A Reuters file picture.
LAHORE: After a 12 months of conflicts, two sisters belonging to the Hindu neighborhood who transformed to Islam final 12 months and married Muslim males in Ghotk, Sindh, have lastly reconciled with their households and the matter has now settled.
In March final 12 months, the women named Reena and Raveena have been allegedly kidnapped and forcibly transformed to Islam. Their elder brother claimed that the women have been underage and have been unable to make such choices.
In response, the women had approached the Islamabad Excessive Court docket (IHC) together with their husbands and had sought safety as a result of they felt threatened for his or her security. Of their plea, the women confessed of willingly embracing Islam and marrying Muslim males. After an in depth inquiry into the matter, the courtroom mentioned the 2 have been grownup sufficient to make their very own choices and that they weren’t pressured to transform.
The youngsters had left their residence on March 20 to be married in Punjab, the place the legislation doesn’t bar marriages of these youthful than 18, in contrast to Sindh.
After the conversion, Raveena modified her title to Aasiya, whereas Reena was named Nadia. Aasiya was married to a younger man named Safdar Ali, whereas Nadia tied the knot with Barkat Ali. Each the lads have been already married and the women have been taken as their second wives.
The marriages, nonetheless, didn’t happen easily as controversies continued to encompass the {couples}. In line with a Sindh authorities report submitted within the IHC, each the lads had failed to say their first marriages of their nikahnamas. What’s extra, the primary wives of Barkat Ali and Safdar Ali, of their official statements, expressed ‘serious concern’ over second marriages of their husbands with out their consent, which is a authorized requirement as per the legislation.
Reena and Raveena, nonetheless, say that they now dwell in the identical home with the primary wives and there aren’t any conflicts.
“We have not faced any problems. Now I am also a mother to a son named Muhammad Owais,” she mentioned.
Raveena burdened that she and her sister transformed to Islam willingly and the undue media propaganda associated to their pressured conversions and marriages was unfaithful.
“Changing my religion was not an easy decision and my journey from Hinduism to Islam was very difficult in the beginning, but I am finally fine with the mercy of Allah.”
She mentioned that her mother and father have been actually upset together with her resolution earlier however now that she is a mom, they’ve reconciled together with her.
The 2 sisters mentioned that Safdar and Barkat have been buddies and the 2 sisters made good friend with them by way of the phone.
“We used to talk on the phone with them and gradually fell in love,” she mentioned. “As against the common belief, we both are happy, our husbands treat us well, and our in-laws respect us. No one has ever taunted us about our past,” Raveena mentioned.
Regardless of Reena and Raveen’s success story, pressured conversions of Hindu women and marrying them off to Muslims males nonetheless stays an issue in Sindh and over time, quite a lot of instances have surfaced. It’s pertinent to say that each Raveena and Reena are religious followers of Mian Mithoo who’s notorious for facilitating such conversions.
Printed in The Categorical Tribune, June 5th, 2020.
