Expediting its efforts to genuinely probe the phenomenon of alleged forced conversion in Pakistan, IPS facilitated a meeting on September 17, 2021 between the officials of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and Pir Abdul Haque alias Mian Mithu of Bharchundi Sharif (Ghotki), who is alleged for forcibly converting scores of individuals to Islam.
The participants of the discussion included Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, Dr Qibla Ayaz, Chairman CII, Dr Umair Mehmood Siddiqui, member, CII, Dr Ikram ul Haq, secretary, CII, and Dr Mohammad Mushtaq Ahmed, legal expert and former director, Shari’ah Academy, among others. The delegation from IPS comprised Syed Nadeem Farhat, senior research officer, and Sufi Ghulam Hussain, the researcher and author of IPS’ study ‘Forced Conversions or Faith Conversions: Rhetoric and Reality’.
The objective behind the meeting was to discuss the phenomenon of forced conversions in Pakistan, particularly in Sindh, and the implications of the proposed anti-forced conversion bill, which has already been tabled before the parliament’s committee on minorities.
Speaking on the occasion, Mian Mithu cleared his position on forced conversion, explaining at length the history as well as the actual role of his seminary in religious conversions in Sindh. Besides, he also shed light on the mechanism his seminary adopts to verify if the converter is under duress, and how to protect the converts after conversion in case of threats.
