Zardari asks Sindh govt to frame law to stop forced conversion

Against the backdrop of reports of mass migration of Pakistani Hindus to India, President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the Sindh government to frame a draft law to amend the Constitution as part of efforts to prevent forced conversion of the minorities in the southern province.

The President made the decision after he was briefed about the concerns of Hindus by his sister Faryal Talpur, a lawmaker of the ruling PPP, and Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.

During a meeting held in Karachi on Thursday, Zardari directed Shah to form a committee under provincial Law Minister Ayaz Soomro to prepare the draft law to amend the Constitution.

Elected representatives and leaders of the Hindu Panchayat will be included in the committee, The Express Tribune reported quoting its sources.

"The reports of the mass migration of Hindus to India are merely speculative but people of the Hindu community are insisting that a law is made against forced conversions," Chief Minister Shah was quoted as saying by the sources.

Zardari directed Talpur and Shah to visit Jacobabad and meet representatives of the Hindu community before the draft law is framed.

The President recently formed a committee of three Parliamentarians headed by federal Minister Maula Bux Chandio to meet the Hindu community across Sindh following reports of their mass migration to India due to forced conversions, kidnapping for ransom and extortion demands.