According to her parents, a 13-year old Christian girl Arzoo Raja was abducted by a man in his 40s, forcefully converted to Islam and then married to him. Then a local court dismissed the plea moved by her family to send her to a shelter home so that she was released from the custody of her older Muslim spouse. The court said that Arzoo Raja accepted Islam willingly and she told them that she was not abducted and was not forced to marry the 44-year-old.

Even if the girl says she was not forced to convert to Islam and did it wilfully, how is child marriage being allowed? The husband says she is 18 and so does she in an affidavit but NADRA records show she was born in 2007. Her marriage certificate does not mention her age or details of her CNIC. A medical certificate needed to prove a person is 18 was not provided either. Legal experts say that child marriage is a very integral part of forced conversions. They say that the law against child marriage is inadequate. Some believe that all child marriages should be prohibited and declared invalid but legal age of girls is something that many religious leaders do not agree with.

The National Commission for Minorities has finalised a draft law to curb forced conversions but the law will be finalised only after consultations with the provinces and the leaders of all schools of thought. Senate Committee on Minorities’ Rights led by Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar is also working on the issue of forced conversions by getting all stakeholders, from minorities to religious leaders, on board.

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Forced conversion of Hindu girls in Sindh is an issue that has been highlighted a lot. Minorities’ representatives say that why is it that only their girls are converted and not men. But in some cases, the conversions are not forced. They are be due to economic reasons or to get away from families but the tool to justify these conversions is consent. “Why is it that mainstream religious parties are never involved in conversion of girls from minority communities and only fringe groups like Mian Mithu’s, etc?” a parliamentarian questioned while speaking to The Current. They said that administrative laxity, if turned to agility, can decrease the cases of forced conversions.

Despite laws, their implementation is more important. We hope the courts will not give a stamp of approval to child marriages and forced conversions. Minorities are as much citizens of Pakistan as the Muslims.