1,000 Christian, Hindu girls forced to convert to Islam every year in Pakistan: report

By
Asher John
-
42
2124

Around 1,000 Christian and Hindu women in Pakistan are forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslim men every year, according to a report released by Movement for Solidarity and Peace- in Pakistan on Monday.

The report states the estimates of the incidence of forced marriage and conversion from 100 to 700 victim Christian girls and 300 Hindu girls per year, adding that the true scale of the problem is likely to be much greater, as a number of cases are never reported or do not progress through the law-enforcement and legal systems.

The report has categorized the concurrent incidence of forced conversions and forced marriages as a distinct crime specific to minority Christian women in Punjab.

The research by MSP has led to discovery of a distinguished pattern:

Christian girls — usually between the ages of 12 and 25 — are abducted, converted to Islam, and married to the abductor or third party.

The victim’s family usually files a First Information Report (FIR) for abduction or rape with the local police station. The abductor, on behalf of the victim girl, files a counter FIR, accusing the Christian family of harassing the willfully converted and married girl, and for conspiring to convert the girl back to Christianity.

Upon production in the courts or before the magistrate, the victim girl is asked to testify whether she converted and married of her own free will or if she was abducted.

In most cases, the girl remains in custody of the abductor while judicial proceedings are carried out. Upon the girl’s pronouncement that she willfully converted and consented to the marriage, the case is settled without relief for the family.

Once in the custody of the abductor, the victim girl may be subjected to sexual violence, rape, forced prostitution, human trafficking and sale, or other domestic abuse.

In its report, MSP has included 10 illustrative cases victims who have been subjected to such patterns of violence and injustice.

The report describes the history of and social context within which forced conversions and marriages take place, the particular grievances of the Christians and others minorities in Pakistan including the Blasphemy laws as under Sections 295-B, and C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), constitutional guarantees of equal representation, underrepresentation in political institutions, and religion-specific Articles of the Constitution of Pakistan; and the issue of forced conversion and forced marriages targeting Christian girls community in Pakistan.

The report has surveyed legal, political, and procedural guarantees for rights protection and outlines illustrative cases demonstrating the pattern of violence through which the law becomes complicit in providing immunity for perpetrators, and the complex nature of associated crimes that make it difficult to categorize this crime as specific to religious identity.

The report concludes with detailed recommendations for the key stakeholders at various levels – national, provincial, and local.

MSP has appealed for action with the release of the report.

The organisation is mobilising an inclusive coalition to raise awareness on this issue.

It will be hosting outreach events in the coming weeks in Pakistan (in collaboration with the National Commission of Justice and Peace in Pakistan) and around the world.

The current investigative effort by MSP follows its 2012 release of “Shia Hazara of Pakistan: A Community under Siege”, an in-depth report revealing abuse of religious minorities in Pakistan’s eastern province of Balochistan.

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42 COMMENTS

  1. Pakistan is an Islamic country made for Muslims y the Muslims
    If they don't like it here they can go to India

    • And same for the muslims in India they should also leave India and shift themself to Other Islamic nations.

    • Don't talk like morons. In Islam you can't force anyone to change their religion forcefully. Being a Muslim you should know it.

      • tell me then why do muslims kill so many christian because they dont convert? look it up on youtube how many christian missionaries are brutally murdered. heads chopped off or sawed off. you can defend islam all you want but when someone you know who was murdered by muslims because they wouldnt convert is stupid to say they cant force you. yeah if they cant force you they kill you. islam is not a peaceful religion in the surah it says to fight them that are against. surah 9:29-30,33

        i suggest you do your research in religions of the world before you say anything because apparently you arent aware of how islam interacts with the rest of the world. now the catholic church hasnt left a good mark in history either through the holy crusades or even the west boro baptist church isnt really doing the right thing either because the bible doesnt teach to be so stupid. in my research i have found that islam is not a peaceful religion especially with interaction with it. for me so far christianity is the only one that teaches a peaceful practice the problem is that the followers of today want to have their foot in the world and in heaven thus they are mixed up in their teachings them selves. but if you just look at doctrinal-theological teachings then christianity has my upvote and support, its just a matter of pastors stepping up and addressing the issues and not being scared of preaching.

        disregard all spelling errors please.

