Pakistan: Religious Freedom

(asked on 11th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the custodian of Bharchundi Shareef Dargah, Mian Mithu, has been responsible for forcibly converting underage Hindu girls in Sindh, including Kavita Kumari.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 25th March 2021

The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls in Pakistan. The FCDO does not comment on individual cases.

Pakistan remains a FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We regularly raise our concerns on these issues with the Government of Pakistan. Most recently, I raised our human rights concerns, including Freedom of Religion or Belief, with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 20 February 2021. I also raised the human rights situation in Pakistan with the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior, Shahzad Akbar, on 7 December 2020.

Through the UK's development support, we have worked with the Government of Pakistan to strengthen and improve Pakistan's police and judicial systems.

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