Parliamentary panel to probe forced conversions of Hindus in Pakistan - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The alleged forced conversion of Hindus in Pakistan is expected to be the foremost issue to be discussed by the newly constituted 26-member parliamentary committee when it meets in Islamabad in early October. "The forced conversion issue is going to be the most important one followed by marriage laws," The Express Tribune quoted Senator Hemant Das of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), as saying. The federal government has constituted the committee with the purpose to review the Hindu community's perils and make recommendations for legislation, he said. The committee is likely to table its draft recommendations when it meets next month, he added. Recently, hundreds of Hindu families reportedly left their homes in northern Sindh to settle in India , due to incidents of forced conversion, besides extortion and kidnapping of Hindu businessmen. "We are not opposed to changing one's religions. But the converts should be given enough time to understand their new religion and there should be an official process of certifying a conversion," said Hindu Panchayat leader Jai Kumar Dhirani. He suggested that a Hindu girl who is willing to convert to Islam should be properly oriented to the religion's teachings for a month or two before the formal conversion. The community's representatives also lamented that the parliamentary committee has not made public its draft recommendations yet. Its three members, Senator Moula Bux Chandio, Senator Hari Ram Kishori Lal and MNA Land Chand Parwani, met the Hindu representatives in all parts of the province. The parliamentarians noted their concerns, complaints, demands and recommendations. The committee had handed over its recommendations to President Asif Ali Zardari on September 4.