Darnesh Kumar Paryani, a Hindu senator in Pakistan’s parliament, criticized the alleged “forced conversion” of Hindu girls to Islam in Sindh province. He referred to the Quran in parliament to refer to those who “force conversions” in the Muslim-majority country.
The senator stressed that these actions are damaging Pakistan’s reputation. He appealed to the government and people of Pakistan to stop such forced conversions.
“Our Hindu girls are being forced to accept Islam,” Darnesh said, reciting a section of the Quran that condemns forced conversion in Islam.
The Pakistani senator then read out the 109th chapter of the Islamic holy book, Surah Al-Kafirun. This part of the Holy Qur’an teaches freedom of choice, which is important for religion.
Roughly translated, the text means, “I do not worship your works, and you do not worship mine.” We are not going to change who we worship. You have your religion and I have mine. ”
“These perpetrators do not follow the laws of Pakistan, they do not follow the Quran. They are (forcibly) converting our girls,” the senator said, referring to Sindh’s history. He reminded parliament that there had never been any forced conversions.
Senator Paryani then mentioned Priya Kumari, a six-year-old Hindu girl who the politician said was abducted several years ago. Since then, the whereabouts of the kidnapped girl are unknown. He claimed that the person behind the kidnapping is a named politician but no action was taken against him.
“Nobody has the courage to arrest him and put him in jail,” he said.
Forced conversion in Pakistan
According to records from 2014 BBC Reports say that every year in Pakistan, thousands of young Christian and Hindu girls are forced to convert to Islam, and are sometimes married against their will.
The BBC reported that “a rise in domestic extremism has made life extremely difficult for 10% of Pakistan’s ethnic minorities,” adding, “These victims may have no way to protect themselves from violence. A lot,” he added.
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