FW: Pak Hindu girls forced to convert to Islam

[govind shiyani]

http://web.mid-day.com/news/world/2005/november/123248.htm

Pak Hindu girls forced to convert to Islam
   By: Hasan Mansoor
   November 13, 2005



When a Hindu girl is converted to Islam, hundreds of extremists
belonging to religious parties such as Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s
Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI), take to the streets and chant religious
slogans
Karachi: An alarming trend — that of Muslims kidnapping Pakistani Hindu
girls and forcing them to convert to Islam — in Pakistan’s Sindh
province is forcing the worried resident Hindu community to marry off
their daughters as soon as they are of marriageable age or to migrate to
India, Canada or other nations.

Recently, at least 19 such abduction cases have occurred in Karachi
alone, while several others have been reported in the media.

Sanao Menghwar, a Hindu resident of Karachi’s Punjab Colony, is a
traumatised man; all three of his daughters —Aishwarya, Reena and Reema
— have been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam.

In the police complaint that he filed at the behest of the Panchayat
after two days of futile searching for his daughters, he stated that
when he and his wife returned home from work, they discovered their
daughters had gone missing.

The police arrested three Muslim youths in connection with the crime,
who were later granted bail by a court because they’re minors.
Menghwar’s daughters continue to remain missing.

“Kidnapping Hindu girls like this has become a normal practice. The
girls are then forced to sign stamp papers stating that they’ve become
Muslims,” says Laljee Menghwar, a member of the Hindu Panchayat in
Karachi.

According to him, the Pakistani government needs to examine and put a
stop to the social oppression of religious minorities in the country.
“Hindus here are too frightened to vent their anger — they fear
victimisation. But we have now decided to go public with these cases and
demand justice,” Laljee says. Their cause has found support in the
Pakistani Christian community, who carried out a demonstration with them
in Karachi, protesting against this crime.

Similarly startling incidents have occurred in several districts of
Sindh and evoked identical responses. At least six Hindu girls met this
fate a few months ago in Jacobabad (a tribal area heavily inhabited by
Hindus) and Larkana districts.

Sapna, the daughter of one Seth Giyanchand, was recently taken to a
shrine (Amrote in Shikarpur district) by Shamsuddin Dasti. Dasti, a
Muslim friend of Sapna’s brother, is a married man and father of two.

Nevertheless, the custodian of the shrine, Maulvi Abdul Aziz lost no
time in converting Sapna to Islam (her names was changed to ‘Mehek’) and
marrying her to Dasti. The case came to light only when Sapna’s parents
stated that their daughter hadn’t eloped but been abducted.

Human rights activists, such as Nuzhat Shirin who belongs to the Aurat
Foundation, says that religious extremism is rapidly increasing in
Jacobabad and other Sindh districts.

Extremists in turn encourage shrines, which are involved with forced
conversions. When a Hindu girl is converted to Islam, hundreds of
extremists belonging to religious parties such as Maulana Fazlur
Rehman’s Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI), take to the streets and chant
religious slogans.

In Sapna’s case, when she was presented in court with Dasti, extremists
showered rose petals on them and loudly chanted religious slogans. The
fanaticism was so daunting that Sapna was too frightened to even speak
with her own parents who were also present in the courtroom. At that,
Maulvi Aziz, who was also standing in the courtroom, was said to have
remarked, “How can a Muslim girl live and maintain contact with kafirs
(infidels)?”

Sapna’s story sparked widespread demonstrations by the Hindu community.
Presidents and mukhis of Panchayats from various towns and districts met
in Jacobabad to discuss this serious issue. Activists and leaders from
educated segments of society strongly criticised the role of religious
leaders, like Maulvi Aziz, in these forced conversion cases.

Still, the threat of victimisation by Muslims is palpable; Shirin says
when forced conversion cases make it to court, lawyers themselves avoid
taking them up, fearing a backlash from maulvis.

Giyanchand meanwhile has said that he has no other option but to migrate
to India — it will be difficult for him to find grooms for his other
daughters because of Sapna’s controversial conversion.

And forced conversions are not the only problem that the Hindu minority
(there are 2.7 million Hindus in Pakistan; Pakistan’s total population
is 140 million) is facing in the country.

A powerful syndicate of bandits and patrons in the northern districts of
Sindh regularly kidnap rich Hindus for ransom. They not kill hostages if
the ransom doesn’t arrive on time, they even kill some despite their
ransom being paid.

Sadham Chand Chawla, the former president of the Hindu Panchayat,
Jacobabad, was abducted and murdered. His killers remain at large
despite enormous protests. Following his murder, his family had received
several threats until they secretly migrated to India.