En stribe af religiøse og etniske mindretal lider under diskrimination, voldelig forfølgelse og tvungen omvendelse til islam fra yderligtgående islamistiske grupper, fremgår det af ny dyster amerikansk rapport om forholdene i den sydasiatiske atommagt, der bl.a. modtager dansk bistand.
LAHORE, 17 October 2013 (IRIN): Being a member of an ethnic or religious minority in Pakistan brings with it inherent risks – something dramatically illustrated in Peshawar last month when a bomb attack on a church killed at least 85 people.
The US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 notes that the five percent who constitute the non-Muslim population in a country of just over 190 million face persecution in many forms.
These include “attacks on houses of worship, religious gatherings, and religious leaders perpetrated by sectarian, violent extremist, and terrorist groups.” All this result in hundreds of deaths during the year.
The plight of non-Muslim citizens has been taken up repeatedly by monitoring organizations.
Following the Peshawar church attack, Zohra Yusuf, chairperson of the Lahore-based Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), said:
“HRCP calls upon the government to explain its plan to confront this menace and take meaningful steps to reassure the non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan that the government has the will and the ability to protect their lives and religious freedoms.”
Like Christians, Hindus, who make up just under 2 percent of the population, face growing persecution, particularly in the form of their “forced” conversion (omvendelse) to Islam, notably of young girls who are wed to Muslims and made to adopt Islam.
“We hear of dozens of such cases,” said Amarnath Motumal, a Karachi-based lawyer and Hindu community leader, adding:
“We have no issue when an adult Hindu woman, aged over 18 years, opts to marry a Muslim, but in the case of 14- or 15-year-olds, coercion (tvang) and even abduction is not uncommon. Besides, the marriage of girls under 16 years is against the law.”
Parliament has taken up the issue of the conversion and abduction (bortførelse) of Hindus. A report based on an inquiry begun last year is expected soon.
The Ahmadi community
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http://www.irinnews.org/report/98950/minorities-under-pressure-in-pakistan
