NA body condemns forced conversion of religion

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Harmony Wednesday discussed the draft bill on forced conversion of religion in detail.
The committee strongly condemned the forced conversion of religion and directed the Ministry for National Harmony to expedite the process of finalization of proposals/suggestions in order to finalize the proposed bill at the earliest.
The committee appreciated the ministry for organizing the interfaith conference to highlight the issue of forced conversion of religion and taking on board religious scholars/experts of deferent religions in order to build a consensus. The committee directed that ministry may invite all the committee members in such seminars/conferences, in future.
The committee decided to finalize the draft bill within 15 days of the meeting and deferred the issue till its next meeting. Earlier, Dr Paul Bhatti, Minister in-Charge for National Harmony briefly apprised the committee about the efforts made by the ministry to stop the forced conversion of religion.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Dr Khatu Mal Jeewan, Ramesh Lal, Dr Lal Chand, Ms Surriya Jatoi, Dr Araish Kumar, Dr Ghulam Haider Samejo, Manwer Lal, Ms Jamila Gillani Jawad Hussain and Ms. Reena Kumari.