Hindus in the USA and across the world are incensed over the Statement of Vice President JD Vance, about his wife, hoping Usha Vance will one day c
Forced marriage and religious conversion of underage minority girls in Pakistan is a serious problem. By.Dr. Emanuel Adil Ghouri
Apart from the political, social and religious issues and various challenges faced by minorities, a very serious issue is the forced marriage and religious conversion of underage minority girls which requires effective legislation to prevent but governments have turned a blind eye to it in every era due to pressure from religious extremist parties. Despite continuous press conferences and protests by nationalist christian organizations, this unstoppable cycle of injustice against minorities continues
According to a report released by the Aurat Foundation on July 13, 2015, approximately 1,000 girls are forced to convert annually. Investigative reports by the Catholic News Agency and other social organizations support this Aurat Foundation report.
Attempts were made in the Sindh Assembly to criminalize forced conversion but failed once again in 2019, demonstrating the lack of interest on the part of political leaders in protecting women and girls from minority religious communities. Bills introduced in the National Assembly in 2016 and again in 2019 were rejected. On September 24, 2020, the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony rejected the Protection of Minorities Rights Bill 2020, which also covered the issue of forced conversion.
The Prohibition of Forced Conversions Bill, 2021, prepared by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights, was “rejected” by a parliamentary committee to protect minorities from forced conversion. The committee did so over objections from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Council of Islamic Ideology.
Independent human rights organizations have reported a “record increase” in forced conversions of minority girls in Pakistan since 2020. According to some reports, 36 underage non-Muslim girls have been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan since the beginning of 2021.
See the Center for Social Justice report on determining the age of young girls abducted for forced conversion. According to the Center for Social Justice, 70 percent of the victims of forced conversion were under 18 years of age, of whom 63 percent were 14 years of age or younger. Only 8 percent of the women who allegedly converted to Islam were over 18 years of age.
In this regard, the report of the National Commission for Human Rights shows the seriousness of the issues. I am attaching an excerpt from the report. On April 30, 2025, the NCRC launched its report “2024” in Islamabad and highlighted, “Forced conversion, especially of young girls from Hindu and Christian communities, is a serious violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms. as a result, forced conversions and marriages, especially marriages with elderly men, have been reported in Sindh. 69 percent of all reported cases are from Sindh, followed by 30 percent from Punjab. Of these, 71 percent of the victims are girls under the age of 18, while 22 percent are under the age of 14.
Pakistani authorities have described these figures as "nonsense and baseless," but most experts agree that forced conversion is a serious problem in some parts of Pakistan. The government's religious affairs spokesman, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, chairman of the Ulema Council of Pakistan, has said in a media statement that there has not been a single case of forced conversion in Pakistan
The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) has rescued minor girls from criminals, considering forced conversion in Sindh and Punjab as a violation of human rights.on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) for its 113th session, the NCHR said, "The NCHR has taken suo motu cognizance of numerous cases of forced marriages and abduction of girls for forced conversion to Islam."
On April 11, 2024, in Geneva, UN experts* expressed disappointment at the continued lack of protection for young women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan. They urged Pakistan to bring perpetrators to justice,
early and forced marriage, abduction and trafficking of minority girls, and uphold the country's international human rights obligations. The experts expressed their concerns in a letter, Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan grants every citizen the right to practice and propagate his religion. Furthermore, Section 498B of the Pakistan Penal Code prohibits forced marriages, making it a crime to marry a minor and a non-Muslim woman.But: Law enforcement agencies often pay little attention to these cases due to pressure from influential local figures, which does not meet the requirements of justice. It is believed that the purpose of these forced marriages is limited to sexual pleasure only. After some time of sexual gratification, these girls are disappeared. No one knows whether they are alive or killed.
According to a report released by the Aurat Foundation on July 13, 2015, approximately 1,000 girls are forced to convert annually. Investigative reports by the Catholic News Agency and other social organizations support this Aurat Foundation report.
Attempts were made in the Sindh Assembly to criminalize forced conversion but failed once again in 2019, demonstrating the lack of interest on the part of political leaders in protecting women and girls from minority religious communities. Bills introduced in the National Assembly in 2016 and again in 2019 were rejected. On September 24, 2020, the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony rejected the Protection of Minorities Rights Bill 2020, which also covered the issue of forced conversion.
The Prohibition of Forced Conversions Bill, 2021, prepared by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights, was “rejected” by a parliamentary committee to protect minorities from forced conversion. The committee did so over objections from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Council of Islamic Ideology.
Independent human rights organizations have reported a “record increase” in forced conversions of minority girls in Pakistan since 2020. According to some reports, 36 underage non-Muslim girls have been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan since the beginning of 2021.
See the Center for Social Justice report on determining the age of young girls abducted for forced conversion. According to the Center for Social Justice, 70 percent of the victims of forced conversion were under 18 years of age, of whom 63 percent were 14 years of age or younger. Only 8 percent of the women who allegedly converted to Islam were over 18 years of age.
In this regard, the report of the National Commission for Human Rights shows the seriousness of the issues. I am attaching an excerpt from the report. On April 30, 2025, the NCRC launched its report “2024” in Islamabad and highlighted, “Forced conversion, especially of young girls from Hindu and Christian communities, is a serious violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms. as a result, forced conversions and marriages, especially marriages with elderly men, have been reported in Sindh. 69 percent of all reported cases are from Sindh, followed by 30 percent from Punjab. Of these, 71 percent of the victims are girls under the age of 18, while 22 percent are under the age of 14.
Pakistani authorities have described these figures as "nonsense and baseless," but most experts agree that forced conversion is a serious problem in some parts of Pakistan. The government's religious affairs spokesman, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, chairman of the Ulema Council of Pakistan, has said in a media statement that there has not been a single case of forced conversion in Pakistan
The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) has rescued minor girls from criminals, considering forced conversion in Sindh and Punjab as a violation of human rights.on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) for its 113th session, the NCHR said, "The NCHR has taken suo motu cognizance of numerous cases of forced marriages and abduction of girls for forced conversion to Islam."
On April 11, 2024, in Geneva, UN experts* expressed disappointment at the continued lack of protection for young women and girls from minority communities in Pakistan. They urged Pakistan to bring perpetrators to justice,
early and forced marriage, abduction and trafficking of minority girls, and uphold the country's international human rights obligations. The experts expressed their concerns in a letter, Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan grants every citizen the right to practice and propagate his religion. Furthermore, Section 498B of the Pakistan Penal Code prohibits forced marriages, making it a crime to marry a minor and a non-Muslim woman.But: Law enforcement agencies often pay little attention to these cases due to pressure from influential local figures, which does not meet the requirements of justice. It is believed that the purpose of these forced marriages is limited to sexual pleasure only. After some time of sexual gratification, these girls are disappeared. No one knows whether they are alive or killed.
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