Around 1,000 Hindus, including young children, were forcibly converted to Islam in Keti Nizamani, near Tando Ghulam Ali, Badin district of Sindh, Pakistan. This shocking event, another example of the gradual genocide of Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan, has gone unheard in the international community.

Reports say that a temple in the area was turned into a mosque as well.

This is not a unique case. Large groups of Hindus have been forced to become Muslims in Pakistan’s Sindh province (they have been almost completely eliminated from other Pakistani provinces like Punjab) on more than one occasion in recent years. People say that the government hasn’t done anything to protect the rights of minority communities. Daily hate crimes (rape, abduction, forced conversions, temple desecrations etc) and institutionalized discrimination drives the poor and underprivileged Hindus into the hands of the powerful Islamic dawah organizations circling them like vultures.

In June 2020, around 100 Hindus in the Golarchi area, which is also part of Badin, were forced to become Muslims. At least 60 Hindus are said to have been forced to become Muslims in the Malti area of Sindh in July 2021. The Hindus had to recite Kalimas (Kalma), the Islamic oath of loyalty, in front of Abdul Rauf Nizamani, the head of the local government. Abdul Rauf boasted on Facebook that 60 people had become Muslims while he was in charge and asked people to ‘pray for them’.

Traditionally, Sindh province used to be a place where many different religions came together. But in the last few decades, many people from minority religions have fled to other countries due to rising tide of Islamist persecution and discrimination by the State. Around 5000 Pakistani Hindus seek refuge each year in Bharat alone, as per conservative estimates.

The few people and activists who dare to speak out against Islamist bigotry face harsh action from govt, extra-legal authorities (like powerful clans which control Sufi dargahs) and Army-ISI combine – this includes threat of violence, enforced disappearance, and the risk of being accused of blasphemy, which is a capital crime.