Minors among riskiest groups facing faith change in Pakistan

Minor boys and girls in Pakistan are among the riskiest groups facing faith change in Pakistan as the rise of atrocities on minors among religious groups goes relatively unnoticed, reported a Canada-based think tank, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS).

The ethnic minorities in the South Asian country are suffering the most as they are deprived of their basic rights and boys and girls are among Pakistan's riskiest groups facing kidnapping and forcible conversion to Islam. Minor girls are also often forced into pre-arranged marriages.

As per the statistics of 2021, around a thousand cases were reported annually. In a recent incident in Sindh, Chanda Mehraj was kidnapped in Hyderabad, when she was returning home, her parents said, IIFFRAS reported.

Separately, a 13-year-old Sikh boy was gang-raped in Jacobabad whose assailants escaped from the police station.

Citing a report published in November 2021 by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Farahnaz Ispahani, a former member of the Pakistan National Assembly said: "Forced conversions are heinous because they coerce young girls from minority communities, who are used as soft targets to inflict pain and violence against the larger communities."

"Pakistan has faced global opprobrium for its shaky commitments to safeguarding religious minorities, and the unwillingness of the Pakistani government to denounce extremism without equivocation. But that has not slowed the momentum of oppression targeting Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadis, who are among the most marginalized and persecuted groups in the country.

"Forced conversions are now the primary form of inflicting violence and wiping out entire communities in Pakistan. Most cases of forced conversion go unreported, as the status of religious minorities is significantly diminishing. Making matters exceedingly worse, such cases bring layers of trauma to the victims and their families," she added, reported IIFFRAS.

The misuse of the draconian blasphemy laws against minorities and even members of the Muslim community to settle personal grudges is rampant in Pakistan.

The minorities in Pakistan are constantly being murdered and subjected to inhuman brutalities in the name of blasphemy, conversion to Islam, and other sectarian differences.