‘The Rhetoric and Reality of Forced Conversion in Pakistan’

In the
backdrop of ongoing debate about the phenomenon of forced conversion in
Pakistan, its nature, its scale and socio-cultural implications, IPS held a
briefing titled ‘The rhetoric and reality of forced conversion in Pakistan’ on
September 28, 2021.

The
session was addressed as keynote speaker by Sufi Ghulam Hussain, research
officer at IPS, and attended by Chairman IPS Khalid Rahman, GM-IPS Naufil
Shahrukh, Ambassador (r) Tajammul Altaf, Sr research associate at IPS, Dr
Tughral Yamin, associate dean, Centre for International Peace and Stability
(CIPS), NUST and non-resident fellow at IPS, Syed Nadeem Farhat, IPS’ senior
research officer and Samina Qureshi, assistant professor, Department of Mass
Communication, Karachi University, among others.

Hussain
presented key findings of his research before the audience and briefed them
about the present ongoing debate in this context.

Debunking
the allegation of 1000 forced conversions of Hindu girls each year in Pakistan,
Sufi apprised how so-called human rights organizations fabricate data and cite
each other as an authentic source to give credence to their botched claims. He
was of the view that marriage is the prime reason behind such conversions as
Islam does not allow Muslims to tie the knot outside their religion. Hence,
faith conversion becomes a ritualistic need for a converter, he explained.

The
discussion that followed Hussain’s presentation saw legal measures being mulled
by the federal government to regularize faith conversion in Pakistan –
including the proposed anti-forced conversion bill – as part of a foreign
imposed agenda, urging the state not to obturate non-Muslims who want to embrace
Islam under no duress.