Karachi: Some Hindu girl students in Pakistan’s Sindh province have allegedly been told to convert to Islam to continue their studies, prompting the government to order an inquiry, an official said Friday.
In late November, parents of some Hindu girl students at the Government High School in Mirpur Sakro in Sindh told the media that the school’s headmistress had allegedly asked the Hindu students to convert to Islam to continue their education.
It sparked outrage as the parents alleged that the Hindu students were being forced to recite the Kalma and being mocked for their faith.
The parents also claimed some students were sent home after refusing to convert to Islam or reciting the Kalma.
Minister of State for Religious Affairs Kheeso Mal Kheal Das told the Senate Thursday that the provincial education minister had ordered an inquiry into the matter.
A spokesperson for the Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah confirmed a committee had been formed to visit Mirpur Sakro and unearth the truth.
“The committee members have already recorded statements from the affected students, their parents, the headmistress, and other teachers,” he said on Friday.
He said no one is allowed to use coercion or threats to force conversion.
Sindh, which has the highest population of Hindus in Pakistan, mostly belonging to the lower income groups, is already dealing with frequent cases of abduction of young Hindu girls and their marriage to older Muslim men.
Human rights groups estimate that over 1,000 minority girls are forcibly converted each year in Pakistan, the vast majority from Sindh’s Dalit Hindu communities.
These girls are abducted, forcibly converted, and married to Muslim men, often much older, under pressure, poverty, and threats.
Pakistan lacks strong federal laws against forced conversion, a situation that has drawn international concern.
