More Hindu Girls in Pakistan Lured into Forced Muslim Marriages and Conversions
Pakistan
“Alinah Khan”, a sixteen-year-old girl, now living in the town of Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab is still adapting to her mother calling her by her new name.
Before marriage she was known as Radha and still calls herself that when outside of her home the rare few times when she is allowed to go shopping for vegetables in a market around the corner from her house.
Alinah was abducted from Karachi about 13 months ago when some older men lured her into a car by offering her ice cream. Once in the car, she was transferred into a larger van, in which she was taken away. The next thing she knew, she was in a large area filled with many other abducted girls, listening to and reciting verses in front of a cleric to be converted to Islam. She was then forced to sign a paper making her the legal wife of a 25-year old man. Since then she has not taken off the veil forced upon her and has been kept in the home of the man and his family. She has not seen her parents or siblings for 13 months and misses them a lot.
Amarnath Motumal, a lawyer and leader of Karachis Hindu community stated that such abductions had gone up in numbers over the years and is a problem in Pakistan that needs to be dealt with. According to him the trend has grown in the past 4-5 years and growing worse each day.
Sex-selective abortion has played a large part in lowering the number of females in Pakistan which has led men to marry Hindu girls and convert them until they find a “real” Muslim girl whom they can marry as their second wife.
At least 15-20 abductions occur in Karachi each month where Hindu girls are kidnapped and forced into marriage leading to conversion and then never seeing their family members again. It happens unexpectedly and you never know when you may not see your own parents again the next day, Alinah says.
Motumal also believes that Muslim religious schools play a large part in dictating values that make abduction and forced conversion to Islam seem acceptable. A Muslim student, Abdul Mannan, 20 was quoted saying that Hindu’s are non-believers because they believe in many gods rather than one all mighty Allah. He believes that he will receive blessings from Allah by converting as many girls to Islam as possible.
According to local Muslim law in Pakistan, Muslim men are entitled to take more than one wife but many rights activists disagree with this and argue that it infringes the rights and integrity of women in the country.
Forty-year old Sunil Sushmat says that his 14-year old girl was lured away and forcibly converted to Islam after being married. He stated that she was a child and had no choice but to listen to the abductors and that he sees his wife cry and suffer every day because of her loss. He further stated that Hindus girls forced into such conversions are being treated like personal slaves.
According to many statistics a growing number of Hindus have been fleeing Pakistan and moving to India as a result of a fear of such abductions and conversions. Parvati Devi, a 70-year-old resident of Sindh stated that her family has been living in Sindh for generations and they are all planning to leave as soon as possible to India because they cannot deal with the danger that they are susceptible to on a daily basis. They are tired of living in fear and have chosen to move away as soon as possible.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the The Chakra website and staff.
this is a horror image of pakistan our indian government must give pressure for Justice of these hindu girls