Washington, D.C. (April 24, 2012) -- Hindu
Americans widely condemned a decision issued by Pakistan's Supreme Court last
week in the case of three Hindu girls, who were reportedly kidnapped, forcibly
converted to Islam, and married to Muslim men against their will.
A
special three-judge panel ruled that the girls, Rinkel Kumari, Asha Kumari, and
Dr. Lata Kumari, were free to decide whether they wanted to return to their
parents or live with their new Muslim husbands. Shortly thereafter, the
Supreme Court Registrar announced that the girls had decided to live with their
husbands. The girls' official statements of decision were not made in open
court, raising concerns by the girls' families about the fairness and
transparency of the process. In addition, the families were not allowed
to meet with the girls at any point during the latest court proceedings.
The Hindu community and many rights activists in Pakistan maintain that the girls
have been coerced, threatened, and intimidated by their alleged abductors.
The April 18 hearing was originally scheduled for March 26, but postponed by
the Court to ostensibly give the girls more time to think about their decision.
During the three week interlude, the girls were ordered to stay at the
Dar-ul Aman, or shelter, where they been staying since March 12. Both
Rinkel Kumari and Dr. Lata Kumari, however, reportedly declared that they
wanted to go home with their parents, and Rinkel stated that she would rather
die than return to the Dar-ul Aman. She also proclaimed that there was no
justice for Hindus in Pakistan.
"The Pakistani Supreme Court's decision is a clear miscarriage of
justice," said Arvind Chandrakantan, M.D., HAF Executive Council Member.
"The entire judicial process has been highly biased and prejudicial
from the beginning, and has failed to take into account the immense pressure
and duress the girls have faced from their powerful and highly influential
abductors."
According to numerous media accounts, a conservative Muslim politician and
Member of the Pakistan National Assembly from Sindh province, Mian Mitthoo, was
involved in the kidnappings. Mitthoo was seen celebrating the conversion
of Rinkel Kumari with several armed tribesmen outside the Sessions Court in
Ghotki, Sindh in February, after legal action was first initiated. The
Sessions Court Judge ruled that Rinkel had converted out of her own free will,
disregarding her earlier testimony that she had been forced to do so. She
also reportedly informed her mother during a brief meeting that the conversion
was not voluntary. The Pakistan Hindu Council subsequently petitioned the
Supreme Court to consider the case.
Rinkel's parents later received threats and were forced to flee their hometown
in Sindh for neighboring Punjab province,
where they sought temporary shelter in a gurudwara.
"The abductions and forced conversions of Hindu girls in Pakistan
continues to be used as a weapon of subjugation and a means to intimidate the
Hindu minority into submission," said Samir Kalra, Esq., HAF Director and
Senior Fellow for Human Rights. "The Pakistani government, police,
and courts are all complicit in this phenomenon, and must be held accountable
by the international community for their abject failure to protect the
fundamental rights of Hindus."
Human rights organizations, including the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC),
assert that at least 20 - 25 Hindu girls are kidnapped and forcibly converted
to Islam every month in Sindh province alone. The Hindu American
Foundation (HAF) has documented such incidents in its latest human rights
report, Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights,
2011.
HAF has also collaborated with the Pakistan Hindu Post to raise awareness of
Rinkel Kumari's case and the plight of Hindus in Pakistan through a petition to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.