In yet another incident of abduction and forced conversion of girls belonging to the minority community in Pakistan, two Hindu girls, Suthi and Shama were forcibly abducted from Chundiko town of Sindh.
It has been alleged that two minor Hindu girls have been abducted by the brother of an influential local politician in Sindh province, and the family of the girls have alleged that they are facing constant threats. In a video, the victims’ family said that their minor daughters Suthi and Shama were forcibly abducted by the brother of Pir Faisal Shah Jeelani, a member of the National Assembly.
A family member said that Hindu minorities continue to face persecution in Sindh and they fear that girls will be converted to Islam. He said: “Minorities here are facing persecution. They have abducted our daughters. We are not getting justice and are continuously facing atrocities. The brother of a Member of National Assembly (MNA) Pir Fasil Shah Jeelani threatens more abduction if we complain about it. Hindu minorities are facing threats. We can’t face this torture and would like to move out of Sindh”.
The family also said that police are not helping the victims but deliberately not taking any action due to the influence of the politician.
The family said that when they went to court in connection with the case, Suthi was in the vehicle of Pir Faisal Shah Jeelani, and they didn’t let them meet the girl. They said that the girl was crying, and they don’t even know where the other girl Shama is. The family also alleged that the police is taking the side of the abductors, and have refused to file any FIR.
“They are forcefully converting our daughters and are threatening us to not voice up or else the consequences will cost more Hindu daughters. We demand the state to protect us or throw us out of Pakistan because we can’t afford our more daughters, we just can’t take this pain anymore. Police is also with them. SHO Thari Mir is also supporting them. He didn’t collaborate with us. They blackmailed us and took us to Khairpur court with two police cars and 2-3 cars of Pirs, but our daughter wasn’t there then they took us to Gambhat court where they didn’t let us meet our daughter and said now you leave this place as soon as possible even when the girl was crying. Our daughter wasn’t in Police custody. She was with Pir Shah, and we don’t even know where our other daughter Shama is. SHO isn’t lodging FIR. He is misbehaving and misguiding us” said Suthi’s father.
“I went to court. My daughter was helplessly crying outside the court in the custody of Pir Hussain. They didn’t let us meet with her…,” Suthi’s mother said before she started crying in the video.
“Our two daughters are taken by Dhareja. Police are also with them. They are fully supporting them. We are poor. We don’t have money to raise our voice. We are being threatened. Our one daughter was brought to the court where they didn’t let us meet our daughter while she was crying and we have no clue of our other daughter. Throw us out of Pakistan but please don’t do such atrocity,” an uncle of the girls said.
The World Sindhi Congress has condemned the abduction and forceful conversion of two Hindu minor girls in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Rubina Greenwood, the Chairperson of World Sindhi Congress said that it is heart-wrenching to see the brutalities especially on the minorities of Pakistan. Rubina informed, “Whereabouts of Shama are unknown and the local police have refused to register the complaint. Fourteen-year-old Suthi was produced in the court and was declared Muslim and married to a 40-year old man.”
She added, “The parents of the minor were crying and when the girl was produced in the court, she was also crying. They said that everyone, police, judiciary, politicians are supporting the perpetrators. They are simply helpless. They requested to allow them to migrate to save their daughters.”
Although the WSC has been raising the issue on the several international platforms consistently for the last many years, the situation on the ground has worsened. No mercy has been shown to the minority section of the theocratic nation.
Rubina Greenwood said that it is a matter of international attention and calls for international pressure on the Pakistani government to provide protection to vulnerable Sindhi Hindus and their family. She repeated that we genuinely believe that this is a systematic policy of the state to victimize Sindhi Hindus forcing them to leave their motherland and tear down the secular and civil fabric of Sindhi society.
Rubina demanded the Pakistan government that the policies to persecute Sindhi Hindus should be halted, the women from minority community should be allowed to live according to their choices without any force, fear and perpetrators should be prosecuted.
Concluding her statement she said that she will continue to raise the issue on relevant international platforms to force Pakistan to stop persecution against the minorities.
