ISLAMABAD: Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Sunday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered to investigate the abduction case of two Hindu girls.
Tweeting about the development, the information minister wrote: “Today, Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued the orders to investigate the abduction case of two Hindu girls and news about them being shifted to Rahim Yar Khan. After immediate investigations, two girls should be found and released.”
آج صبح وزیر اعظم عمران خان نے وزیر اعلی! کو یہ ہدائیت جاری کی ہے کہ سندہ سے اغوا ہونیوالی دو نو عمر ہندو لڑکیوں کے بارے میں ایسی اطلاعات ہیں کہ انھیں رحیم یار خان منتقل کیا گیا ہے، اس معاملے کی فوری تحقیقات کی جائیں اور اگر ایسا ہے تو بچیوں کو بازیاب کرایا جائے،
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 24, 2019
In the second tweet, Fawad Hussain said: “The prime minister has also asked Sindh and Punjab government to make a mutual policy regarding the issue. He has also asked the Sindh government to take concrete steps to stop such incidents. The minorities are the white colour of our minorities and we love every colour of the flag.”
وزیر اعظم نے سندہ اور پنجاب حکومت کو یہ بھی ہدائیت کی ہے کہ اس معاملے پر مشترکہ حکمت عملی اختیار کریں اور سندہ حکومت ایسے واقعات کے تدارک کیلئے ٹھوس اقدامات اٹھائے، پاکستان میں اقلیتیں ہمارے جھنڈے کا سفید رنگ ہیں اور ہمیں اپنے تمام رنگ عزیز ہیں اور اپنے پرچم کی حفاظت ہمارا فرض ہے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 24, 2019
On Thursday, two Hindu sisters, who were allegedly kidnapped from village Hafiz Salman near Deharki as per their parents, have embraced Islam, Ghotki’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) informed Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Kaleem Iman.
The girls’ father and brother, in videos circulating on social media, say that the two sisters were abducted and forced into changing their religion. However, a separate video of the minor girls is also making the rounds, in which they say that they accepted Islam of their own free will.
Human rights activist Jibran Nasir was among those who raised the issue on Twitter, sharing a video which he said was of the two sisters, one aged 14 and the other 16.
In the video, a cleric can be seen next to the girls and two men who they were married to. The cleric says the girls were inspired by Islam and alleges that their family is spreading “false propaganda” and is threatening their lives.
Jibran Nasir said the Hindu sisters were converted at the Dargah Barchundi Sharif. “As per Dargah, girls wanted to convert to Islam since long influenced by its teachings, but first act after the conversion was underage marriage,” he said. The girls were reportedly taken to Rahim Yar Khan following their marriages.
Nasir also shared a copy of a first information report dated March 20, which was registered by the girls’ family against their alleged forced conversion to Islam.
“FIR [registered] with local police for ‘abducting to compel to marriage’. Age in FIR is 14 and 16,” said Nasir. “Under Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, every citizen under 18 falls under the definition of child and can’t be married.”
“Police has tried to dismiss the matter by citing a video of the two sisters in which they claim they willfully converted (sic) to Islam,” Nasir said.
Fawad said on Twitter that the Ministry of Human Rights had been “asked for an inquiry”. The information minister said he would share more information when it became available.
Karachi’s Central Police Office (CPO) claimed that the two Hindu girls who left their house stated in a recorded video that neither anyone had abducted them nor held them hostage as they had left their home on their own will and have embraced Islam without any pressure.
Reena, aged 14, and Raveena, aged 16 left their home as parents said that they had been abducted. However, locals were suspicious that the girls might have fled on their, but there was no confirmation in this regard.
The heirs and relatives had also held a protest demonstration on National Highway for the recovery of the girls. The protesters, carrying placards and banners, were chanting slogans against the police for not taking firm action and were demanding immediate recovery of the girls and arrest of the accused. They alleged that police were silent over the issue.
However, police started a search for the girls and also arrested one suspect Ahmed Shah while the search for other accused persons was underway.
