Daily Times

Despite accounting for a mere three per cent of the country’s population, minorities in Pakistan live in a constant state of hypervigilance. From arbitrary blasphemy charges to forced conversions, Pakistan’s minorities have not seen a moment of respite since its independence.

According to the Human Rights Commission, nearly 1000 cases of forced conversion are registered each year. The majority of these are observed in Sindh, which houses a significant Hindu minority.

A typical case of forced conversion begins with an underage girl being abducted, typically from a low-income area, after which the victim is forced to marry their abductor and left with little hope for legal recourse. Once the conversion has been formalised, it is difficult for the victim to prove that the marriage was unlawful, largely owing to Pakistan’s discriminatory legal system where sharia overrides other concerns about criminality.

Most cases of forced conversion go underreported meaning that official statistics do not reflect the true scale of the crime. Those who do choose to confide in law enforcement are usually met with severe backlash from right-wing elements in the country who have long sought to suppress minority communities.

Recently, Sindh Chief Minister announced his plans for forming a committee that hopes to achieve a consensus on the forced conversion law. But history has proven that this is easier said than done. Indeed, there are no legal or constitutional procedures overseeing religious conversion. What’s more concerning, however, is that lawmakers who do push for stronger legislation against conversions are often intimidated into silence. Political parties have been known to succumb to right-wing pressures in the past.

In 2016, the Sindh Provincial Assembly attempted to pass a bill to penalise forced conversions in the area; under the proposed law, perpetrators could face legal penalties ranging from a minimum of five years in prison to life imprisonment. But this quickly became controversial, attracting scrutiny from various factions across the country, including the government’s own advisory body. The Council of Islamic Ideology expressed reservations against the practicality of the bill. The state has failed its minorities by allowing conservative ideologues to overpower the due process of law and until it acknowledges this, Pakistan’s quest to penalise forced conversions will remain a pipe dream. *