Scores of families belonging to the Hindu community and members from civil society staged a protest outside Karachi Press Club against the forced conversion of Hindu girls to Islam.
The protesters raised slogans against the kidnapping of minor Hindu girls in various parts of the province.
Protest at Karachi Press Club to Sindh Assembly against forced conversion pic.twitter.com/Hy78KQ5AI2
— Veengas (@VeengasJ) March 30, 2023
The victims’ families also decried police apathy over the matter.
The forced conversion of underage Hindu girls to Islam in Sindh is a severe issue. Human rights groups have continuously urged the government authorities to introduce laws regarding forced conversations.
Earlier, the United Nations had also urged Pakistan to curtail the practice of forced marriages of young girls from religious minorities to Muslim men. The United Nations had also called on Pakistani authorities to adopt and implement legislation in this regard.
In a statement, the UN had “expressed alarm” that young girls from religious minorities are kidnapped, trafficked, forcibly converted to Islam, and forced to marry men. The statement called on Pakistani authorities to curb this practice and uphold international human rights law.
Moreover, according to a recent report by the United States Institute of Peace, Pakistan has witnessed a surge in extremism and intolerance of diversity and dissent as the state-sanctioned laws and conservative narratives facilitate religious extremist elements and support their narrative, leaving little space for religious inclusion.
