Rights specialists from the United Nations have deplored abductions, compelled marriages and conversions of women from Pakistan’s spiritual minorities, urging the federal government to swiftly halt such practices.
“We’re deeply troubled to listen to that ladies as younger as 13 are being kidnapped from their households, trafficked to areas removed from their properties, made to marry males generally twice their age, and coerced to transform to Islam,” the specialists stated in a press release on Monday.
“We’re very involved that such marriages and conversions happen underneath risk of violence to those women and girls, or their households.”
The UN specialists known as on Pakistan’s authorities “to take instant steps to stop and completely examine these acts”.
In response, Pakistan’s federal minister for human rights, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, informed Al Jazeera the federal government is doing its finest to make sure safety of human rights of the nation’s minorities.
“Pakistan’s courts are cognisant of the state of affairs and they’re specializing in guaranteeing implementation of human rights. They’re even issuing instructions in instances of compelled conversions and youngster marriages. We have now arrange helplines and given directions to handle such issues,” he stated on Tuesday.
The UN specialists’ assertion got here as activists from Pakistan’s Hindu and Christian communities proceed to report abductions and compelled conversions of younger ladies within the Muslim majority nation.
Yearly, dozens of women – largely youngsters – from the Hindu neighborhood primarily within the southern province of Sindh fall sufferer to this observe, facilitated by spiritual leaders and teams, in keeping with activists.
Compelled conversions and compelled marriages are forbidden in Islam.
In response to the 2017 census, there are 4.4 million Hindus in Pakistan – 2.14 p.c of whole inhabitants – whereas Christians quantity round 2.6 million, or 1.27 p.c of the inhabitants.
Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani of the Pakistan Hindu Council, a Karachi-based consultant physique of Hindus in Pakistan, informed Al Jazeera that whereas the variety of instances isn’t as big as it’s made out to be, there may be authorities inaction over the matter.
“The federal government has not proven willingness to provoke a laws. So even when there’s a single case, it’s handled as if there are 10 instances, and it ends in disrepute to the nation,” he stated.
“The absence of a [federal] regulation to stop the state of affairs leaves sure components in society to take benefit. We want laws to cease this.”
The rights specialists, who’re appointed by the UN Human Rights Council however don’t converse on behalf of the world physique, additionally pointed to stories indicating that Pakistan’s courtroom system permits offences in opposition to spiritual minority ladies and younger ladies “by accepting, with out essential examination, fraudulent proof”.
“Relations say that victims’ complaints are not often taken significantly by the police, both refusing to register these stories or arguing that no crime has been dedicated by labelling these abductions as ‘love marriages’,” they stated.
The UN specialists identified that abductors usually “drive their victims to signal paperwork which falsely attest to their being of authorized age for marriage in addition to marrying and changing of free will”.
“These paperwork are cited by the police as proof that no crime has occurred,” they stated.
Peter Jacob, researcher and government director at Centre for Social Justice Pakistan, a Lahore-based advocacy group, accused the Pakistani authorities of “outright denial” of the problem.
“In instances of compelled conversions and youngster marriages, faith is used as a canopy, so the kid who has been compelled to transform isn’t produced in courtroom and therefore they can’t categorical if the conversion or marriage occurred by will or by drive,” he informed Al Jazeera.
However minister Pirzada stated stories of an rising variety of compelled conversions are a part of a “nefarious agenda by Pakistan’s enemies”.
“We all know there are people who find themselves paid to run campaigns and put together stories in opposition to the nation, and we all know the aim is to malign the nation,” he stated.