The persecution of minorities in Pakistan continues unabated as another incident of abduction and forcible conversion of girls belonging to minority communities to Islam have come to the fore. Huma Younus, a 14-year-old Christian girl from Karachi was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to her captor Abdul Jabbar.
Huma Younus, 14-year-old Christian girl from Karachi, kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to her abductor Abdul Jabbar. Huma, a class 8 student, was taken to Dera Ghazi Khan and papers of her conversion/marriage were sent to her parents. #endenforcedconversions pic.twitter.com/7NnjJZK7VP
— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat) December 10, 2019
According to the reports, Younas was kidnapped on October 10 by three men who waited on the girl’s parents to leave the house before forcibly abducting her. She was reportedly taken to Dera Ghazi Khan, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan, about 600 Kms from her home.
The law enforcement officials initially rejected the numerous attempts made by the girl’s parents to file a complaint of abduction. However, after their persistence efforts, the police lodged a complaint on October 12.
A few days after her conversion, the family of the girl received conversion papers and marriage certificate. Her mother, Nagina Younas claimed that the papers are fake, as it takes several hours to reach where she was taken but the date of conversion on the papers was the same as the day of her abduction. She exhorted the Pakistani courts to intervene in the matter.
After the court hearing, the victim’s distraught mother asked if the Christian women in Pakistan should kill their daughters if kidnapping and conversion are what they are destined for. The parents of the girl have created a video asking for the help of Pope Francis and in order to draw international attention to the plight of Christian girls in Pakistan. She has also pleaded to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, opposition politician Bilawal Bhutto and Pakistani Army Chief for help.
After a court hearing Huma’s mother Nagina Younas asks, should Christian mothers kill their daughters if conversion and kidnapping is their fate in Pakistan? She peads to the PM, Bilawal Bhutto and Army Chief for help. (Video via family’s lawyer Tabbasum Yousaf) pic.twitter.com/1r8YelsmTW
— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat) December 10, 2019
Lawyer Tabassum Yousaf, on behalf of the archdiocese of Karachi, is fighting the case of Huma. Yousaf claimed that five appeals made to the courts in Karachi have yielded no result. In fact, now the kidnappers have filed an appeal to the High Court, seeking liberation of the girl from her parent’s authority, claiming that she is of age.
As per International Christian Concern, there have been 34 incidents of abduction, forced conversions, rape and assault against children, women in the first nine months of 2019, displaying the vulnerability of Christians in Pakistan.
Girls from other minority groups aren’t safe in Pakistan either. In a similar incident, a young Hindu girl named Chandri Kolhi from Noukot, Mirpurkhas, was allegedly abducted, converted and married to Allah Dino recently.
Earlier, Jagjit Kaur, a Sikh girl was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Nankana Sahib which had caused a huge uproar. In another horrific incident, a 13-year-old Pooja Sotahar Kumari, daughter of Fatan Rathore, resident of village Bakhsho Laghari in Hyderabad district’s Hosri Taluka, was kidnapped, forcefully converted and subsequently married off to a man identified as Syed Irshad Shah.
Pakistan is notoriously infamous for its persecution of not only religious minorities but also ethnic minorities within their own country. The forceful conversion programmes have often been unleashed against the minorities especially Christians, Sikhs and Hindus living in Pakistan with utmost brutality.
