This is the question Pakistani minorities have been dealing with since Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamisation in ’80s. Brutal killings of Christian community in Gojra, attack on Ahmedi mosque in Lahore, killing of Hindus in Sindh and denial of rights to minorities in general has spurred non-confidence in state and the establishment for Pakistani minorities in recent years.
Most recent is the case of Rinkal Kumari: a Hindu girl kidnapped by local members of Muslim community with the support of local feudal lord, forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim guy. The practice of forcibly converting Hindu girls to Islam is not something new in Sindh; more than 1000 such cases are reported every year.
High Hindu migration from interior Sindh to India explains this fact. Even the mainstream media tends to put a blind eye on such issues. Like in the case of Rinkal, Sindhi media and our popular mainstream media misrepresented the news by portraying it as “Hindu girl embracing Islam to marry Muslim guy” and showing ‘bhangray’ and ‘dhamal’ of local Muslims.
The actual news came much later when the Hindu community arranged protests in Sindh and Karachi. Why can’t the Chief Justice of Pakistan take suo-motu on this case?
Is it because of sensitivity of the issue? Does this mean that minorities don’t have human rights? Rinkal is a 17-year-old Hindu girl, where are all advocates of human rights and women rights? Oh, wait; let’s celebrate the Oscar Sharmeen got for her documentary on women rights.
Atrocities on minorities in Pakistan need to stop. We don’t want a Pakistan of the dictators; we want real Pakistan back, the Quaid’s Pakistan.
AYMEN MUKHTAR
LUMS, Lahore