ISLAMABAD, November 30: A Hindu lawmaker and civil society members in Pakistan have criticised two religious political parties for opposing the Minorities Bill which criminalises forced conversions in the Muslim-majority country.
Last week, Pakistan’s southern Sindh province passed a law making “forced conversions” punishable with a life sentence and forbidding minors from changing their religion, in a bid to protect minorities. Dr Ramesh Kumar, Members of the National Assembly from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) party, yesterday commended the Pakistan Peoples Party government in Sindh for setting the minimum age for religious conversion to 18, Dawn reported.
“People are issued a CNIC (identity card) and driving licence at 18 and are allowed to vote after 18. In Sindh, the age at which someone can be legally married is also 18 because before that, an individual is considered a child. After this law, conversions before the age of 18 will be considered a crime,” Kumar said. He said that girls belonging to minority religions are kidnapped in Sindh and forcibly married, mostly to seminary students, and that they have no choice but to adapt to their new lives.
Ramesh met Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq outside the parliament building and asked him not to protest unnecessarily against the bill for minority rights.
Members of the civil society said incidences of forced conversions were increasing across the country, particularly in Sindh, and that the bill in question will go a long way in helping the minorities in Pakistan. All the provinces should adopt similar laws to protect minorities from forced conversions and forced marriages, Sharma said.
