pakistan hindu protest, forced conversions in pakistan, members of hindu community on the road, vigorous protest

Karachi: Several members of the community took out a march here to draw attention to the problem of forced conversions of minority Hindus in Pakistan and forced marriages of Hindu girls and women in the country. Hindu outfit ‘Pakistan Darawar Ittehad’ (PDI) on Thursday protested outside the Karachi Press Club and at the entrance of the Sindh Assembly building. There are 75 lakh Hindus living in Pakistan and they are often victims of discrimination. A PDI member said, “We wanted to draw attention to this problem of Sindhi Hindus, especially in rural areas, where girls as young as 12-13 years are abducted in broad daylight, forced to convert to Islam.” goes and then they are married to an older Muslim. He said that Thursday’s protest had some impact as many people were not even aware of the crime.

However, he admitted that he expected more people to attend the demonstration. A large number of policemen stood at some distance from the protesters and the protest remained peaceful. The protesters carried placards and banners urging the government to pass the stalled bill against forcible conversion of Hindu girls and women. The matter of abduction and forced conversion of Hindu girls in various districts of Sindh province was raised in the Sindh assembly in 2019.

7.5 million Hindus in Muslim-majority Pakistan
A motion related to this was debated and some assembly members said that it should not be restricted to Hindu girls only, after which it was passed unanimously after amendment, but the bill criminalizing forced conversion was passed. The latter was rejected in the assembly. A similar bill was introduced again, but was rejected in 2021.

In January this year, at least 12 UN human rights experts expressed concern over the rising incidence of kidnapping, forced conversion and forced marriage of underage girls in Pakistan. According to the report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, about 1,000 girls are forcibly converted every year. According to official estimates, 7.5 million Hindus live in the Muslim-majority country.