Britain has sanctioned a Muslim cleric for forced conversion of non-Muslims in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Maulana Abdul Haq alias Mian Mithu has been actively involved in human rights violations for many years. A PPP lawmaker between 2008 and 2013, Mithu was expelled by the party after he became controversial over the forced conversion and marriage of Rinkle Kumari, a girl from the minority Hindu community … A special report by Kaliph Anaz
Britain has sanctioned a Muslim cleric for forced conversion of non-Muslims in Pakistan’s Sindh province in what amounts to a rebuff to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s plea that the world community re-look at his country’s “stereotypical image” and view it as a “promising emerging market full of opportunities.”
The two events, though unconnected, happened on the same day. The British announcement came on the same day Bilawal raised the pitch for his country in Singapore, seeking improved economic ties. Analysts noted that Bhutto-Zardari’s plea came during his meetings with Singapore President Halimah Yacob, a woman and a Muslim, and his counterpart Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, an ethnic Tamil.
The Southeast Asian nation has a strong record of being a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democracy.
Bilawal’s Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) rules in Sindh province where the cleric, Maulana Abdul Haq alias Mian Mithu, sanctioned by the British Government has been actively involved in human rights violations for many years. A PPP lawmaker between 2008 and 2013, Mithu was expelled by the party after he became controversial over the forced conversion and marriage of Rinkle Kumari, a girl from the minority Hindu community.
Rinkle declared herself a Muslim in court in 2012, which her parents and Hindu community leaders alleged was under duress, The New York Times reported that “Mithu triumphantly led the new convert from the courthouse, parading her before thousands of cheering supporters.”
“Mian Mithu is a terrorist and a thug. He takes the girls, and keeps them in his home for sexual purposes,” Nand Lal told The New York Times, noting that Mithu’s armed guards had escorted his daughter to court appearances and news conferences.
Rinkle Kumari’s case went all the way to the Supreme Court, but she never gained freedom from her forced marriage. Even her father, Nand Laal, fled to Lahore soon after accusing Mian Mithu of abduction and forced conversion. “The father found refuge and welcome in a Sikh Gurdwara in Lahore, in Punjab province, with the rest of his family,” it was reported.
Despite the controversy, and many that have since followed, Mithu was wooed by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2015. He was invited to contest the National Assembly on the PTI ticket.
Although he was not admitted to the party because of protests from the Hindu community, the Khan Government invited Mithu for consultations at the Pakistan Islamic Council on religious issues.
At 4.4 million, the Hindus constitute 2.14 per cent of Pakistan’s population and mostly live in Sindh. Dawn newspaper (December 10, 2022) quoted a statement by the British High Commission in Islamabad: “The UK takes freedom of religion or belief very seriously and is committed to protecting minorities worldwide. The new package of sanctions targets those violating fundamental freedom. This includes Mian Abdul Haq, a cleric of the Bharchundi Sharif shrine in Ghotki, Sindh, who is responsible for forced marriages and forced religious conversions of non-Muslims and minors. This sanctions package does not include any other Pakistani national.”
The sanctions effectively mean that designated individuals will be unable to do any business or undertake economic activity with UK citizens or companies and that they will be denied entry to the UK, the newspaper said.
The Hindu community of Sindh and human rights bodies have frequently accused Mithu of committing crimes against children for years by kidnapping and forcefully marrying them to Muslim men. They have charged that his activities are publicly known and that the Pakistani state has been complicit in his crimes.
Riots broke out in Ghotki in Pakistan’s Sindh province on September 16, 2019, after a Hindu school principal was kidnapped at the behest of Mian Mithu and charged with Pakistan’s stringent blasphemy law where punishment on conviction leads to death.
The riots began when a teenage student of Sindh Public School in Ghotki uploaded a video to Facebook accusing his Hindu school teacher Nautan Daas of blasphemy. The student’s father Abdul Aziz Rajput registered an FIR against Daas, according to — the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on 15 September 2019.
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