigate or sabotaging investigations. According to the Child Protection activist Jabran Nasir, these forced conversions are part of a mafia that preys on vulnerable minority girls for older men with pedophilia urges. The Pakistan Muslim League politician Haresh Chopra has stated that abduction and forced conversion of Hindus and Sikhs girls is a business in Pakistan done by organized gangs of mullahs and terrorists.

The culprit involved in forcibly converting a non-Muslim girl to Islam believe that they will earn a place in heaven, according to the Amarnath Motumal, vice chairperson of the Sindh Chapter of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission. Pakistan doesn't have stronger legislation to prevent forced conversions and due to this these forced conversions go unabated.

Islamic institutions and clerics like Abdul Haq (Mitthu Mian) (politician and caretaker of Bharchundi Shareef Dargah) and Pir Ayub Jan Sirhindi (caretaker of Dargah pir sarhandi) are alleged involved in these forced conversions and are known to have support from the ruling political parties of Sindh.

Some conversions are forced while some conversions are due to discrimination of poor Hindus in jobs, government facilities and conversion to Islam is seen as a way to avoid religious discrimination and violence

Pakistan has failed to comply with its international obligations to protect non-Muslim girls from exploitation by powerful groups and criminal elements – forced conversions are a norm in the Islamic state.

Legal responses

Pakistan doesn't have stronger legislation to prevent forced conversions and due to this these forced conversions go unabated.

In November 2016, a bill against forced conversion was passed unanimously by the Sindh Provisional Assembly. However, the bill failed to make it into law as the Governor returned the bill. The Bill was effectively blocked by the Islamist groups and parties like the Council of Islamic Ideology and Jamaat-e-Islami. In 2019, a bill against forced conversion was proposed by Hindu politicians in the Sindh assembly, but was turned down by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers. In 2020 "Protection of the Rights of Religious Minorities Bill" was introduced in the Senate of Pakistan that could prevent forced conversions of minority girls, but it was turned down by the Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony chaired by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (JUI-F) senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri. The Krishna Kumari Kolhi, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator, walked out of the Senate during the meeting as a form of protest.