The three young Hindu women who were allegedly kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men chose to live with their husbands instead of their families after the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday allowed them to choose their future.
Though the three women — Rinkle Kumari, Lata and Asha — were allowed to choose according to their free will by the court, their relatives and civil rights activists alleged that injustice had been done to them as they chose to go with the men they were married to out of coercion.
Their contention is that the three had been threatened by Pakistan People's Party parliamentarian Mian Mithu with dire consequences if they returned to their parents. The former federal Minister, Amar Lal, said though Rinkle Kumari and Lata were kept away from their families and husbands in a shelter home, Mian Mithu was able to access them over phone and had threatened to kill their families if they returned to their parents. Mr. Lal quoted Rinkle Kumari — whose case made it to the national media after she was allegedly kidnapped and christened Faryal Bibi — as saying she no longer had any hope from any institution as all of them had failed to protect her. “Rinkle said she was majboor [under compulsion] and threatened suicide,” he said, adding that she returned to her spouse to save her relatives.
Another civil rights activist Marvi Sirmed said unlike Rinkle Kumari and Dr. Lata, the third woman, Asha, did not even get the counselling time to weigh her options. Upset with the verdict, she said though the court allowed the girls the freedom to choose, it did not take into account the circumstances of this case; particularly since the Hindu community of Sindh lived in fear of such strategies being used to force them to leave the country.
What has also disappointed civil rights activists is that no enquiry has been ordered into the activities of Mian Mithu. Their fear is that this judgement will only strengthen his hands as the Hindus have exhausted practically all their options, though there is also the parallel view that the minority community may have made out a case of forced conversion as they were opposed to their daughters marrying Muslims.
Keywords: Hindu minorities, forcible conversions, minority rights
No one here has come up with a solid proof that the 3 girls were forcibly converted or married. They said in court that they wanted to be with their husbands, So, what do you want? Court should force them to go to their parents against their will?? Would that be justice?? And please, in India, if a muslim girls converts to Hinduism, she is made a heroine and movies are made (most Pakistanis have seen VEER ZARA and GHADAR)
Every one knows that Rinkle was kidnapped, force to convert and married to a loyal of
powerful Muslim extremist.Asha is just 16year old and Rinkle is 18 years old ,both girls are
real case of kidnapping. Both girls have got threat of their life if they are going back to their
parents,then why Supreme court handed over these girls to the kidnappers and kept them
away from their parents .
This is totally injustice to the victim's family.Human rights organization should take step to
release the innocent girls from their kidnapper.
Its high time that people should start respecting women. Everyone considers the problem of minorities, children, poor, but the thing that should be considered is to respect female. Conversion comes later, prior to that is abduction of those females.
Even if those females were not sent to their spouse, who in India would give them the respect in society that they deserve?
@Tipu Qaimkhani
Please don't try to equate India and Pakistan's moral standards. yes we have lapses of moral behavior but we are not in denial of lapses of our moral fiber and we have NOT lost our entire moral fiber unlike your society.
@Shahid Khan N
Does that apply to Muslims in India protesting against anything US because US is the big satan even if it has nothing to do with Indians or Indian Muslims?
What a hypocritical statement to cover ethnic cleansing.
A respectful verdict of supreme court. how much transparent the truth
its not clear.If court can implement these kind of decisions,then it
can also put a full stop on such kind ill human practices.It don't
seem to be doing that.As having such orthodox practices in this modern
era , its embarrassing. Several of hindus are still in pakistan and
such kind of misshapening are unbearable.Its shows that how much
respect they have for our customs . Taking account of muslims living n
india , we have a lot of respect for their customs and traditions.
These issues can re evoke the oldest issue of era and everyone knows
that what it is.Taking such things to media and presenting truth in
such a manner , assumptions can be made that how much transparent it
is.
Let us stop talking about the plight of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangla
desh . For well over 20 years , government of India is keeping mum on
the plight of Kashmiri pandits driven out of their own homes in Kashmir
. They offer lip sympathy to them when ever elections are approaching .
First let us ensure safety of hindus in our own country and in the state
of Kashmir . For that , a strong leadership is essential which India is
lacking . When will we get a premier of Mrs Indira Gandhi's stature .
What wonders me is that though the girls were allowed to decide their future, which itself reaffirms that they could have been be forcefully converted and may had even been sexually abused.
Does this scenario not warrant am investigation against the perpetrators or giving the helpless girls the right to choose their future is punishment enough for the perpetrators of this heinous human rights violation?
India never taken the account of hindus living in Pakistan.Even West sometimes talks about the Plight of minorities in pakistan.Time has come to tell Pakistan and Bangladesh that they have to treat Hindus Fairly.Will Fm S M krishna will do anything for Hindus?
India is not a country whose constitution is based on the narrow idea of religious majority. It therefore ought to have no interest in Hindus anywhere else in the world. The only interest for Indian government is to take care of its taxpayers period.
@Vipul.Second that notion, I suggest Narinder Modi to head such an effort, now that his innocence has been firmly established by the great Indian judicial system, world needs India's moral authority.
The minorities in Pakistan are treated like second class citizens. It's about time India took up the cases of the maltreatment of religious minorities.
And when Hindus dare to raise their voices, even in India, where they have a majority, they are dubbed as anti-secular immediately. The worst is our own media, our own politicians mark them as anti-secular to keep their tentacles intact in the minority vote banks, instead of enhancing communal ties & rising above the caste/community politics. There are so many discussions about minority rights in India, why don't we as Hindus or the international community raise issues for rights of minorities in Islamic countries, especially Pakistan? Its just sad that we as Hindus are so divided & powerless that the eternal tolerance mandated by our religion is merely taken as a weakness, instead of an inspiration.
As far as I am concerned. The court did allow them to choose their
destiny and also provided adequate protection whatever decision they
made. The family should stop making allegations if they can't be proved in court. Provide the proof of the telephone transcript if she was contacted and threatened by the politician.
I think a fair headline for this report would be 'Women denied conversion in court'. Ironically all religious parties are opposed to PPP, I can't fathom why a PPP member of the assembly would try to deny conversions. Here in Pakistan, parties like PPP are all for promoting conversion theory. The so called 'Rights Activist' quoted in the report is a personal friend of right wing extremists in India and has openly defended killing of Muslims in Bombay and Gujarat riots.
What a lie. The girls were just handed over to their abductors and then a statement was issued on their behalf not allowing the girls to say something on their own. What a travesty of justice by the Supreme Court.
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