Church leaders have thanked Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for ordering an investigation into forced conversions of females from religious minorities.
“The PM has ordered an investigation on a case-by-case basis of incidents of forced con-versions of minor girls belonging to minority communities, particularly Christian and Hindu, to find reasons for this issue. Law and rights are equal for all. Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and daughters of minorities are our daughters as well,” said Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, the PM’s special representative on religious harmony.
“Forced marriages, forced conversion of religion and abdu-ction of underage girls of other religions in the name of marriages will not be tolerated. The human rights ministry, in consultation with other stakeholders, is working out a mechanism to eliminate the fear of forced marriage among non-Muslims.”
Ashrafi was speaking at a joint press conference on November 30 with Catholic and Protestant bishops on Nov. 30 at St Peter’s School of Lahore.
Church of Pakistan Bishop Azad Marshall, president of the National Council of Church-es, welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision.
“We urge Islamic scholars and government officials to sit with us and develop a mechanism for judging instances of religious conversion of children. Many cases go unreported due to societal pressure and fear of reprisal from the accused” he said.