(Asia Times) When the provincial government of Sindh assembly tabled a bill against forced religious conversion in November, the clergy reacted angrily, with the Council of Islamic Ideology – the country’s highest religious consultative forum – wasting no time in declaring the law un-Islamic, forcing the government to withdraw its bill before it could see the light of the day.
Politicians in Sindh – a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stronghold – had drafted the legislation following a string of abductions, forced conversions and rape cases involving Hindu girls and boys in various parts of the province.
The NGO South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK) reported in July 2015 that at least 1,000 Hindu girls are forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan every year. Its report also defined “forced conversion” as involving the use of pressure, force, duress, or threats – either physical, emotional, or psychological – to make someone change their religion.
