On August 12, a Christian couple in Haripur alleged that their underage-14-year-old-daughter has been kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam. The parents further said the minor has been married to a Muslim boy in Shah Mansoor Town of the Swabi district.
In a written complaint and video message, the parents of the girl, Noreen Maseeh and Francis Maseeh, residents of the Mubeen Banda of Ghazi Tehsil of Haripur District stated, “Our daughter is a student of 9th class and she was preparing for exams in the house, when she went missing around 12.45am on August 11.”
The parents accused a local boy named Zulqarnain, and a local Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Akhtar Shah over the abduction. The parents also claimed that after the kidnapping, they approached Shah, however, the PTI leader said the girl has married Zulrqarnain after converting to Islam.
As per the case law, it is illegal to exploit a position of power to convert. However, analysts say the legal system of Pakistan is extremely discriminatory, especially against the women from minorities. Experts also point towards a loophole that girls cannot convert back because it is prohibited in Islam and hence barred by Pakistani law.
Then the issue reached another PTI leader from the party’s minority wing, Peter Neroz Gill. He raised the issue, claiming that the girl is underage and was forced to convert to Islam for marriage. He stated the cleric who solemnized the marriage, changed the girl’s age from 14 to 17.
Gill blasted the local police for not registering the case earlier and for delaying it by nine days. “Had the police taken action without delay, the girl would have been saved from falling into wrong hands,” he says.
The court has shifted the girl to a Darul Aman (Shelter Home), while her alleged kidnappers, both the son and father have been sent to jail. During the hearing the girl told the court that she married the Muslim boy “without any coercion or temptation” and she wanted to live with her husband.
Observers say incidents of forced conversions have increased in Pakistan. According to Peoples Commission of Minorities’ Right and the Centre for Social Justice data, there have been 156 incidents of reported forced conversions, taken place between 2013 and 2019. As per the same report, the vast majority of these girls are minor as young as 12 years old. A Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report cites an annual 1,000 forced conversions stating that a vast majority of these aren’t reported.
Legal experts point to the fact that Pakistan is signatory of Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that the freedom of religion includes the right to change of one’s religion, however, without coercion. Meanwhile, European Court of Human Rights has also given some guidance regarding the distinction between coerced conversion and permissible conversion. As per the case law, it is illegal to exploit a position of power to convert. However, analysts say the legal system of Pakistan is extremely discriminatory, especially against the women from minorities. Experts also point towards a loophole that girls cannot convert back because it is prohibited in Islam and hence barred by Pakistani law.
Furthermore, observers say that in most of these cases, the girls don’t speak to parents directly, after they “elope” and also are not allowed to meet their “infidel” families.
Experts aren’t optimistic about the future, especially in the aftermath of religious clerics and political parties having expressed reservations on the draft of anti-forced conversion bill. During a meeting, held on August 25, 2021 at Ministry of Religious Affairs, the religious clerics warned the government that the bill cannot be implemented in its current shape. The verdict was given without any member of religious minorities being invited for the meeting.
Along with other reservations, the clerics expressed serious concerns over the minimum age of conversion. As per the insiders, it was pointed out that minimum age of 18 years for conversion is incorrect. “This age bracket was contrary to the draft domestic violence bill that was currently with the law ministry,” said one cleric.
Another said: “When parents cannot even scold their children under the domestic violence bill, so can they stop their children from embracing Islam?”
The bill’s draft stated that person who forces someone to change the religion can face between 5 to 10 years in jail and a fine from Rs100,000 to Rs200,000. Meanwhile, the age of the person willing to convert will be determined by the child’s birth certificate, school enrolment certificate or Nadra B-Form. “Only in the absence of such forms the child’s age may be determined on the basis of a medical examination,” the draft added.
