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.
Pakistan sets up 16-member council to tackle violence between Muslims, minorities
https://arab.news/phn3j
Pakistan sets up 16-member council to tackle violence between Muslims, minorities
- Committee comprising Sikh, Hindu and Christian members formed under supervision of PM’s aide on interfaith harmony
- Ashrafi says around 127 cases of alleged forcible marriages and religious conversion were “resolved amicably” in 2020
India formally charges militant groups, six individuals over April Pahalgam tourist attack
- The attack killed 26 tourists and triggered the worst fighting between India and Pakistan in decades
- India has charged Lashkar-e-Taiba, The Resistance Front and six people, three of whom have been killed
SRINAGAR: India’s anti-terrorism agency on Monday charged militant Islamist groups based in Pakistan and six individuals over an April attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 men, and triggered intense fighting between the two countries.
The fighting, the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades, was sparked when militants opened fire on Hindu tourists in the Pahalgam region of Kashmir. New Delhi said the attack was backed by Pakistan, allegations which Islamabad has denied.
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its offshoot The Resistance Front (TRF) were charged for their alleged role in “planning, facilitating, and executing the Pahalgam attack,” according to a statement from India’s anti-terrorism agency.
Three men killed by Indian security forces during Operation Mahadev in July in Srinagar, who were claimed to be Pakistani nationals, were charged posthumously, according to the statement. Another two men already in custody were charged, and a man accused of being a Pakistani terrorist handler.
A spokesperson for Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The 1,597-page document was filed before a special court in the Jammu region of India, and contained the first formal charges over the attack.
The NIA traced the conspiracy to Pakistan during a probe that lasted eight months, the statement said, adding that the LeT and TRF, along with the six men, were charged with waging war against India.
