Zardari condemns ‘forcible conversion’ of Kalash girl

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Zardari on Friday expressed concern over reports of forcible conversion of a Kalash teenager girl, resulting in a clash on Thursday between Muslim supporters of conversion and her community in Chitral. 

According to reports, the 14-year-old Kalash girl converted to Islam under the influence of a local Muslim and left her home to live with the man’s family living in the same village. But the next day she said she had made a mistake by converting to Islam and returned to her home. This infuriated the local clergy creating a law and order situation in the area. In a statement, the former president said faith is a matter of one’s conscience and freewill and nobody has a right to force conversion of anyone. The self-styled custodians of faith and morality ought to know that there is no compulsion in region, he said. Zardari said his party stands by the teenager Kalash girl whatever faith she wishes to embrace. The former president also called for a probe into the incident.