Rights bodies call for setting 18 years as minimum age for religious conversions

Civil society activists, academics, media persons and minority rights activists across the province gathered in Khairpur district on Sunday to discuss the seriousness of the plight of minorities in rural Sindh, especially the cases of forced conversions.The National Commission for Human Rights, Pakistan (NCHR) in collaboration with Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur (SALU), the Aurat Foundation, the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC), the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women (SCSW) and the Bhittai Social Watch and Advocacy (BSWA) jointly organised in Khairpur the consultation on minorities’ rights. A number of activists from Karachi also attended the meeting.Anis Haroon, member of the NCHR, chaired the consultation. She said due to past policies of the state and its involvement in Afghan Jihad, madrassa culture was promoted abundantly across the country, which had now resulted in intolerance and hatred for minorities.Various participants highlighted the issue of forced religious conversions of underage girls and said it was creating fear and shock among the minority communities across the country in general and Sindh in particular. Emphasising the gravity of the issue of forced conversions, they said more than 20 underage girls of religious minorities had been either lured or forcefully converted to Islam within two months.Pointing out some of the recent cases of forced conversions in the area, Haroon underlined that there seemed to exist a systematic pattern behind all such conversions, which needed to be curtailed on an urgent basis and the actors behind the forced conversions of underage girls should be brought to book.Citing the historic speech of August 11, 1947 made by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, SALU Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Yousuf Khushk said all the people in the country should be free to practise the religion of their choice with complete freedom but unfortunately it was not the reality as the minorities in Pakistan had been facing intimidations on various fronts.Recognising the seriousness of the plight of minorities, especially the cases of forced conversions in rural Sindh, SCSW Chairperson Nuzhat Shireen said the commission was working to devise a mechanism to strengthen the implementation and improvement of existing laws.She said the commission would forward its recommendations to the Sindh government to again include the 18-year age limit for the religious conversion in the Protection of Minority Act 2016, and get it urgently approved by the assembly.SSP Umer Tufail said a minority rights cell would be established in Khairpur district to oversee and protect the rights of the minorities. He said in order to create a tolerant society, it was important to promote inter-communal dialogues, which were currently not happening.Participants of the consultation recommended the government to include the requirement of minimum 18 years of age for religious conversions in the law. It was included in the original law which was unanimously passed by the Sindh Assembly but dropped later.They activists also demanded that married men and women should complete their divorce process if they wanted to convert to other religion. “A legal authority (Magistrate, Human Rights Judge) should be appointed to register conversions. In case of affirmation after the prescribed time lapses, he/she should be given a certificate and sent to NADRA for issuance of identity cards,” one of the recommendations read.“Most of the conversions take place through facilitation. It should be thoroughly investigated that no pressure or threat is involved. Those who are found guilty should be treated with due process of law. There is no coercion in Islam which is a religion of peace and justice,” the recommendations read.The participants also demanded the proper implementation of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013 and said the Supreme Court judgment of June 19, 2014 should be complied with, which called for eight specific measures for the rights of minorities, including a commission.

from The News International - Karachi http://bit.ly/2ULCasd