Heinous crime against minorities and their repeated oppression is a regular occurrence in Pakistan. Despite being called out multiple times by national and international human rights groups and urged to take substantial measures to safeguard the lives and rights of its minorities, the Islamic Republic along with its judiciary, executive and media continue to further dehumanise and marginalise the already dwindling numbers of Hindus, Sikhs and Christians among others.
Numerous reports of similar offences frequently come out of the country. A Hindu girl from Pakistan, who is currently residing in the United States of America, has now exposed their bigotry in a video and narrated the story of her religious persecution and intimidation, including being forced to eat beef and bullied to become a Muslim against her will by her classmates.
The young girl stated that she was a Pakistani Hindu and wanted to share her experience with her Muslim and Hindu friends. “When I was little, in elementary and middle school, I was told every single day to convert to Islam. I can put my hands on Lord Shiv (and swear on him) I was told to convert. My brother was bullied, he was hit and forced to eat beef. They tried to put beef in my food too but I was too smart for that.”
She didn’t tell anyone about her ordeal just like every other minority in the country who is compelled to endure the humiliation and anguish in silence out of fear of severe retaliation from the majority Muslim community. “I didn’t say anything at that time because I was really scared. We are a minority. You are a minority religion (in Pakistan), you are not going to say anything, right?”
She expressed that she was referred to as a kafir (infidel), a term often used by Muslims to denigrate and harass non-Muslims, especially Hindus. “I did learn another thing from that experience that people will use religion to hate on communities because I was also called a kafir. I don’t care. Yes, I am a kafir. I don’t follow your religion. Do you think I don’t know what a kafir means? I was born in Pakistan.”
She noted that non-Muslims are pressured to read the Quran and Islam has been prominently incorporated into the curriculum which leaves them with no choice but to study the religion. “Here’s one more thing I want to address because people are so stupid. You know I am a Pakistani Hindu. So, I know about (Islam) and I have read the Quran. I know about the Islamic teachings. I was in a catholic school, a Hindu and I was forced to learn the Quran. And you know why? Because they said I was not going to pass the 10th grade or 11th grade or get into the board exams. I would have to take the board exams for Islamic teachings. I was forced to learn it.”
She disclosed that even her relocation to the United States of America did not shield her from Muslim radicals, because now Muslims in the USA also hound her to embrace Islam. She said, “So, when you guys tell me at this age in America, by the way, I am still being asked to convert in America. When you are telling me to convert, to a Pakistani Hindu to convert, do you think I do not know your religion? I know your religion. I know the fundamental aspects of it.”
She asserted that she was not going to renounce her faith and added, “I respect that you follow it. But let me make it very clear that I will never ever follow your religion. That is with utmost respect that I will never follow your religion because I do not believe in anything that is taught there and that’s fine. People can have different beliefs, right? Religion is not about compulsion. That is one of the things in there. Compulsion is what I felt in that country. So no, I don’t believe in the fundamental aspects of it.”
Listen to this Pakistani Hindu girl who was forced to eat beef and asked to convert to Islam every day in her school by her muslim classmates while in Pakistan.
— Trunicle ट्रूनिकल (@trunicle) October 18, 2023
Listen to her and feel the pain in her voice. Speechless! pic.twitter.com/aBwtGMzcVb
A Hindu girl named Reeta Meghwar who recently managed to escape from the evil clutches of her abductors in Sindh’s Badin was put in the custody of Dar-al Aman, which is a refuge for females. She begged the judges to allow her to return to her parents after she was brought to court, but to no avail. Her plight was only exacerbated when her desperate pleas were brazenly ignored by those sitting in the position of authority. Ashiq Ahmadani had kidnapped her two months earlier and authorities were unable to find her during the time.
Another such event transpired in June of this year when Sohana Sharma Kumari, a 14-year-old girl, was kidnapped from her house in the Sindh province’s Benazirabad area. She was compelled to convert to Islam and then forced into marriage with a Muslim man. She was kidnapped at gunpoint in front of her mother by her tutor and his companions.
Dilip Kumar Sharma, her father, informed the authorities of the horrific incident. Five days after the instance she was located by the authorities in a house in the district following a huge social media outcry. Her wish to go back to her family was first denied by court but eventually, the request was granted.
Hundreds of such cases in which Hindu girls including minors are abducted, raped, forced into marriage and converted come to light while the law appears to be on the side of the Muslim criminals who molest, sexually violate and torture Hindu females with great impunity.
