Embraced Islam willingly: Pak media on 3 Hindu sisters kidnapped by teachers

India Today

10 hours ago

A disturbing case of the alleged abduction and forced conversion of three Hindu sisters and their male cousin by their teachers in Pakistan has been downplayed in local media reports, which claim the group embraced Islam willingly.The male cousin and one of the girls are reportedly minors, aged 13 and 15 respectively, while the other two girls, aged 19 and 21, are adults. According to family members, all four were abducted last week in Shahdadpur city of Sindh province.advertisementLater, following a joint operation, the police rescued them from Karachi.
After being rescued, the four were presented before Judicial Magistrate Aijaz Ali Chadio and recorded their statements under Section 164 of the CrPC. The court ruled that minors should be returned to their parents, whereas adults, both medical students, should be sent to a safe house to "decide freely", as per reports in multiple Pakistani news outlets.Meanwhile, some Pakistani media outlets reported that the victims converted voluntarily, even as activists and Hindu community members alleged coercion and institutional apathy of the police and the judiciary.Two arrested suspects, Farhan Khaskheli and Zulfiqar Khaskheli, who were teachers of the Hindu siblings, were released on surety bonds after kidnapping charges were dropped."Shahdadpur: Four Hindu siblings embraced Islam in Sindh," the Karachi-based ARY News headlined their news report after the court granted the two accused bail.advertisementThe judge also instructed the parents not to discuss matters of religion with the girls, and directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanghar to provide security to the family, reported The Friday Times.The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) took suo-motu notice of the case, calling forced conversions "illegal" and demanding action from the authorities.Pakistani journalist Veengas J said, "If such incidents had occurred in other countries, Bilawal Bhutto or elite media journalists and activists would have delivered sermons on human rights and ethics. However, their grave silence in the case of Hindu girls and a boy in Shahdadpur, where minors were converted, is glaring".Meanwhile, Bangkok-based Pakistani human rights activist Faraz Pervaiz wrote on X that minors were falsely declared adults, their original IDs were ignored, no clerics were held accountable, even as he alleged that religious minorities were not safe in Pakistan.However, ARY reported that the four siblings themselves testified to having embraced Islam willingly, an assertion that, given Pakistan's track record on minority rights, could very well be the result of coercion or duress.Family members of the four Hindus, along with the Hindu community body, Panchayat, have alleged, both in court and publicly, that the individuals were forcibly abducted and converted to Islam.advertisementThe incident has drawn widespread anger across Sindh and members of the Hindu minority group are reportedly demanding protection under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.- Ends