A
controversy over religious conversions that has captivated Pakistanis was
finally resolved when a judge ruled that three Hindu women who converted to
Islam under disputed circumstances had chosen to go with their new Muslim
husbands, causing dismay among their families that they left behind. The
Supreme Court has intervened in the three cases in recent weeks, taking the
women away from their parents and their new husbands in order to be able to
consider their future without any pressure. The court then ruled that all three
had freely converted and chosen to remain Muslim. Yet the decision met with harsh
criticism from some Hindu leaders and rights activists who feel that the women
were forcibly converted and that their cases would make Pakistan's tormented
minorities even more insecure as they would be in fear of forced conversion upon
themselves as well. The women have been faced with intense community pressure
and media scrutiny. Two of the women were kept in a shelter for three weeks in
order to make their decisions. During the hearing, the judge told the women
that "they could go wherever they choose and that they will be under
police protection and no one will harm them." The women were then escorted
to the court's registrar's office to record their statements in private.
Relatives were not allowed to accompany them. But the parents feel that this
was not justified as they could not even talk with their daughters for even a minute.
One of the women's family and Hindu community leaders asserted that she was
abducted at gunpoint and forced to convert by Mian Mitho, a powerful conservative Muslim politician who sits in the
national Parliament. But she and Mitho both denied this and asserted that
the truth was that she had fallen in love with a Muslim and therefore became
inspired by the teachings of Islam. But Hindu lawmakers feel that the hearing
was not justified and that the girls statements should have been made openly.
One of the fathers of the girls was distraught after the hearing. “Muslims take
away our children as if they are chickens!” he
shouted through tears outside the court. We Hindus are being forced to
leave this country.” Some rights activists were surprised that the women would
want to remain Muslim. A rights activist stated that "this case was a very
complex and complicated one as the girls had initially kept changing their
statements." She also stated that, “Keeping this case aside, we all know
that there is a phenomenon of forced conversions in rural Sindh. It is not a
secret.”
Forced religious
conversions, such as those that occur in Pakistan, are one of the major inequalities
that many people with our world have to face due their religious beliefs.
Because the dominant religious group often feels that they are superior to any
other minority religious group within their region, they often exploit the
minority group. The dominant group, also usually having a very ethnocentric
viewpoint, often feels that their own groups religious beliefs are better than
others. They therefore subject the minority group to a lot of prejudice and
discrimination, causing this group to be socially stratified based on their
religion. They are stratified by having less power, privilege, and prestige. Many
of the Hindus in Pakistan feel stratified in these aspects as they feel that
they are either being forced to convert to Islam or being forced to leave the
country, not having any power or privilege to be able to stand up for
themselves. If any of the Hindus did try to stand up for their rights and
mobilize for action, then they would most likely be met with counter
mobilization from the Muslim majority in Pakistan. Gender is an issue in
Pakistan as well. All of the cases of conversion dealt with women. Women being
the "weaker" gender and the ones who have to fill their social role
of being obedient and docile, makes it hard for them to really stand up for
their rights and make their own decisions based solely on what they want. In
stricter countries such as Pakistan, women are supposed to be obedient to their
husbands and often have way fewer rights. Women are socially stratified as well
as they receive less power, prestige, and privilege than their male
counterparts. Therefore, it can be hard to say whether or not the women in
these cases were forced to convert or decided to convert on their own. It can
also be hard to say that if they did convert "on their own," how much
their own decision was influenced by the pressure they felt by being a minority
due to not only their religion but their gender as well. However, with religion
and gender both intertwining as problems for these women show how oftentimes sociological
issues can overlap. But with both of these concepts also being social
constructs, they should not be such powerful forces within many societies
today, as they only create disagreements and differences. Thus, social changes
need to take place in order to create better equality within societies,
bringing social justice to the Hindu women of Pakistan, as well as people of
all genders and religious faiths around the globe.
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