Islamabad, Pakistan - The minority members of the National Assembly (MNAs) on Thursday claimed a Hindu girl in Sindh was forced to convert to Islam during her one-week illegal confinement by four accused men.
Both the treasury and opposition members expressed concerns over the incident. They claimed the incident had happened to threaten the Hindu minority in Sindh.
Giyan Singh, MNA from the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), said the Hindu girl, Sapna, was kidnapped on September 14 in Jacobabad and remained in illegal confinement for a week.
He dismissed Interior State Minister Dr Shahzad Waseem’s arguments that the girl had converted to Islam with her own free will. “The girl was kept at an unknown place for a week and was forced to do as she was told,” he added.
He demanded the National Assembly speaker form a parliamentary committee to look into the matter, adding that the incident had damaged Pakistan’s image abroad.
MNA Dev Das of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) claimed the girl had not converted to Islam with her free will, but was threatened by the Muslim community that she would be killed if she reverted to Hinduism. The state minister for interior said the girl was allegedly kidnapped on September 14 and the police registered the case on the same day against four people on the request of the girl’s father, Giyan Chand.
He said the police arrested two of the accused and recovered the girl, adding that the girl recorded her statement with the police and later, told the sessions court that she had converted to Islam by her own free will.
Showing a copy of her statement, the minister said the court had disposed of the case after the girl requested the court to allow her to stay with her new husband, Shamsuddin. The girl told the court that she loved Shamsuddin and had converted to Islam because of him.
However the minority MNAs refuse to believe the statement of the girl. They claim the girl must have been forced to make such statement.
Mr Dev Das said he had talked to girl’s relatives and concluded that she could not marry because she has not attained puberty under the Hindu law. He said girls under the Hindu law attain puberty at the age of 20, but Sapna is 17 years old.
MNAs Ramesh Lal and Krishan Bheel said the incident reflected the Muslim community in Jacobabad wanted to expel the Hindus who have been living here from the past 5,000 years.
The NA speaker wanted to dispose off the matter after the state minister interior’s statement, but the minority MNAs insisted on forming a committee to investigate the incident. They said no one should be forced to change their religion.