Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) mandates the freedom of religion or belief and states that: Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching. No-one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.
Several hundred underage Christian and Hindu girls are forcibly converted to Islam every year in Pakistan. Non-Muslims make up a considerable amount of the country’s population, however, due to growing radicalization within the nation, life is hard for these minority groups. In such cases, the young victim is abducted, subjugated to physical, mental and sexual abuse, and threatened to keep quiet. Many NGOs and journalists have reported that these conversions are part of a serious issue plaguing the country, especially religious minority girls. Despite the devastation of the matter, these groups often do not receive adequate protection from state institutions. The Human Right Commission has provided that police officials often fail to comply with the proper procedure to help these victims and their families. In addition to this, the judiciary fear reprisal from extremist communities and hence dismiss the case when it comes to court, often stating that the converted, underage, victim has done so on her own free will. There is no investigation and these girls are left in the custody of their kidnappers, subject to further acts of abuse.
One such case was that of Arzoo Raja.
Raja Masih filed an FIR after his daughter, Arzoo, was kidnapped from her house in Railway Colony on October 13. The police located the girl and found that she was now married to Syed Ali Azhar. Azhar showed them a nikkahnama, free-will affidavit, and a Sanad-e-Islam certificate. Arzoo’s parents sought out a judicial magistrate and asked for her protective custody. Their lawyer argued that consummation of child marriage is statutory rape under Section 375 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 5 of the Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act 2006. The nikkahnama that Azhar presented did not have details of Arzoo’s age or a copy of her CNIC. There was also no medical certificate proving that the girl was at least eighteen years of age. Arzoo’s parents argued that their daughter was forced to claim that she married Azhar of her own free will, subsequently converting to Islam. Following this, on November 2, she was recovered on the orders of the Sindh High Court. She was then taken to a shelter home while her ‘husband’ was arrested.
To this day, there is no set age for religious conversion in the province of Sindh. In 2016, a bill on forced conversion was tabled, which would have set this age at 18 years. But, the bill was never passed and Arzoo, along with thousands of other underage girls, were subjected to this injustice. Lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir took on Arzoo’s case and it circulated around social media after each hearing. Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights took notice of this after public outcry a month after she was abducted, which allowed her to be recovered. She tweeted: “On the Arzoo case, today judge has ordered the girl be recovered by police & relevant agencies & be shifted to a shelter home. The next hearing fixed for Thursday morning. My lawyer has informed the court that an intervener will be filed on my behalf.”
Arzoo Raja is not the only case of forced conversion in the country. Rinkle Kumari, a 19-year Pakistani student, Lata Kumari, and Asha Kumari, two Hindu girls working in a beauty parlor, all were allegedly forced to convert from Hinduism to Islam. Simran Kumari, from Ghotki in Sindh, was kidnapped and then converted, and married off, to her Muslim kidnapper. Parsha Kumari was only 14 years old when she was abducted from Khairpur, forced to convert and married to her kidnapper. She had to remain with him because a free will affidavit claimed that she was 18 years of age. There are thousands of other examples that go unnoticed, every single day.
The Sindh government has tried to outlaw forced conversions and child marriages twice. They have attempted to lay down guidelines for the court process in the Protection of Minorities Bill, where the age limit is 18 years upon conversion. The bill was unanimously passed by the Sindh Assembly in 2016, however, a number of religious parties objected to it. They threatened to besiege the assembly and so the bill was never signed into law. This comes as a surprise to many, especially with the advent of ‘naya Pakistan’. Prime Minister Imran Khan has declared, “I want to warn our people that anyone in Pakistan targeting our non-Muslim citizens or their places of worship will be dealt with strictly. Our minorities are equal citizens of this country.” Despite this, the state has backtracked from many progressive decisions when it comes to minorities and their role in governance.
One such example is the decision to appoint one of the country’s leading economists, Atif Mian, as an economic adviser to the Prime Minister. Although Mian was qualified for the job, he was removed from his position because he belonged to the Ahmadiyya community and religious fanatics were outraged at his appointment. It is unfair to only blame hardliners for such an incident. The reaction to minorities coming into positions of power came from many mainstream communities as well, including the PTI party. A PTI federal minister, Azam Swati, proudly said on national TV that he and the Prime Minister sent a “curse” to the Ahmadiyya community.
Currently, the delicate balance between modernists and traditionalists within Pakistan is favoring the latter. Amendments have been made to the Constitution, and new clauses have been added to the Penal Code to overhaul the impact of the Zia regime. However, intolerance and hatred are embedded into the legal system. In the absence of interpretive studies, clerics and traditional Muslim extremists use their stance as a ploy to gain further support among the orthodox sections of the population. By adhering to their pressure and lobbying behind them, the state has failed to comply with international obligation to protect non-Muslim residents. Minor Hindu and Christian girls are exploited by powerful groups and subjected to their criminal elements. This is a chilling truth that we have to face within our society – how the law allows these offenders to prey on vulnerable people, whose daughters, sisters, nieces and cousins are never safe.
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