Geneva: Baloch activist exposes ongoing minority persecution in Pakistan

Geneva, July 3 (IANS) Naseem Baloch, Chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), has alleged that Hindu and Christian girls across Pakistan are being abducted, forcibly converted, and married off, describing the ongoing practice as a violation of their identity, dignity, freedom of conscience, family life, and fundamental human rights.

Addressing an event titled ‘Forced Conversions and Minority Women’ on the sidelines of the 62nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC 62) at the Geneva Press Club, Naseem called on the global community to take urgent notice of the persecution of religious minorities as well as the violence against Baloch people in Pakistan.

“Forced conversion is not a private matter. It is not a family dispute. It is not a simple change of faith. It is a violation of identity, dignity, freedom of conscience, family life, and basic human rights. And when this happens to minority women and underage girls, it becomes even more serious. Because the victim is targeted not only as a woman but also as a member of a weaker community,” Naseem stated.

“Across Pakistan, Hindu and Christian girls have been abducted, forcibly converted, and married off. Their families are often too poor, too frightened, or too powerless to fight back. When they go to the police, they are ignored. When they go to court, they are pressured. When they speak out, they are threatened. We have seen this pattern again and again,” he added.

Highlighting the persecution of minorities across provinces in Pakistan, Naseem said that in Sindh, Hindu girls are abducted in the name of conversion and marriage. While in Punjab, he said, Christian communities have faced mob violence, attacks on churches, and the burning of homes.

“Gojra in 2009, Joseph Colony in 2013, and Jaranwala in 2023 are not isolated incidents. They are part of a wider culture of religious hatred, state failure, and impunity,” he noted.

Naseem further alleged that women in Balochistan face a distinct yet interconnected form of oppression, saying they are subjected to the consequences of occupation, militarisation, enforced disappearances, collective punishment, and extensive state control over society.

He cited the life imprisonment sentences handed down to Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch activists, calling it an attempt to silence those who raise voices against state atrocities.

“Mahrang Baloch is not a criminal. She is a human rights defender. She became the voice of thousands of families whose loved ones were forcibly disappeared. Her only crime is that she asked the most basic question: where are our people? Instead of answering that question, the state punished her. Instead of ending enforced disappearances, it sentenced those who speak against them. This judgement is not justice. It is an attempt to silence a woman who refused to bow her head,” he added.

Calling on the international community to stop treating these abuses across Pakistan as isolated incidents, Naseem said, “A girl abducted in Sindh, a Christian home burned in Punjab, a Baloch mother searching for her disappeared son, a sister forced to speak against her brother, and Mahrang Baloch sentenced to life imprisonment—these are all signs of a deeper crisis. They show a state that has failed to protect the vulnerable and, in many cases, has become part of the violence against them.”

–IANS

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