Hindu married woman forced to recite Kalma and convert to Islam; abandon her husband and children in Pakistan's Sindh

Case ID : f664a8d | Location : Sindh, Pakistan | Date of Incident : Thu, 3 April, 2025

Case ID : f664a8d

Sindh, Pakistan

3 April, 2025

Hindu married woman forced to recite Kalma and convert to Islam; abandon her husband and children in Pakistan's Sindh

Predatory Proselytisation

Proselytisation by grooming, brainwashing, manipulation or subtle indoctrination

Pattern of targeting Hindus

Case Summary

In Sindh, Pakistan, a Hindu woman named Chandani became a victim of coercion. A married woman and mother of two, she was forcibly converted to Islam, leaving behind her husband and children. Reports indicate that Chandani was taken to the residence of Pir Mian Javed Ahmed Qadi in Bharchundi, a place infamous for such incidents. There, she was pressured into reciting the Kalma, the Islamic declaration of faith, and was given the new name Amna. This is not the first time Pir Mian Javed Ahmed’s name surfaced for converting Hindus to Islam. Hinduphobia tracker has documented many cases where Hindu have been converted to Islam by Javed Ahmed. In November 2023, eleven members of Hindu families, spanning across different age groups, were converted to Islam on November 4th 2023, at the Dargah-e-Aliya Bharchundi Shareef Dargah in Ghotki district, Sindh province, Pakistan. Pir Mian Javed Ahmed read Kalma in front of the Hindus and converted them to Islam. Prior to this, a 25-year-old Hindu named Shankar s/o Chetan Das Bhil from Thakrato was converted to Islam by Javed Ahmed.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

In this case, the victim was coerced into converting to Islam. The details of the case suggest that the Maulvi read the Kalma in front of the Hindu woman and converted her to Islam. Since the underlying offence is against a woman of a specific faith and involves indoctrination and illegal conversion, this case is being categorised under the primary category of- Predatory Proselytisation. The distinct components of brainwashing and indoctrination demonstrate the perpetrator's bias against the Hindu faith and their deliberate attempt to alienate the victim from their religious identity. Religious brainwashing essentially means the often subtle and forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up their religious beliefs to accept contrasting regimented ideas. Religious grooming or brainwashing also involves propaganda and manipulation. It involves the systematic effort, driven by religious malice and indoctrination, to persuade “non-believers’ to accept allegiance, command, or doctrine to and of a contrasting faith. Cases of such grooming or brainwashing are far more nuanced than direct threats, coercion, inducement and violence. In such cases, it is often seen that there is repeated, subtle and continual manipulation of the victim to induce disaffection towards their own faith and acceptance of the contrasting faith of the perpetrator. While subtle indoctrination is widely acknowledged as predatory, an element which is often understated in such conversions or the attempts of such conversion is the role of loyalty and trust which might develop between the perpetrator and the victim. Fiduciary relationships are often abused to affect such religious conversion. For example, an educator transmitting religious doctrine of a competing faith to a Hindu student. The Hindu student is likely to accept what the teacher is transmitting owing to existence of the fiduciary relationship. The exploitation of the fiduciary relationship to religiously indoctrinate victims would also be included in this category. Since the underlying animosity towards the victim’s faith forms the basis of predatory proselytization, such cases are considered religiously motivated hate crimes. In this specific case, it is important to also explain the dynamics of religious conversions in Pakistan. It is true that there are several religious conversions across the world which are completely voluntary and done out of the individual's own free will, driven by a change in faith. However, religious conversions in Pakistan have an especially predatory nature. Pakistan, being an Islamic nation, harbours specific animosity towards non-Muslims, especially Hindus. Human Rights reports have detailed how minor Hindu girls are abducted by Muslim men and forcefully converted to Islam, then married off to their abductors. Hindus are widely persecuted on the basis of their religion. There are instances where minors, who were forced to convert after being kidnapped, were handed over to their abductors even by the courts of Pakistan. Temples are desecrated and razed to the ground, religious symbols destroyed and Hindus killed merely for displaying their faith. Under such circumstances, the version that a married Hindu woman was converted to Islam out of her own free will is a version that is most likely coloured by religious bigotry and coercion. Further, there is a strong possibility that even if the Hindus say they converted out of their own free will, it is to escape the persecution if they don't convert to Islam in Pakistan. For that reason, this case is being added to the hate crime tracker.