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”. According to sources, these Hindus worked as bonded labourer for wealthy Muslim landlords and were assured of their freedom and debt waivers, if they embraced Islam. 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.
