HAFIZABAD, Pakistan — A 14-year-old Catholic girl in Pakistan, taken from her family in December and forcibly converted to Islam, was rescued April 26, her lawyer said. This move indicates Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s fight against forced conversions is being heard by local leaders.
Attorney Tahir Bashir said police officer Munir Ahmed on Dec. 6 illegally detained Sumbal Arif of Hafizabad District, Punjab Province, and coerced her into converting to Islam while forcing her to live with him, despite attempts by her indigent family to recover her.
The girl’s mother, Elizabeth Arif, on April 21 asked Bashir to recover Sumbal from the illegal custody of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Munir Ahmed of Hafizabad Police Station, according to Bashir. Bashir said he filed for the recovery of the girl in Lahore High Court, and a court bailiff rescued her from the policeman’s home on April 26 and presented her in court the next day.
The Punjab Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill 2016, pending with the Punjab Assembly, proposes that no one below 18 years old shall be deemed to have changed their religion. A law adopted by the Sindh Assembly in November applies the same conditions for religious conversions.
Sharif, addressing a gathering of the Hindu community in Karachi in March, warned against forced conversions and destruction of non-Muslim places of worship, describing such acts as a “crime in Islam.”
“Pakistan didn’t come into existence to be against any religion,” he said. “It is wrong to consider any religion inferior. I want to see a Pakistan where there are equal opportunities for every person of any religion to progress and make a good life for himself and his family. And there is peace and protection for everyone.” (MS)
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