Rights body claims seven Hindu girls abducted in Sindh in two months

Within the span of two months, seven teenage girls belonging to the Scheduled Caste of the Hindu community were kidnapped and most of them forcefully converted to Islam in different parts of Sindh and married off in clear violation of the law proscribing early child marriages, a human rights body said on Friday.Ihsan Ali, head of the People’s Human Rights Organisation, a rights body, criticised the Sindh government for its failure to adopt a policy for the protection of Hindu children from forced conversions and sexual abuse.Sharing statistics compiled by his organisation, Ali said that during February and March, seven teenage Hindu girls were kidnapped in Sindh and most of them forcefully converted to Islam. Two of those girls were kidnapped in Karachi from the Golimar and Khamosh Colony neighbourhoods, he said.The rights activist termed the abductions and forced conversions of those girls a denial of their fundamental right to freedom of religion, which had caused severe anguish to the girls and their families.According to the statistics, Komal Meghwar, 14, a permanent resident of Tando Allahyar, was allegedly kidnapped from Karachi’s Golimar area and converted to Islam. Another girl was Mala Meghawar, 16, who was allegedly abducted from Jam Khan Pitafi village near Jadho town. After the provincial minister for minorities’ affairs, Hari Ram Kishori Lal, took notice of the abduction, police registered an FIR and took necessary steps to protect the family, Ali maintained.Sonia Meghwar, 14, was allegedly kidnapped from Tando Yousaf village near Hyderabad. Her father claimed that a man, Hazrat Khan Pathan, kidnapped her daughter because he could not repay a loan of Rs12,000 on time. Her whereabouts are unknown and the family fears that she could have been converted to Islam.Another kidnapped Hindu girl was Permila Maheswari, 16, a resident of Katchi Muhallah in Tando Muhammad Khan city, was allegedly abducted on March 15 by an influential Muslim family and her whereabouts are still unknown.Similarly, Sonia, a resident of Khamosh Colony in Karachi, had been missing since the morning of March 10. Most recently, two teenage sisters – Reena and Raveena – were converted to Islam at Dargah Barchundi Sharif in Ghotki and later married off.Ali said the Sindh Assembly had unanimously passed the Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill 2015 on November 24. Under the bill, anyone found involved in a forced conversion could face a minimum of five-year imprisonment and a maximum of life term along with a fine. He added that another bill was unanimously passed by the assembly in 2016 to criminalise forced conversions; however, the government was reluctant to enact it.“Hindu community groups fear that if the bill to protect minorities was amended or abrogated under pressure from extremist religious parties, it would increase the sense of insecurity among non-Muslims,” he said.According to Ali, lower caste Hindus comprise 80 per cent of the total Hindu population living in Sindh, most of whom are peasants and labourers working for landlords and kiln owners for generations. “These landlords reign supreme in the locality and exercise complete control over the lives of these peasants,” he said.The marriages of the abducted girls have also violated the early child marriages law, Ali remarked. “At the age of 15, a girl does not even understand her own religion, how can she convert to Islam?”

from The News International - Karachi https://ift.tt/2uBJNH4