Daily Times

As a nation, we love pointing to the grave injustices being committed against Muslims, far and wide. However, our crusade to protect a community, as it is forced to endure a systematic tyranny on the sole basis of its belief, becomes a little non-affair when the white portion of the star and crescent-adorned flag expresses some hesitant reservations. Not too loud,over fears of rattling the wrong quarters. And not too out in the open because of their no-questions-asked loyalty to their homeland. The alarming rise in cases of forced conversions is too serious of a debate to be dabbled at a convention at a hotel. It should be taken heads-on in parliament that is supposed to safeguard the freedom of religion, as purported by Article 20 of the constitution. While one cannot question the far-reaching effects of Daawah, a key tradition in Islam, around 70 per cent of these converts being minors is an allegation that requires serious introspection. Our dismal rankings on religious freedom indexes and the sordid tales of Hindu girls who are routinely abducted, and made to marry significantly older men (in the so-called name of love while they “willingly” convert) has already attracted bad press for quite some time. Therefore, the ideal way forward would be to stop this reprehensible practise in its tracks. The ultra-rights’ vehement opposition to the inclusion of the age clause in the much-talked-about forced conversions bill is taken akin to riding roughshod over the sovereignty of religious minorities in Pakistan. Because any state honest in its commitment to the welfare of all its citizens alike would not think twice before fortifying its safeguards. A dash of hypocritical too, because the minimum marriageable condition seemed to have been taken–albeit, with a pinch of salt.

Pakistan needs to finally pluck up the political determination not just for the sake of resolving a prolonged grievance but also to make a strong case as an advocate of the Kashmiri cause before the international community. Otherwise, its concerted efforts can easily be maligned as mere optics. *