CUST Volunteers briefed over IPS’ study on forced conversions in Pakistan

As part of IPS’ Volunteer Program, a briefing session for the volunteer students from Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST), Islamabad was conducted on February 28, 2022 by Sufi Ghulam Hussain, a researcher at the Institute, to apprise them about the reality behind the much-hyped issue of forced conversion in Pakistan.

Hussain, who is the author of the baseline study titled ‘Forced Conversion or Faith Conversion: Rhetoric and Reality’, elaborated how the narrative of forced conversion of 1000 young girls per year was being generated and propagated within and outside the country.

Pointing out the causes of conversion, their push & pull factors, and the role of misinformation & disinformation, the speaker revealed that a high percentage of conversion was neither underage nor forced in any way. Instead, they were rather converted to Islam either to break free from forced marriages or to get rid of domestic burdens prevailing within their community.

The speaker informed that the study uncovers how the reports on forced conversion in Pakistan lacked objectivity and scientific authenticity. The wrong definition of forced conversion, global islamophobia, disinformation, and confusing free choice with forced conversion are the key factors behind the generation and projection of the false narrative of forced religious conversion in Pakistan, he noted, and all of this should confronted by spreading awareness about the reality behind the issue among the masses.