Pakistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that the right to freedom of religion includes the right to change one’s religion and that no one shall be subject to coercion to change their religion.
The Peoples Commission for Minorities’ Rights and the Centre for Social Justice compiled the data of 163 incidents of forced conversions which took place between March 2013 and March 2020.
The discrimination against women belonging to religious minority groups is worse as again such incidents are growing day by day in the country.
In Sindh during 2020, six controversial cases of alleged adoption and forced conversion of Hindu girls were reported. Mehak and Lata Kumari were kidnapped in Jacobabad, Sormi and Shanti were kidnapped in Tharparkar, Simran went missing from Pano Akil and Parsha Kumari was kidnapped in Khairpur.
The cases of abduction were preceded in courts of law, and the girls were said to have wilfully solemnized marriage in accordance with Shariah law.
Recently, a 13-year-old Christian girl, Arzoo was reportedly abducted from her house in Karachi and forced to marry a 44-year-old man who made her convert to Islam.
The discrimination against women belonging to religious minority groups is worse; they become victims of rape, abduction, forced marriage and forced conversion.
Moral and Islamic aspect of forced conversion
Morally forcing a person to change his religion is not acceptable because it is against basic human nature. As a noble creature, human wants to do whatever he or she wants, with his own pleasure and consent.
Islam is a religion of peace and it encourages its supporters to be peaceful and live in harmony with one another as well as with people of other faith.
The Holy Quran emphasises that human beings have inherent worth and dignity. Further, it holds that God gave humankind the intellect and ability to discern between right and wrong (17:15; 6:104).
The Holy Quran clearly prohibits forced conversion when it says, “There is no compulsion in religion. Surely, the guidance has become evidently distinguished from error. So he who rejects false gods and believes in Allah has grasped such a firm handhold that will never loosen. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” (2:256).
The capstone of the quranic case for religious liberty is the fact that not even the Prophet Muhammad could impose or force people to profess Islam.
When people were unreceptive to the message of Islam, the Quran explicitly reminded him that he was never to resort to coercion: “Your task is only to exhort; you cannot compel them to believe” (88:21.
Quaid’s vision for the minorities
The Quaid-i-Azam’s speech of August 11, 1947, is important here. “It is our responsibility to not allow compromise on the dignity of the minorities. We are not turning away from Shariah in doing so,” he said.
The founder and father of the nation of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was undoubtedly revered and trusted by all, irrespective of citizens’ faith, belief or creed. After Pakistan came into being in 1947, Mr. Jinnah repeatedly promised complete equality to all the citizens.
In his address to the first constituent assembly of Pakistan on 11th August 1947, Mr. Jinnah said: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples; free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”
Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill, 2015
Four years ago, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed the Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill, 2015, which made forced conversions punishable by law. But following a backlash from certain groups, the legislation never saw the light of the day.
The Sindh government twice attempted to outlaw forced conversions and marriages including laying guidelines for the court process in the Protection of Minorities Bill, placing an age limit of 18 years upon conversions and enabling better due process.
There are laws against such incidents, including child marriage, but it is inadequate. All conversions issues and child marriages under the age of 18 should be prohibited and declared invalid.
Minority rights should be protected
The state and its institutions have a responsibility to defend and protect the right to freedom of religion, guaranteed under Article 20 of our Constitution. However, it is impossible to deny the fact that religious minorities are, in many ways, more vulnerable than safe in the county.
In a country that takes pride in the white in its flag, even a single violation of minority rights should not be tolerated.
Severe laws and strategies are required in the country, for the guarantee of life and liberty of Pakistan’s religious minorities must be enthusiastically embraced by all our citizens.
When the father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah promised that minorities would be given equal rights, every citizen of Pakistan should consider himself bound by this promise.
Abstaining from all forms of bigotry, every citizen of Pakistan should consider it a national duty and give equal rights to every minority living across Pakistan as they are equal citizens of this country.
