Activists Call For An End To Forced Conversions Of Minorities’ Girls
Observing the National Day of Minorities, Pakistani rights activists have urged the government of Pakistan to put a lid on the surging menace of forced conversions of the minorities’ girls. Activists hailing from religious minorities emphasized on the guidelines laid down by the founder of Pakistan Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself. They urged that efficacious measures must be taken to make the deteriorating conditions of the non-Muslims living in Pakistan better and safer.
In this regard while addressing a rally titled, “Jinnah Ka Pakistan Awami Rally,” Mr. Akmal Bhatti Chairman of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan expressed serious concerns about the rising incidents of abductions, rape, forced marriages and forced conversions of the minor girls from the minorities’ communities. He pointed fingers at the political, social and economic exploitation of religious minorities, terming it blatantly contrary to the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He censured the state saying that despite the fact that the extrajudicial killings of religious minorities continues on the pretext of the sensitive issue of blasphemy law, yet the state seems to be helpless in coping with such elements.
Other speakers who addressed the attendees of the Jinnah Ka Pakistan Awami Rally organized in Islamabad included, Shamoon Gul, Sardar Ram Singh, Anush Bhatti, Asif Jan, Sadaf Adnan, Khalid Raheel, Samuel Latif, Fayaz Bhatti and others.
The Speakers strongly criticized the government’s fiasco in addressing the issues of the destitute and backward sections of the society. They said that all the governments have failed to succor the economically battered sections of the society who are facing discrimination at all levels. They demanded electoral reforms asserting that the current system has introduced a culture of bribery, nepotism and many such evils which has prevented the religious minorities from having true representation in the provincial assemblies as well as the National Assembly.