Pakistan sets up 16-member council to tackle violence between Muslims, minorities 

ISLAMABAD: Special adviser to the prime minister on Interfaith Harmony and the Middle East, Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, said a 16-member committee comprising members from several minority communities had been formed to tackle issues of interfaith violence, adding that no one would be allowed to harm minorities in Pakistan.
Campaigners say forced conversion and marriage of girls and women from minority religions, including Hindus and Christians, is a growing problem in Muslim-majority Pakistan, with those from poor families and low castes largely targeted.
In 2019, the alleged abduction and forced conversion of two Hindu sisters made headlines in Pakistan when a video of their marriages was shared widely on social media.
Pakistan’s minority Shia Muslims regularly come under attack by militant groups. Members of its small Hindu and Christian communities have also been attacked.
“Ashrafi said that a 16-member committee including Sikh, Hindu and Christian members had been formed under his supervision to settle interfaith violence issues,” state-run APP reported, adding that the body’s first meeting would be held in Lahore on December 4. “We will also meet leaders of all religions to settle their issues.”
Ashrafi said no one would be allowed to hurt minorities in Pakistan in the name of religion.
“Interfaith Harmony Council and Muttahida Ulema Board (MUB) held a meeting at the center on Sunday in which all members expressed their satisfaction over religious freedom in Pakistan,” APP reported. “Ashrafi said that whenever minority communities faced some issue, the MUB always tried to solve it in consultation with all stakeholders, adding that around 127 cases of alleged forcible marriages and conversion of religion, etc., were presented before the MUB in 2020 and all of those were resolved amicably.”
“Islam strictly prohibits forced marriages and forced conversions,” the news wire quoted Ashrafi as saying.
The PM’s aide also said it was the responsibility of all Muslims to protect the rights of minorities.
“The leadership of all religious schools of thought in Pakistan was united that the rights of minorities would be protected at all levels,” Ashrafi added.