Hindu girl abducted, forcibly married off to Muslim man in Pakistan

A Hindu girl in Pakistan’s Sindh province was allegedly converted and married off to a Muslim man. According to the report, the 16-year-old Hindu girl was abducted before she was married off to the Muslim man.

Anusha Meghwar, from Mehghwar tribe, was allegedly abducted from Salam Kot area in Tharparkar. Meghawar was later forcibly converted and married off to the Muslim man.

The Muslim man, to whom Meghawar has been married off, reportedly enjoys support of the local Muslim cleric who is known to have converted many Hindu minorities people in the past. According to the the reports, at least 80 per cent of the population of Tharparkar area belongs to the Hindu faith.

However, the Hindu population is a victim to an ongoing assault by anti-Hindu groups who target them for abductions, rape, forced conversions, and forced marriages.

Even though such cases are being reported on almost regular basis, neither the federal government of Imran Khan not the provincial government of Pakistan People Party (PPP) have taken any steps to curb and stop such incidents from happening.

The latest incident comes as a serious dent to the promises of the ruling government of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan who had promised to prevent forced conversions and marriages of Hindu girls.

“Anusha’s forced marriage has once again conveyed a message to the Hindu community of the area that their children were not safe in Pakistan and they had taken a wrong decision in 1947 to stay in Sindh,” Kapil Dev, a human rights activist from Tharparkar, said.

“Another case of a Hindu female child forcefully converted and married off. Disgusting but there will be no action as politics comes first for all players,” Reham Khan wrote.

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Farzana Bari, a human rights activist said, “Such incidents create a lot of uncertainty and fear among the minorities and make them feel unsafe in Pakistan, which is very bad and needs urgent and immediate attention of the government.”

Javed Siddique, a renowned analyst also condemned the incident saying, “Islam does not allow anyone to force a person of other faiths to follow its path. It is highly condemnable that some clerics are using Islam as their shield for such crimes. Our constitution also stops forced conversions and marriages.”

Meghawar’s case has certainly raised many questions on the credibility of the ruling government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the provincial government of Pakistan People Party (PPP) as it has spoiled the religious harmony and violated the Sindh government’s Child Marriage Restraint Act of 2013. The act bars marriages of girls below the age of 18.

“Even if she [Anusha Meghawar] has taken this decision out of her own will, she will have to wait for two more years as marriage of a person below 18 is not permissible in Sindh,” human rights activist Kapil Dev said.

In a report by Movement of Solidarity and Peace in Pakistan, an estimated 1,000 Christians and Hindu women are converted and married off to Muslim men forcibly every year.

Imran Khan had recently challenged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had said that Pakistan’s treatment with its minorities will be a classic example for the Modi government on how to treat minorities.

However, Anusha’s abduction, forced conversation and marriage slammed Khan’s claims of religious harmony and state of minorities in Pakistan.