ISLAMABAD: Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sahibzada Noor-ul-Haq Qadri on Thursday said draft of the “Prohibition of Forced Conversion” bill had been sent back to the Ministry of Human Rights with various objections highlighting violation of fundamental rights of the citizens.
In a news statement, he said, the decision was taken in line with the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology, and after an extensive consultation process in which the leading religious scholars of various schools of thought were taken on board.
The objections were made on different clauses of the proposed law especially pertaining to the minimum age for conversion and 90 days for comparative study of religions before confirming to the conversion.
The said clauses as negating the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan for a citizen were termed ‘un-Islamic’ and ‘unlawful’, he added.
The minister said it was observed that the bill in current shape might be used for prohibiting a non-Muslim to enter the fold of Islam and creating religious hatred between Muslims and non-Muslims.
He said it was made clear that there was no room for forced conversion in Islam. Therefore, its prohibition was imperative.
The minister said the ratio of forced conversion in Islam was scarce, but such incidents brought bad name to the country.