Several Members of the European Parliament have raised concerns over the persecution of religious minorities living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Marches and events have taken place outside the Human Rights offices of the UN in Geneva calling for the protection of Christians in Pakistan. Questions have been raised within the European Parliament expressing concern for religious minority communities, in particular Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Sufi’s and Ahmadi’s. The European Union cannot stay silent on the matter while still giving Pakistan a trade incentive – In exchange for this beneficial relationship with the EU, Pakistan must adhere to international conventions on the protection of religious minorities which it has legally signed up to
A recent report from Global Human Rights Defence, based in the Netherlands, documented several cases within the last year of Hindu or Christian girls being abducted, forcibly married and converted to Islam. There has been a significant increase in the number of reported cases of forced conversions particularly of women and girls, crimes which are often accompanied by other disturbing practices, namely forced marriage, rape and varying forms of violence.
The story of Versha Shiva, a girl belonging to the Hindu community is particularly telling of the gravity of the situation in which minorities are being treated in Pakistan. Versha was only 12 years old when she was abducted from outside her house in the region of Sindh in September 2018. Her parents directly turned to the local police, who assured them that they will do everything they could to return her. Two days later, the police informed the father that his daughter had converted to Islam, by choice, and handed him a certificate of proof. The certificate stated: ‘I, Versha daughter of Shiva, caste Sonar, age 19, resident of District Tando Allahyar, Sindh, Pakistan, have embraced Islam by my own will and consent. My name is changed from Versha to Saira. From now onwards, I will be mentioned by my Islamic name Saira’. This certificate, where her age was incorrectly mentioned, was the last form of communication that Versha’s parents ever saw from their 12 year old daughter. After attempting for some months to arrange a meeting with her, her family had to assume that their daughter had been killed by her new ‘husband’.
Not only are religious minorities facing discrimination across all levels of society, but even worse, the police and the authorities continue to fail act in the defence of the victims of these crimes. In the case of Versha, the current investigation is neither impartial nor independent, as the police have shown themselves to be biased through their actions. We can assume this reluctance to intervene is due to the shared religious beliefs of the police and alleged perpetrators. Furthermore, any legal action has yet to even be initiated to assist the family in finding their daughter or to persecute the person who abducted, forcibly married and converted Versha Shiva.
All the other cases reported by Global Human Rights Defence present similar findings to the story of Versha. In all of them, it seems like there is a general unwillingness from the side of the authorities to get involved in such cases due to their fear of Islamic clerics, who in many instances appear to be predisposed to favour and defend the abductors. The local authorities and police are often inclined to favour Islamic perpetrators and tend to refuse filing any kinds of reports.
Regardless of Pakistan’s ratification of several international human rights conventions, members of religious minorities, and specifically women and girls, remain victims of gender and religious presentation and oppression on a large scale, and with total impunity. Despite the government’s verbal condemnation of such acts, no concrete progress will ever be achieved unless the Government of Pakistan creates concrete legislations and implements measures against local authorities who fail to take legal action against the perpetrators. The lack of cooperation from the national authorities and police in charge of enforcing the law and protecting its citizens from acts considered as crimes, bars victims from effectively filing cases or complaints on both the national and international levels. This leaves individuals from religious minority groups vulnerable to becoming victims of forced conversion, sexual harassment, forced marriage and other type of violence.
Considering the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the Islamic State of Pakistan, notably in the context of the Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP), the EU must remind Pakistan of its responsibility as a State in the first place, but also as a GSP+’s recipient, to effectively implement and ensure that all its citizens enjoy the rights enshrined in international human rights law. The abolition of forced conversion, forced (child) marriage, and gender and religious discrimination should be a priority in the EU-Pakistan dialogue. It is imperative that these failings are not only considered, but addressed, in the next Commission’s assessment of Pakistan’s GSP+ status.
Increase in Cases of Forced Conversion in Pakistan
