Award-Winning Film ‘Hum Saya’ Screened in Islamabad

News Desk 

Islamabad: The award-winning documentary film Hum Saya – Neighbor was screened in Islamabad on Wednesday. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), in collaboration with Blackhole, hosted a significant event featuring the screening of the award-winning documentary film Hum Saya – Neighbor. 

The film, based on true stories of minor girls forcibly converted in Pakistan, has garnered international recognition, winning the Best Short Documentary on Human Rights at the Venice Intercultural Film Festival in 2023. It is also set for its fifth international screening at the 7th FICNOVA in Spain in 2024.

The event, attended by human rights experts and activists, commenced with the film screening, followed by a panel discussion on the pressing issues of forced conversions and child marriages in Pakistan.

The speakers called upon the government and legislative bodies to implement legal and administrative safeguards to protect underage girls from forced conversions and marriages, citing that previous efforts have failed to cultivate empathy or produce concrete reforms.

The discussion highlighted the critical need for legal procedures under judicial oversight to ensure that religious conversions and marriages are voluntary, not coerced. Such measures would help distinguish between voluntary and forced acts, ensuring religious freedom and the rule of law are upheld.

The panel also stressed the importance of legislation criminalizing forced conversions and enforcing 18 years as the minimum legal age for both religious conversion and marriage, in line with rulings from the Lahore High Court (2019), Federal Shariat Court (2021), and Islamabad High Court (2022).

Speakers cited CSJ data revealing that at least 338 cases of abduction and forced religious conversions of minority girls and women were reported in Pakistan between 2021 and 2023.

However, they lamented the resistance from government authorities and religio-political groups to acknowledge these cases and enact legal reforms.

Previous attempts to pass protective laws, such as the Sindh Assembly’s Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) 2016 and the Prohibition of Forced Conversions Bill 2021, have stalled due to a lack of political will.

The event concluded with a call for comprehensive reforms to protect the rights and dignity of girls and women, urging action to prevent the misuse of religion as a cover for human rights violations.