PM orders probe into forced conversion of 2 Hindu girls

The minorities in Pakistan make up the white of our flag and all of our flag’s colours are precious to us. Protection of our flag is our duty.

Fawad Chaudhry, Information Minister

islamabad — Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered a probe into reports of abduction, forced conversion and underage marriages of two teenage Hindu girls in Sindh province and to take immediate steps for their recovery, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday.

The two girls, Raveena,13 and Reena,15, were allegedly kidnapped by a group of “influential” men from their home in Ghotki district in Sindh on the eve of Holi. Soon after the kidnapping, a video went viral in which a cleric was purportedly shown soleminising the Nikah (marriage) of the two girls.

In a separate video, the minor girls can be seen saying that they accepted Islam of their own free will.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Information Minister FawadChaudhry said that the prime minister has asked the Sindh chief minister to look into reports that the girls in question have been taken to Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab. Chaudhry said the prime minister has also ordered the Sindh and Punjab governments to devise a joint action plan in light of the incident, and to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents from happening again.

“The minorities in Pakistan make up the white of our flag and all of our flag’s colours are precious to us. Protection of our flag is our duty,” he said.

On Saturday, Chaudhry said that the government had taken notice of reports of the forced conversion

and underage marriages of the two girls.

The Hindu community in Pakistan has carried out massive demonstrations calling for strict action to be taken against those responsible.

Sanjesh Dhanja, President of Pakistan Hindu Sewa Welfare Trust, an NGO, urged Imran to take note of the incident and prove to everyone that minorities were indeed safe and secure in Pakistan. Dhanja said the Hindu community had staged several sit-ins in Ghotki

district after which police reluctantly registered FIR against the accused persons.

The Hindu community leaders have claimed that the accused belonged to the Kohbar and Malik tribes in the area.

Following the incident, an FIR was filed by the girls’ brother, alleging that their father had an altercation with the accused sometime ago and on the eve of Holi they armed with pistols forcibly entered their home and took the sisters away.—