14/04/2023
Coerced religious conversion is a longstanding issue in Sindh that dates back to the formation of Pakistan, with minorities often being subjected to oppression.
In 2019, a panel of approximately 12 independent United Nations human rights experts, which included rapporteurs specializing in contemporary forms of slavery, minority issues, violence against women, and the sale and sexual exploitation of children, expressed deep concern regarding the increasing incidence of forced marriages and conversions of young girls from religious minorities in Sindh, a Muslim-majority province.
This practice, which involves kidnapping Hindu girls and coercing them into marriage with Muslim men, often their abductors, is widespread in southern Sindh, where the majority of the minority community resides. While Hindus account for merely 2% and Christians less than 1.5% of Pakistan's population of roughly 220 million, the forced conversion of these religious minorities remains a major human rights issue. The U.N experts called for immediate measures to address this alarming trend.
Recently, a video went viral, showing Suman Lohana, a Hindu woman and the daughter of Chetan Das Lohana from Diplo's Lohana Mohalla in Deharki, visiting the home of Pirmian Javed Ahmed Qadri and reciting words to convert to Islam.
The young Hindu woman, now known as Kainat Bibi after her conversion to Islam, was featured in the viral video where she can be seen reciting the words and accepting her new faith. In an interview with the media, Kainat Bibi claimed that she had no pressure to convert and that she had willingly done so after falling in love with a young man named Sajjad two weeks prior. When asked about Sajjad's caste by the journalist, Kainat appeared unaware and was unable to provide an answer.
Following the circulation of a sexually explicit video purportedly involving Summan, there were allegations of blackmail being made against her. However, investigative journalist Indus Hillard has confirmed that the video was fake.
"Suman Lohana got married off to a Muslim man named Sajjad Maher but she didn't know what was his family name. Those who beat the drums of free will — Or call our work untrue. They should watch a video: How Hindu girls are threatened." Says Veengas a journalist who is working on Enforced Conversion
Asad Chandio, a journalist from Sindh who is now based in the United States and actively working on the issue of enforced conversions, stated that "Hindu girls embracing Islam, seemingly as a source of inspiration, amidst a backdrop of heavy rainfall and floods."
A local human rights activist has reported that around 25 cases of young Hindu girls and women being converted to Islam occur monthly in the Kunri and Samaro talukas of Umerkot. Due to the area's high levels of poverty and the marginalized status of most of its inhabitants, who mostly belong to scheduled castes, families feel powerless to report such incidents to the authorities or speak out publicly against them. As a result, the number of cases of alleged forced conversion that make it into the media is extremely small. In fact, according to records maintained by the aforementioned organization, only 13 Hindus residing in the Samaro and Kunri talukas converted to Islam in 2015 and 2016, as reported in news outlets.
