Sindh: At least 50 members from ten Hindu families converted to Islam in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan, troubling Hindu activists who alleged the involvement of the state in the mass conversion.
The people were from different areas of the Mirpurkhas region of the province and were converted in a ceremony organised at the Baitul Iman New Muslim Colony seminary of the city, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Qari Taimur Rajput, one of the caretakers of the seminary, confirmed that a total of 50 people from 10 families converted to Islam, including 23 females and a one-year-old girl. Mohammad Shamroz Khan, the son of minister for religious affairs senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood, also attended the conversion ceremony, the report said.
"They all willingly converted to Islam. No one has forced them," Rajput said, quoting Khan. During the conversion ceremony attended by several residents, Rajput reportedly inquired the new converts if they had taken the step willingly. Hindu activists, on the other hand, were troubled over the mass conversions and expressed their anger and disappointment.
Faqir Shiva Kucchi, a Hindu activist who often raises his voice against the practice, said, "It seems the state itself is involved in these conversions." He added that demands to initiate legislation against conversions had been made to the government by local community members for several years.