Pak minister opposes restriction on conversion of religious
15 Jul 2021, 06:37 GMT+10
Islamabad [Pakistan], July 15 (ANI): The practice of forceful conversion, which for long has been used as a convenient tool to repress religious minorities in Pakistan, has found many supporters within the Imran Khan-led government despite the international scrutiny.
During a meeting of the Senate parliamentary committee on minorities' rights, Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri on Wednesday opposed a restriction on converting religion before the age of 18 years, saying that if someone aged 14 years wished to convert to some other religion, they could "not be stopped", Dawn reported.
Despite the repeated global calls for actions against the menace, the minister said: "We do not support a restriction on religious conversion before 18 years of age.""There are several incidents where someone expresses the wish to convert their religion out of their own choice before the age of 18. There are several examples in Islam of religious conversion before 18," he said.