KARACHI: Speakers at a programme held to discuss ‘forced conversions religious minorities faced and marriages of their girls to Muslims against their will’ said on Friday that some 374 such cases were reported so far this year across the country and 70 per cent of these cases were reported from Punjab.

“Some 260 cases of forced conversions and marriages are reported from Punjab only. Sindh reported 69 such cases, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 39 while six cases were documented in Balochistan,” said Shahnaz Sheedi, provincial coordinator of the South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP-PK), which organised the programme at a local hotel.

The organisers called it a follow-up meeting to consult on a draft about forced marriages and conversions.

The main objective of the meeting was described as to assess the issues of forced marriages and conversions, design strategies and recommendation for the draft to be tabled in the provincial assembly for approval and safeguard the rights of religious minorities.

Ms Sheedi said forced marriage and conversion were two main issues confronting religious minorities in Sindh and what was more alarming was that such incidents were on the rise.

Representing the Christian community, Michael Saleem said girls belonging to religious minorities were being kidnapped, sexually harassed and converted with impunity in the country and added that the abductors threatened to kill the girls and her families upon protest.

Ravi Dawani, general secretary of the All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat, said on the eve of Diwali, some 14,000 Hindu workers had not been given salaries as had been promised by the government.

He said many laws already existed, but were hardly implemented.

Dr Jaipal Chaberia, Rochi Ram, Mohammad Hussain Mehnati of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Rafia Gulani and others also spoke.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2014