UK's parliamentary group lambasts Pakistan for deteriorating human rights of minorities

The United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Pakistani Minorities has lashed the country's administration for deteriorating human rights conditions of minorities, reported ANI. In its latest 67-page report, the group labeled the situation as a “national and international tragedy”, highlighting rampant crimes such as abduction and forceful conversion of minority girls in Pakistan. Furthermore, it noted that even after 70 years of independence, successive governments in the country have failed to contain the ‘tragic and inhuman practice.’

"Provisional estimates in a study 'Forced Marriages and Forced Conversions in the Christian Community of Pakistan' suggest that up to 1,000 religious minority women and girls face this fate every year,” an excerpt read. "However, the true numbers may never be ascertained. All these cases meet with impunity. Usually, after the abduction, the victim's relatives plead with the local police to file a First Information Report," it added.

'Police refrains from taking action in such cases'

The report also denounced the law enforcers in the Islamic country and stated that more than often Police refrain from acting in such cases. Instead of apprehending and punishing criminals, the group said, the police handed over the conversion certificates to the girl and her kin implying that the conversion had happened voluntarily. Notably, the report mentioned that two particular provinces Punjab and Sindh where such crimes were frequent. In conclusion, they asked the Boris Johnson administration to intervene in the practices that have been going on for decades.

"In court, the issue is often portrayed as a religious issue and the perpetrators' lawyers appeal to the religious sentiments of judges, by suggesting that the girls have voluntarily converted to Islam. In the majority of these cases, the decisions will go in favour of the perpetrators and the girls lose all contact with their families,” reported ANI citing UK's APPG.

Earlier in August, a discreet report published in The News stated that minorities in Pakistan are the main victims of forced conversions as there have been numerous complaints of underaged Hindus and Christian girls being forced to get married or to change their religion in the country. The elaborative report further stated that while there is an international obligation on the Imran Khan administration to fulfill, minorities in the country are facing numerous challenges including the dearth of economic opportunities. The province of Sindh is worse affected with multiple reports of underaged Hindu girls being forcibly married. 

(Image: ANI)