News Desk
Islamabad, 2 October 2024:
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), in collaboration with Blackhole, held a special screening of the award-winning documentary HumSaya – Neighbor in Islamabad. The documentary, which portrays the harrowing experiences of families affected by the forced conversion of minor girls in Pakistan, won the Best Short Documentary on Human Rights at the Venice Intercultural Film Festival in 2023. It has also been selected for its fifth international screening at the 7th FICNOVA festival in Spain in 2024.
The event featured a panel discussion where prominent human rights advocates, including Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Peter Jacob, Executive Director of CSJ, former Senator Farhat Ullah Babar, Harris Khalique, Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), activists Tahira Abdullah, and Dr. Riaz Ahmed Shaikh, addressed the issue of forced conversions and child marriages in Pakistan. They stressed that coerced conversions violate fundamental human rights but remain largely unaddressed due to governmental inaction.
Speakers highlighted the government’s failure to implement legal and administrative safeguards to protect underage girls from forced religious conversions and marriages. The panel called for urgent reforms, pointing out the inadequacy of past efforts by federal and provincial governments. They emphasized the need for judicial oversight in religious conversions and marriages to distinguish between voluntary and coerced actions.
The speakers urged the government to adopt legislation that criminalizes forced conversions and enforces 18 years as the minimum legal age for both religious conversion and marriage. This aligns with rulings from the Lahore High Court in 2019, the Federal Shariat Court in 2021, and the Islamabad High Court in 2022.
CSJ data was cited, revealing at least 338 cases of abductions and forced conversions of minority girls and women between 2021 and 2023. The panelists criticized the lack of political will and the denial by government authorities and religious groups regarding these human rights violations. They also noted the stalling of significant legislative efforts, such as the Sindh Assembly’s Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Act of 2016 and the Prohibition of Forced Conversions Bill of 2021.
The screening and discussion underscored the pressing need for comprehensive legal reforms to protect vulnerable communities in Pakistan, said the presser