Zardari urged to bring all on board to re-evaluate forced Religious Conversion Bill

Member of National Assembly (MNA) and Patron-in-Chief of Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) Ramesh Kumar Vankwani has urged former president and co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari to call upon all religious and political parties in Sindh for an All Parties Conference (APC) to re-evaluate the forced Religious Conversion Bill.

Commenting upon media reports of a return for the Sindh Assembly Criminal Law Protection Bill of forced religious conversion by Governor Sindh Saeedul Zaman Siddiqui, Vankwani argued that a unanimously passed bill could not be 'controversial'.

He said that the motive behind the forced conversion bill was to prevent the incidents of kidnapping and forced conversions of teenage Hindu girls, while ensuring respect to all religions, reports the Daily Times.

Vankwani stated that parents can take better care of immature children, adding in Islamic countries like Malaysia, the consent of parents is required for the conversion of religion, according to local laws.

"The possible return of the unanimously approved bill would not only increase the sense of insecurity among non-Muslim citizens, but also put a question mark on Pakistan's parliamentary system on international level," he said.

The Hindu parliamentarian maintained that PHC has never opposed religious conversion as a result of preaching or studying the religion but the real issue is the safety of the immature juvenile victims, specifically Hindu girls in Sindh who are abducted, forced to convert religion and thus separated from their parents.