HE institutional bias against minority females leaves them to either be directly victimised or to live in conditions where mistreatment is their daily reality.

The Senate Minority Caucus, following the disappearance of a 14-year-old Hindu girl, has directed law enforcement to recover the victim, and also voiced concern about the abductions, reported forced conversions and marriages of non-Muslim girls in Sindh and Balochistan. While the police chiefs of the two provinces stated that a writ petition had been filed, their claim was denied by a Supreme Court lawyer who added that no serious efforts were made to find her. From highlighting the helplessness of the state and the police when it comes to dealing with an influential pir`s alleged `state within a state` to the need to criminalise these excesses in order to end them, the committee`s observations were not new.

Chauvinism persists because legislation to proscribe forced conversions was blocked by the right a decade ago. In 2016, the Sindh Assembly did pass a bill stipulating that any conversion by a minor would only come into effect when they attain the age of 18 years, and it also prescribed severe punishments for the perpetrators of forced conversions. The ensuing outrage by the orthodox lobby comprising those accused of playing a key role in these acts compelled the provincial government to cave in. Thus the bill was not signed into law. Politicians have since failed to show any commitment towards pursuing a legal framework to uproot these problematic practices. This does question the intent of the state: does it allow circumstances where condemnable practices continue; where those responsible go scot-free; where the police are often found complicit with powerful offenders? It is high time such acts were seen as crimes of power and control. In a civilised society, deep-seated social prejudice cannot be permitted to strip vulnerable communities of their dignity and liberties.