Minorities demand new laws for protection

Minorities demand new laws for protection

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD, March 16, 2012: Minority legislators on Thursday demanded the government do proper legislation for their protection and urged for stoppage of forced conversion to Islam.

The legislators said that Islam did not allow forced conversion. On a point of order, PPakistan PPeople’s PParty (PPPPPP) legislator Lal Chand told the House that injustices were carried out against members of minority communities. He said four female members of the Hindu community were kidnapped and there were reports that they had changed their religion and accepted Islam. Chand informed the House that a gang of about 500 armed people kidnapped them at gunpoint and later forced to change their religion. He said the teenage girls who did not know about teachings of Islam could not convert on their own.

PPakistan Muslim League- awaz (PPML- ) M A Araish Kumar said that forced conversions of the members of minority communities in the country were on the rise. He regretted that a sitting M A openly confessed that conversion of a minority member to Islam was his work and that he would continue the process. Another minority M A from the ruling party, Ramesh Lal, regretted that local police and administration officials fully supported the minorities’ forced conversions to Islam.

Regretting the forced conversions, Mahesh Kumar of the PPPPPP said that Islam did not allow forced conversions and urged the legislators to move for proper legislation on the issue. He asked for inquiry of such cases across the country. The Hindu community in Sindh felt insecure and a sense of deprivation prevailed there, he added. Like other important amendments to the constitution the government had done, Kumar said, the legislators should do proper legislation for minority communities to ensure proper protection to their families and stop forced conversions to any other religion.

Akram Masih Gill of the PPakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PPML-Q) said that a number of things had been done for welfare and development of minority communities.