PPakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered a probe into reports of alleged abduction, forced conversion and underage marriages of two teenage Hindu girls in Sindh province and to take immediate steps for their recovery, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday.
The two girls, Raveena (13) and Reena (15), were allegedlykidnapped by a group of “influential” men from their home in Ghotki district inSindh on the eve of Holi.
Soon after the kidnapping, a video went viral in which acleric was purportedly shown soleminising the Nikah (marriage) of the twogirls. In a separate video, the minor girls can be seen saying that theyaccepted Islam of their own free will.
In a Twitter post in Urdu on Sunday, Information MinisterChaudhry said that the prime minister has asked the Sindh chief minister tolook into reports that the girls in question have been taken to Rahim Yar Khanin Punjab.
Chaudhry said the prime minister has also ordered the Sindhand Punjab governments to devise a joint action plan in light of the incident,and to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents from happening again.
“The minorities in Pakistan make up the white of our flagand all of our flag’s colours are precious to us. Protection of our flag is ourduty,” he said.
On Saturday, Chaudhry said that the government had takennotice of reports of the forced conversion and underage marriages of the twogirls.
The Hindu community in Pakistan has carried out massivedemonstrations calling for strict action to be taken against those responsible,while reminding Prime Minister Khan of his promises to the minorities of thecountry.
Last year, Khan during his election campaign had said hisparty’s agenda was to uplift the various religious groups across Pakistan andsaid they would take effective measures to prevent forced marriages of Hindugirls.
Sanjesh Dhanja, President of Pakistan Hindu Sewa WelfareTrust, an NGO, earlier urged Prime Minister Khan to take note of the incidentand prove to everyone that minorities were indeed safe and secure in Pakistan.
“The truth is minorities suffer from different sorts ofpersecution and the problem of young Hindu girls being kidnapped at gunpointand forced to convert to Islam or get married to much older men is widespreadin Sindh,” he said.
Dhanja said the Hindu community had staged several sit-insin Ghotki district after which police reluctantly registered FIR against theaccused persons. The Hindu community leaders have claimed that the accusedbelonged to the Kohbar and Malik tribes in the area.
Following the incident, an FIR was filed by the girls’brother, alleging that their father had an altercation with the accusedsometime ago and on the eve of Holi they armed with pistols forcibly enteredtheir home and took the sisters away.
A Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MPA Nand Kumar Goklani,who had initially moved a bill against forced conversions, urged the governmentto get the law passed immediately.
Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan.According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan. However,according to the community, over 90 lakh Hindus are living in the country.Majority of Pakistan’s Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where theyshare culture, traditions and language with their Muslim fellows.