ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Wednesday suggested that forcible religious conversions should be declared a crime, with committee Chairperson Nasreen Jalil saying that minorities are being subjugated forcibly.
She said that the blasphemy law is being misused as Muslims often use it against other Muslims for their personal grudges.She expressed these views while addressing a meeting of the committee. The meeting was given a briefing by the Ministry of Human Rights on the Supreme Court decision in a blasphemy case.
A detailed debate was also held about the concerns of the Hindu community on forcible conversions and issues related to their marriages. Nasreen Jalil said that in light of the Supreme Court decision, the religion of a citizen cannot be changed forcibly as all citizens enjoyed equal rights. She said that there were double standards in Pakistan as there are separate laws for the privileged class and common citizens. She said that this meeting was held in order to consider recommendations and suggestions to halt the misuse of the blasphemy law. She said that it is also a sin to level false allegations against anyone.
Nasreen Jalil condemned the Jhelum incident and said that this incident made us bow our heads with shame before the world.
Aitzaz Ahsan said that a law should be made where nobody could force anyone to change his/ her religion by force. He said that the minorities had rendered great services to Pakistan and consultations should be held with the Ministry of Law about forced conversions. He said that the draft of MNA Ramesh Kumar should also be reviewed to determine where legislation was needed and where an administrative order was needed. He said that a separate briefing should be held on the National Action Plan (NAP) and the government should exert its moral pressure on parliament for its implementation. He said that the law minister, secretary law, religious affairs minister, secretary religious
affairs and secretary interior should be summoned for a briefing in the next meeting. Aitzaz Ahsan proposed that the word ‘Pakistani’ should be written and spoken instead of ‘minority’.
Senator Kabir Ahmed said that according to the Constitution of Pakistan every citizen enjoys equal rights, adding that there is also a custom in Balochistan where the murderer has to pay one share of blood money for killing a Muslim and seven for a Hindu. He said that it was the responsibility of the state to protect the citizens and our responsibility was to make legislation.
MNA Ramesh Kumar said that no religion allows forcible conversion and quoted 38 such incidents of forcible change of religion from Hinduism in Sindh and one in Balochistan. He said that he had presented the Hindu Marriage Act in the National Assembly but the Law Ministry deformed it and, therefore, he himself had to move the Supreme Court in this regard.
He said that the main problems were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the minorities were being oppressed in Sindh. He said that three bids on his life were made and an FIR was registered after 48 hours but no culprit was arrested. He said that he was still receiving threats. He said women of any religion cannot do dual marriages and they are allowed to marry after a change of religion but the religion of small children is also changed. He said that there was no concept of divorce in the Hindu religion therefore the two-year duration of divorce had been recommended in the Hindu Act. Ramesh Kumar said that the registration of Hindu marriages was not being carried out since the independence of Pakistan.