By Muhammad Kashif Mirza
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released the latest Pakistan Country Brief on October 21, 2026. This has once again placed forced conversions, blasphemy accusations and attacks against religious minorities under international scrutiny. For Pakistan, the question is not simply whether we agree with an American commission’s assessment. It is whether our own institutions can demonstrate protection for the vulnerable citizens? Are allegations investigated fairly? And are those responsible for violations held accountable?
The protection of minority girls offers a particularly revealing test. Behind every reported abduction, disputed marriage or allegation of forced conversion is a child whose age, consent, safety and future may depend on decisions made by police officers, medical professionals, prosecutors and judges. These decisions require more than procedural compliance. They require independent verification, sensitivity to the possibility of coercion and a commitment to the best interests of the child.
USCIRF’s 2026 Pakistan Country Brief documented cases reported during 2025 that illustrate the seriousness of these concerns. In February, a 12-year-old Christian girl was reportedly forcibly converted to Islam and married to a 35-year-old man in Sindh. In July, the Sindh Human Rights Commission expressed concern about the alleged abduction and forced conversion of a 15-year-old Hindu girl in Matli. These are reported allegations, not substitutes for judicial findings. Their significance lies in the questions they raise about prevention, investigation and the safeguards available when a child’s fundamental rights may be at risk.
Pakistan’s own evidence provides an important starting point for examining the problem.
The National Commission on the Rights of Child, drawing on data compiled by the Centre for Social Justice, reported at least 421 cases of abduction and forced conversion involving minority girls and women between January 2021 and December 2024. The annual figures were 78 in 2021, 124 in 2022, 136 in 2023 and 83 in 2024. Of the reported victims, 282 were Hindu, 137 Christian and two Sikh. The report recorded 297 victims in age categories below 18, while the ages of another 69 victims were unknown.
These figures require careful interpretation. They record reported cases rather than the full prevalence of abuse, and the available information does not establish that every allegation resulted in a judicial finding of forced conversion. Nevertheless, the number of reported cases involving minors, alongside the gaps in verified age information, demonstrates why systematic investigation and reliable documentation are essential.
The evidence did not end in 2024. A separate report published by Christian Solidarity Worldwide in September 2026, drawing on Centre for Social Justice data, recorded 94 cases of abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage involving religious minority women and girls during 2025. The report identified 71 Hindu and 23 Christian victims. The European Union Agency for Asylum subsequently documented at least 23 cases involving abduction, forced conversion or forced marriage during January and February 2026.
These figures come from different reporting periods, sources and case descriptions. They should not be treated as one perfectly comparable statistical series. They do, however, show why the issue cannot be regarded as a problem confined to the past. They also underline the limitations of relying on media reports alone when a systematic national record of complaints, investigations, court proceedings and outcomes is needed.
A new commission, an old test of accountability
The passage of the National Commission for Minorities Rights Act, 2025, presents Pakistan with an opportunity to strengthen its response. Enacted in December 2025, the law establishes a statutory framework for protecting and promoting the social, economic, political and legal rights of religious minorities.
Its provisions are directly relevant to cases involving vulnerable girls. The commission can inquire into complaints of minority-rights violations and alleged negligence in preventing, investigating or fairly examining such violations. It can seek information from public authorities, exercise specified inquiry powers, recommend immediate interim relief for victims and their families, and recommend action where an inquiry identifies violations or official negligence. The legislation also provides for inquiry reports and recommendations to be published alongside the concerned government’s response.
Equally important is the commission’s proposed institutional composition. The Act provides for representation from the National Commission on the Rights of Child, the National Commission on the Status of Women and the National Commission for Human Rights. This creates a formal point of coordination between minority-rights protection, child protection, women’s rights and broader human-rights oversight.
For a girl whose age is disputed, whose family alleges abduction or whose safety may be threatened by coercion, such coordination could be consequential. It could help expose failures across departments, identify recurring weaknesses in investigations and ensure that a complaint does not disappear between institutions.
The commission, however, cannot replace the police, prosecutors or courts. Its inquiry and recommendation powers must operate alongside criminal investigations, child-protection services and judicial safeguards. The effectiveness of the framework will therefore depend not merely on the commission’s statutory powers, but on whether public authorities respond to its findings and implement appropriate action.
There is also a question of implementation. In January 2026, a Senate committee was informed that nominations from provincial governments and Islamabad for the commission were still awaited despite requests and reminders. In August, the Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights was still calling for the establishment and activation of the new body. These developments make it necessary to distinguish between the passage of legislation and the establishment of a fully functioning institution.
A commission cannot investigate complaints, assist victims or hold authorities to account effectively without the necessary appointments, staff, resources and procedures. Nor can the public assess its performance unless its work is documented transparently.
Protection must reach beyond Islamabad
Legislative progress on child protection provides another useful reference point. The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025, established an age threshold of 18 for both girls and boys within the federal territory and introduced requirements relating to age verification and the prevention of child marriage. Its geographical scope, however, is limited to Islamabad Capital Territory.
The law is a relevant development, but it cannot by itself resolve cases reported in Sindh, Punjab or other provinces. Effective protection requires applicable provincial laws, consistent procedures for verifying age, competent investigations and safeguards against the manipulation of identity documents or the intimidation of families.
It also requires care in how individual cases are handled. A child’s account should be heard in an environment free from intimidation, with independent consideration of her age, circumstances and wishes. Authorities must investigate allegations of coercion without presuming the outcome in advance. Where a child is at risk, appropriate safe accommodation, legal assistance and protection from retaliation must be available while the facts are established.
The proposed minorities commission could help connect these responsibilities by receiving complaints, examining failures by public authorities, recommending relief and publishing findings. Its performance should be measured through evidence: the complaints received, the speed of initial responses, the status of investigations, the relief recommended and the action taken by responsible authorities.
A publicly accessible reporting system, with appropriate protection for victims’ identities, would make this possible. Data should be recorded consistently by age, province, religion, type of allegation and case outcome. Such a system could help governments identify where protection is failing and direct resources towards the communities and institutions most in need of intervention.
The measure of progress is protection delivered
USCIRF’s latest report provides the immediate international context, but Pakistan’s response must be grounded in its own constitutional obligations, laws and evidence. External assessments should prompt scrutiny, not substitute for it. Equally, the existence of domestic legislation should not be treated as proof that protection has been achieved.
The first priority is to ensure that the National Commission for Minorities Rights becomes capable of carrying out the responsibilities Parliament has assigned to it. The next is to establish effective coordination with child-protection bodies, police, prosecutors, courts and provincial authorities. The public must then be able to see whether complaints lead to timely investigation, appropriate protection and meaningful accountability.
The ultimate test is not how many laws Pakistan passes or how many institutions it announces. It is whether a girl reported missing can be located promptly, whether her age is independently verified, whether her safety and wishes are properly considered, and whether the authorities responsible for protecting her can account for their actions.
Pakistan has taken a legislative step. The more difficult task is to make that step count in the lives of vulnerable children. The National Commission for Minorities Rights should become an instrument through which constitutional promises are translated into protection that families can actually experience, not another institution whose mandate is clearer on paper than in practice.
Kashif Mirza is International Awarded, Researcher, writer filmmaker. He writes on child rights, juvenile justice, and minority protections. The views expressed are his own. He can be reached at qashif.mirza@gmail.com and on X @qashifmirza. www.kashifmirza.com
