HRCP asks Sindh government not to revoke minorities’ protection bill
KARACHI – Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Sindh chapter Vice Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt has demanded the Sindh government not to revoke the Sindh Criminal Law.
“By revoking (Protection of Minorities) Bill, minorities would be deprived of their rights and the extremists would be gratified,” Butt said while addressing a press conference here at Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Wednesday.
Rights activists, Elahi Bux and Saeed Baloch were also present on the occasion.
Speaking to media men, Butt said that amending or completely scrapping the bill, passed by the provincial assembly recently for protecting the minorities from forced conversions, would be against the basic human rights. He said forced conversions were a major problem in the rural parts of the province, adding Hindu girls were kidnapped and forcibly converted. He appreciated the unanimous passage of the Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill 2015.
“The bill is not an issue of religion or politics. It is an issue of basic human rights,” he sought to clarify.
“Rather than yielding to the demands of opponents of the bill, Sindh government should take pragmatic steps to defend and protect the bill,” he demanded.
Another rights activist Naghma Iqtedar said that underage marriages could not be permitted under any circumstances and that forced conversions were a threat to a peaceful society.
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