These are some recent stories about forced conversions in Pakistan that have been covered by Jihad Watch, and there are many more:
- “Pakistan: Every year at least a thousand girls are kidnapped, raped, and forced to convert to Islam”
- Pakistan: Daughter of Sikh priest kidnapped, forced at gunpoint to convert to Islam and marry Muslim
- Pakistan: Muslims force 15-year-old girl to convert to Islam, third such incident in a week
“Around 1,000 women and young girls from religious minorities in Pakistan are forced to convert to the religion of the majority and marry their kidnappers every year.” This is the deplorable state of Pakistan, a state sponsor of jihad terror, known also for its cruel blasphemy laws, which the Prime Minister wants to export worldwide.
Last week, a bill was proposed to end forced conversions in Pakistan, but according to the article below, “in a shameful capitulation to religious fanatics, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) rejected a proposed bill in the Sindh Assembly against forced conversions.” But forced conversions can be justified from Islamic teaching, although technically forbidden. Call it fanaticism, but many Muslims regard it as justified.
“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them…” (Quran 9:5)
The Messenger of Allah said: “I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and pay zakat.” (Sahih Muslim 1:33)
“Bill against forced conversion,” by Hassan Niazi, Express Tribune (thanks to The Religion of Peace), October 15, 2019:
Last week, in a shameful capitulation to religious fanatics, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) rejected a proposed bill in the Sindh Assembly against forced conversions.
If there was ever an argument to be made that constitutional guarantees mean nothing until the people believe in their worth, it is this. Article 20 of the Constitution guarantees religious freedom, but what religious freedom means is currently what the fanatic believes it should mean.
So, it is in Sindh, which has lately seen a rise in forced conversions of members of religious minorities. For those who may be blissfully unaware of the extent of the problem, here are some numbers: according to Aurat Foundation, around 1,000 women and young girls from religious minorities in Pakistan are forced to convert to the religion of the majority and marry their kidnappers every year. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan believes that more than 20 Hindu girls are kidnapped every month.
The parents of the victims try to obtain that elusive concept known as justice. If you live in this country, you know that only people with a certain economic and social pedigree are allowed justice. The case of Rinkle Kumari should still be fresh in our minds, although it seems the PPP is suffering from temporary amnesia. Rinkle Kumari was 16 years’ old when she was abducted, allegedly forcibly converted, and married to her kidnapper. Twice she wept and pleaded to go back home to her parents. Once before the civil court, and then, before the Supreme Court when it took up a pending petition on forced conversions initiated by the Pakistan Hindu Council. However, despite this, when the Supreme Court reassembled after a lengthy adjournment to hear the case, Kumari had somehow changed her statement and then accepted that she had changed her religion and married of her own free will. No proceedings ever tried to inquire into what happened to change her mind, but we can all guess, with a high degree of certainty, that her kidnappers coerced her (a bare reading of the case history shows this).
Those who follow such cases of forced conversions in Sindh are familiar with the landscape upon which these cases happen. The inequality of economic and political power between the abductor and the victim — as Kumari’s case so starkly displayed; the sudden epidemic of helplessness that seizes the police; and the lack of proper investigation behind the marriages and conversions.
In 2016, an effort was made to end this practice with a bill being introduced in the Sindh Assembly. To be sure, a law by itself would not be enough to eliminate this practice, however, the bill had many features that would have helped and was a welcome first step. For example, it provided for judges and the police receiving sensitisation training on the issue, and that women be placed in a shelter, or in the custody of their parents during court proceedings in which the conversion and subsequent marriage was under challenge (normally, the woman is asked to remain with her husband during the entire proceedings). Perhaps the most important element of the bill was that it prohibited someone from changing their religion until they were 18 years of age…..