Meeting of the Parliamentary Committee to Protect Minorities from Forced Conversion was held in Committee room no 4 parliament house Islamabad under the Chairmanship of Senator Liaqat khan Taraqai.The meeting was attended by Senator Molvi Faiz Muhammad and Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmed. Members of National Assembly included Ms. Shunila Ruth, Mr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Mr. Jai Prakash, Mr. Lal Chand, Mr. Keshoo Mal Kheeal Das and Mr. Ramesh Lal. Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Mr. Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mr. Ali Muhammad Khan and Minister for Human Rights, Ms. Shireen M. Mazari were also present.
The Committee listen view of the Members of Minority Commission regarding Forced Conversions. Member of one Minority Commission proposed that the commission may be taken in board before any legislation on the forced conversion on it represents all minorities in Pakistan. Regarding draft Law (Protection of minorities) bill 2021, Mr. Lal chand, Jai Parkash and Ramaish kumar Vankwani stressed that the bill may be introduced for early legislation in the Parliament for rapid legislation regarding forced conversion in Pakistan.
The Members of the National Minorities Commission (NMC) also showed concern over minimum age for conversion and the fact that each such incident leads to marriage. National Minorities Commission (NMC) was of the view that this issue has aggravated due to the bias of the lower judiciary and the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony was of the view that since this was a sensitive issue therefore re-examining the draft Bill was imperative for consensus based legislation.Chairman Committee, Senator Liaqat Khan Tarakai directed that
Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony should review the Bill minutely and then it should be placed before the Committee for re-examination and deliberation.