      • of course you can. you give them free choices: conversion, being a second class citizens or death. this in practicew means forceful conversion

    • @ Isa, Australa
      I am sure you are the one of described below:
      the Non-Muslims who pretend to be Muslims. believe it or not, there are some non-Muslims out there who pretend to be Muslims and go around spreading a false image of Islam and making aggressive comments here and there. these fake Muslims are easily discovered. first, they have empty profiles. they usually create a new account solely for the purpose of trolling. second, they claim to be Muslims. I mean, they like to repeat it. But talking with them for a little while shows they don't know Islam at all. they just get some information from here and there and think they can play the role.

    • Using that logic, then all Pakistanis should stop living in non muslim countries and return home, but you know they wont do that.
      Why did they leave Pakistan in the first place?
      Ask yourself.

    • Muslims dont like Christian values or becoming Christians in Europe? They have to go back to islamic countries

      • But muslims love to live in the lands of kafirs and do not want to go back to the land of true believers!

    • By the same token, shouldn't all the Muslims in India move to Pakistan, country solely created for them? Why did Pakistan close the door for them?

      • cause they think Indian Muslims are "impure". What a bunch of loosers. They claim they are an islamic state! Do they even know the essence of islam?

    • Muslims migrate every corner of the world thereby want to become majority through large family and then like Pakistan declare that regions Islamic Nations. Regions like Pakistan were teeming with Nonmuslim population with different culture. But some time in near future whole world will see through this fanatical game and resist this with all their might. Till then, people like Isa will indulge in self deceiving self glorification.

    • What the hack? Didn't Jinah say Pakistan will be a secular democratic country? The radical Hindus in India speaks the same language as yours. They say all muslims should go to Pakistan. Are you willing to accept them as Pakistani citizens?

  2. It is ridiculous, I had read about some cases, girls willingly converted and married person of their choices. These NGOs always spread negative images out of greed. Shame on them.

  3. What a ridiculous thing to read! Country prevails over religion- We are first pakistani and then Christian,Muslim, Hindu and Sikh.
    We should respect each others religions.
    Christians have as much rights as muslims because we are all Pakistani Citizens first.

  4. well these girls converted with their own will because they are in love with a Muslim guy. so if they want to marry then hey will have to convert and its by their own consciousness. well the relatives get mad with the Muslim guy because they think he forced her to change well ita her call if she wants him then she needs to change and if she doesn't want to change religion then she can make the decision

    • you are ridiculous. Where she does have a free choice? she is kidnapped and forced to do it. Moreover, your claims only prove how oppressive, radical and intolerant Islamic religion is.

  6. I have never heard any such kind of story. I am sure whatever written in this article is all rubbish and baseless.

    • Pakistani's are a bunch of ignorant people. No wonder their country is a failed state.

    • Probably. The Blaze is Glenn Beck, and his brand of theology (Mormon) is as idiotic as Taliban ideology.

  9. Excuse me .. this is total bull crap!

    And by the way, how about the way Muslim minority is being butchered in Myanmar by Buddhists and in CAR by Christians?

    • Add by Radical Hindus in India. The PM of India was allegedly involved in the massacre of 2000 muslims.

  12. It is not the muslim or christian issue it concern with the nature of Pakistani people. They are born criminals and main objective is to earn money by all means. They called themselves muslims but in daily life / practically they do not act in accordance with the teachings of islam. Discrimination is widely spread phenomenon and even exist among different sectors of islam. So please don't discuss the issue in the context of Islam but you can discuss it in the context of Pakistani. They have their own created religion and nothing to do with Islam.

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