ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) set up a five-member commission to probe into the alleged forced conversion and underage marriages of Ghotki’s two Hindu sisters with Muslim men after their abduction. An IHC bench, headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah, also formed a medical board to determine the age of both the girls. He directed the federal government to assist the commission in carrying out its task.
The bench was hearing petitions filed by Aasia alias Raveena and Nadia alias Reena who approached the court seeking protection. The judges expressed displeasure over the federal and Sindh governments for taking the issue lightly and said the court had given directives for an inquiry into the matter but neither the federal nor the provincial government complied with its orders.
“Look at how New Zealand protected rights of its minorities,” remarked the judge, referring to the way the country dealt with the aftermath of terror attacks on two mosques in Christchurch. So far no issue concerning minorities had surfaced in Balochistan or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said, questioning why such issues are happening in Sindh?
Justice Minallah said it should be determined whether the girls converted to Islam under duress. Meanwhile, a report was submitted in the court, stating that the two sisters were adult at the time of their marriage.
The report compiled by Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) radiology department said Raveena and Reena are 19-and-a-half years old and 18-and-a-half years old, respectively. The age of the sisters were determined through a bone X-ray, it added.
Girls should be sent to their homes: Sushma
Meanwhile, India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said that the two girls should be restored to their families immediately. In a series of tweets, Swaraj said, "even the Prime Minister on Naya Pakistan will not believe that girls of this tender age can voluntarily decide about their conversion to another religion and marriage. Justice demands that both these girls should be restored to their families immediately," she said.
Sushma's tweet led to a spat between her and Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who had responded through tweet and said it was his country's internal issue. Replying to Chaudhry's tweet, Sushma asked him if giving data on abducted Hindu girls is making them nervous. She attributed the nervousness to a guilty conscience.
Bills against conversion and child marriage
A Hindu lawmaker from Imran Khan’s party has moved two bills in Parliament seeking enhancement of punishment for those involved in forced conversion and for making child marriage a cognisable offence. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) submitted Child Marriage Restraint Act (Amendment) Bill 2019 and the Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Act 2019 in National Assembly.
The bills were accompanied by a resolution with the support of minority lawmakers from all major political parties condemning such incidents. The five-point resolution called for immediate passage of the bill against forced conversions, which had been unanimously passed by the Sindh Assembly in 2016 and then reverted due to pressure of extremist elements, from all the legislatures. Through the resolution, the lawmakers demanded strict action against the culprits, including controversial religious figures who are involved in forced conversions.
