Attacks on minority rights in Pakistan became a topic of heated discussion and made headlines all-year round in 2022.
In November, the United States had grouped Pakistan along with 11 other countries, including China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea, as states that have “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom”.
Abduction and forced conversion
The recent cases of abduction of minor Hindu girls Nisha and Hina have been closed due to false police reports and false challans. The girls have been handed over to kidnappers in Sindh.
Saveeta Meghwar, a 14-year-old Hindu girl who was abducted from Tando Allahyar city, has been married to her 22-year-old abductor Mushtaq Bhatti.
According to media reports, 13-year-old Urmila Sonu Maheshwari, who was abducted from the Shershah locality in Karachi has not been recovered yet.
There were three consecutive cases of abduction last month. A girl named Chanda Maharaj is still in a shelter home, Urmila has not been recovered, and 12-year-old Hindu girl Mirgah has also been abducted in Pakistan.
A report titled “Conversion without Consent” was launched on December 10, 2022, International Human Rights Day, and examined a total of 100 reported cases involving abductions, forced faith conversions, forced and child marriage of girls and women belonging to the Christian community across Pakistan between January 2019 and October 2022.
A letter written by a group of Special Rapporteurs to the Government of Pakistan expresses regret about the current situation of forced conversions in the country and has pushed the government to take action against these grievous human rights violations.
The UN Special Rapporteurs stated that Christian and Hindu girls were between the ages of 13 and 20 at the time of their abductions. The girls were all reportedly forcibly converted to Islam and married against their will. In six out of seven of these cases, the victim was underage at the time of the forced marriage and the consent of their legal guardians was not provided.
Killing
A Hindu man was killed by a mob that was trying to abduct his sister. The victim Lallu Kachi, 35, was beaten to death. The incident was reported on December 31, 2022.
Missing persons
The Missing Persons Commission in its annual report outlined that out of the 860 cases, 128 were reported in October. On the other hand, 1,109 cases were fixed. The report further noted that 977 persons, mostly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were enclosed in internment centres. In all, the commission has reported 9,133 cases.
2022 was a dreadful year for Balochistan as the Pakistan army forcibly disappeared 629, extrajudicially killed 195, and tortured 187 people, according to an annual report released by Paank, the human rights organisation of the Baloch National Movement.
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