Last month, another Hindu girl, 18-year-old, Pooja Kumar, was shot dead by influential people in Rohri Sindh. According to news reports and police, the assailant, identified as Wahid Bux Lashari and two of his accomplices entered her house and opened fire on her. As per the police official, the accused wanted to marry Kumari but she refused.
This is not the first time such an incident has happened as there have been several and repeated incidents of killings, abductions and forced conversions of Hindu women in Pakistan, especially in Sindh. Condemning the incident, Hindu Member of National Assembly (MNA) of Lal Malhi said: “PPP’s Sindh govt even do not allow the poor Hindus to protest, as police stop protesting mourners carrying dead body of Pooja.”
Meanwhile, mentioning the child marriage laws and its role in such incidents, activist and politician, Jibran Nasir noted: “Under PPP Govt. Child Marriage laws aren’t worth more than paper they’re printed on. Doors to forced conversion of minor girls are open because Child Marriages are facilitated by corrupt and ignorant JoPs, Nikah Registrars, UCs and Police. Pooja Kumari a child had to defend herself.”
Critics point to the PPP as always propagating itself as leftwing and a liberal torchbearer party in Pakistan, and question if the ground reality might actually be different.
Although the police have arrested the killer, but the question that critics are asking is when this would end and what the authorities, especially Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has done to stop it?
As per a report by Unrepresented Nations and People Organizations (UNPO), forced conversion is rampant in Sindh province. The report stated that there are “two methods of forced conversions, i.e., bonded labor and marriage.” And the most of the bonded labor in Sindh are Hindus.
As per the same report, almost 20 or more Hindu girls are abducted and converted in Pakistan every month. And critics say that one of the most loathsome aspects of these forced conversions are immediate weddings to Muslim guys and total cut off from the girls’ families. The abductors don’t do this in hiding; they do it openly because they insist they are doing “good work”.
According to a report by Gandhara, RFE/RL, there is a “conversion factory” in Sindh, which openly convert Hindu girls to Islam and then marry them off to Muslims; there are hardly any incidents for Hindu boys. The report says annually around 1,000 Hindu women are forcibly converted in Pakistan, and most of them are from Sindh. And the most notorious name behind these incidents is Mian Mithu, the head of Dargah Bharchundi Sharif in Ghotki Sindh.
There are videos of Mithu and people at the dargah converting Hindu girls openly. “The police have refused to investigate these conversions,” the Gandhara report said. Mian Mithu’s nephew Mian Mohammad Javed, refutes these allegations, saying “This is a total lie. It’s untrue. If it were true, they would have proven it [in court]. I challenge [the accusers].”
Critics point to the PPP as always propagating itself as leftwing and a liberal torchbearer party in Pakistan, and question if the ground reality might actually be different. The party has been ruling since 2008 and even before that, it held a very strong position in interior Sindh. But, many rights activists insist, there are mere policies on paper, or condemnation on Twitter, but not much has been done for protection of Hindus in Sindh.
Analysts also say there is mass indifference among the people of Pakistan because religion is involved. Many actually wholeheartedly support these conversions.
“The time is ripe for the government of Sindh concerned to contemplate a long-lasting solution of this burning issue to safeguard the rights of minority girls and women,” maintains analyst Shaikh Abdul Rasheed.
“This will help them enjoy a carefree life beyond forced conversions and marriages with people of other religions. All of this is encouraged and supported by religious fanatics.”
And then comes the oldest game, the politics. Political analysts say that the PPP, or another other party for the matter, will not go against the hardline religious figures and personalities over the fear of losing votes.
“PPP has failed to protect minorities. The provincial administration should be pressurised into providing security to non-Muslim communities,” said Dr. Jaipal Chhabria, a member of the National Commission of Minorities.
