KARACHI (UCAN): Caritas Pakistan’s Karachi chapter and the Catholic Women’s Organisation (CWO) jointly organised an awareness seminar on November 13 with women and girls on forced conversion, child marriage and women’s rights. The event took place in Kausar Naizi Colony, a neighbourhood of St. Jude’s Parish in the Archdiocese of Karachi.
The objective was to create awareness in the context of the Arzoo Raja case (Sunday Examiner, November 8 and 15).
Raja, a 13-year-old resident of Karachi’s Railway Colony, was abducted, married off to a 44-year-old Muslim man and converted to Islam. Her family are fighting a legal battle for her custody.
The case sent shockwaves throughout Pakistan, prompting religious minorities, particularly Christians, to stage nationwide protests.
“Mothers play a very important role in family building to protect young girls from falling into the trap of wolves who prey on young girls and change their religion,” Sister Catherine Qasir, a CWO coordinator, said.
“We must daily pray with all family members to spiritually strengthen and renew our faith in Jesus Christ and to fight against the forces of evil,” she said.
Tabassum Yousaf, a high court lawyer and counsel for Raja, shed light on the legal rights of minority girls according to the constitution.
“Although abduction of an individual for the purpose of forced marriage is a criminal offense in Pakistan, it is one of, if not the most, widespread reported crimes against women in the country,” she said.
Yousaf advised girls about how to keep themselves safe. She urged them to memorise the mobile phone numbers of their parents and siblings.
She called on mothers to spend time with their daughters, befriend them, patiently listen to their problems and address them with love, care and respect.
“We must reinforce our commitment to provide quality education and equal opportunities to our young girls and children and start this from our family,” she added.
Mansha Noor, executive secretary of Caritas Karachi, said the Arzoo Raja case provides a useful opportunity for mothers and girls to learn about the menace of forced conversion and child marriage and their negative impact on society.
“What we learned from this seminar we must share with others and start implementation from our family if we have to save and protect young girls and children,” Noor said.
“We must remember the most beautiful quote of St. Mother Teresa on the family that ‘the family that prays together stays together, and if they stay together they will love one another as God loved each one of them’.”
