Sindh: Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri opposes a proposed restriction on changing religion before the age of 18. Senator Qadri, a member of the Senate Parliamentary committee on minorities’ rights, said a person’s choice to change their religion before the age of 18 cannot be restricted.
‘We are not in favor of limiting religious conversion before the age of 18 years. In Islam, there are several examples of religious conversion before 18 years of age’. He added that if someone under the age of 14 wanted to convert, they couldn’t be stopped. He agreed, however, that laws could be used to regulate marriageable age and that the Council of Islamic Ideology could consult on the matter.
The issue of conversion has been in the spotlight for several years due to the recurrence of such cases in Sindh, which is home to a sizable Hindu population and where such cases are frequently reported. Mr. Qadri supported the investigation into cases of forcible conversion and said it would be investigated if someone was ‘forcefully converting others in Sindh’.
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To the question about a certain spiritual leader in Sindh who allegedly orchestrated the conversion of minor Hindu girls, Qadri responded that the pir should be called by the committee andand be informed that his act was ‘damaging Islam and Pakistan’. In order to highlight the issue of conversion, minority Senator Danesh Kumar spoke about a religious leader in the Dalbandin area of Balochistan who was encouraging conversions.
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