Pakistan PM assures minorities, Hindus protest in Karachi

Karachi/Islamabad: The minority Hindu Maheswari community in Karachi on Sunday held a protest against the administration's failure in tracing a missing 16-year-old Hindu girl. The family of the girl, who went missing on May 20, has alleged her abduction.

The family and the community leaders have accused the police of failing to take any action in the case. The police had been harassing the girl's family instead, they alleged.

At the protest outside the Karachi Press Club, Viraj Mal Maheswari, a community member, said, "No concrete steps have been taken to recover the girl. We have met top police officers, but nothing has happened. We met Sindh Chief Minister Sayed Murad Ali Shah recently and he asked the police to take prompt action. A petition in the Sindh High Court has also been filed."

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said in Islamabad on Monday, Islam did not allow forced conversion and his government was committed to protect the rights of minorities. Speaking at a minorities-related event, he said minorities would be protected and their religious structures restored.

According to the media reports, the Prime Minister also made a mention of issues of the Hindu minorities in Sindh. "It's being said people in Sindh are being forcibly converted. Those who are doing this don't know about Islam," Imran Khan reportedly said.