At least 60 Hindus were allegedly forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan in the Malti area of Sindh province. The Hindus were made to recite the Kalimas (Islamic oath of allegiance) in the presence of the municipal chairperson.
Hindus, a minority in Pakistan, account for 4.5 million, or more than 2 per cent of Pakistan’s population with most of them living in Sindh, which has long been seen as the country’s religious melting pot.
Municipal chairperson Abdul Rauf Nizamani allegedly facilitated the mass conversion process. In a Facebook post, he said, “Alhamdullilah aj meri nigrani me 60 log musalman hui hain inke liye dua karen (Today, 60 people accepted Islam under my watch. Please pray for them.”
A video shared by Nizami shows an Islamic cleric making the group of Hindus recite Kalima and ensuring their full-fledged conversion.
In another video, the cleric is seen claiming that it was their recitation of the first-ever Namaz. “The only aim in the life of a Muslim person is to make Allah happy. Then, the purpose of his life will be fulfilled. Only the lives of those, approved by Allah, move forward,” the cleric said to the new converts.
This is not the first incidence of forceful conversion that is being reported from Pakistan’s Sindh. In March, a 13-year-old Hindu girl Kavita Oad from Kandhkot area in Sindh was abducted and then forcibly converted to Islam. The minor was seen sitting on the ground with a mob surrounding her and conducting the conversion ceremony allegedly conducted by a cleric named Mian Mithoo of the Bharchundi mosque.
Sukhdev Hemnani, vice president of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), said he was following up the matter with local officials. The documents proved that the girl was just 13 and he was getting the help of lawyers to file a case in court, he said on Twitter.
