A Pakistani court placed two teenage sisters from the minority Hindu community in a government shelter on Tuesday as authorities launched an investigation into whether the girls were abducted and forced to convert and marry two Muslim men.
The case of the sisters from the southern Sindh province has seen much traction in local media over the past days, going to the heart of two controversial issues in this predominantly Muslim nation: marriage of underage girls and forced conversions to Islam.
While marriage under the age of 18 is illegal in Pakistan, the law is often ignored. There is no legislation banning forced conversions.
The Islamabad High Court issued the protection order for the girls on Tuesday, saying it acted on a petition from the two. It also placed their husbands under protection but in a separate shelter, as they purportedly fear they could be attacked by the girls' parents.
Pakistani media have cited the girls as claiming they were married of their own free will. Their lawyer, Mohammad Umari Baloch, claims they are not minors, contradicting the family's statements.
The girls' family, from the Sindh town of Ghotki, says the sisters are 13 and 15 years old and were abducted and forced to convert and marry the men. The sisters' elder brother, Shaman Daas, said they were taken as the family was celebrating the Hindu annual festival of Holi last Friday.
"Their marriages should not have been performed and not by a Muslim cleric," Daas told reporters.
Earlier, police in Sindh arrested several suspects in the case, including the cleric who performed the weddings on Friday. The arrests were made after Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered an investigation into the incident.
The Islamabad court said it would take up the case next Tuesday, after the probe is completed. The sisters' parents are expected to attend the hearing.
A leading rights group, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, has urged the Sindh parliament to "take swift, serious measures to resurrect and pass the bill criminalizing forced conversions."
The province's parliament, the only one in Pakistan that has taken any action on forced conversions, failed to pass the bill banning it in 2016.
"At present, forced conversions are too easily - and too often - disguised as voluntary conversions, leaving minor girls especially vulnerable," the commission said.
Dozens of human rights activists rallied Tuesday in the southern city of Hyderabad, denouncing the abduction of the girls and demanding the Sindh assembly adopt the bill against forced conversions.
Also Tuesday, lawmakers Jamshed Thomas and Shunila Ruth from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party submitted a bill to the National Assembly, seeking legislation against forced conversions.
"The abduction of the two girls from the Hindu community motivated us to submit this," Thomas said. "Anyone who wants to change religion or marry a person of his or her choice should have this right, but not before the age of 18."
DETROIT (AP) — The Oakland Athletics no longer have to wonder where they'll play the next few seasons. That won't make the long goodbye any easier.
The A's reacted to the announcement that this will be their last year in Oakland with a mixture of sadness and relief.
“At least as a player, you know where you’re headed,” outfielder Seth Brown said Friday before a game against the Tigers in Detroit. “There’s obviously a lot of moving parts, a lot of stuff we’re not privy to, so it’s just been kind of a waiting game on our end. Where are we going to go? Where are we going to be? So I think just having that knowledge -- at least we know where we’re going to be playing next year.”
Vivek Ranadivé, who owns the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, and Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher announced Thursday that the A’s will temporarily relocate to West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park for at least three seasons. The A's are moving to Las Vegas after a new ballpark is constructed.
The River Cats, who are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants, will continue to play at the same facility.
Fisher was unable to reach an agreement with Oakland city officials on extending the lease at Oakland Coliseum, which expires at the end of this season. The A's have played in the city since 1968.
“There's direction now, which we've talked a lot about,” Oakland A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “We've got time to kind of reflect on what this really means from an organizational standpoint, the history that we've had in Oakland, with this being now the final season. There's a lot of emotion that goes behind this.”
It will not only cause some upheaval for the players and staff but also members of the organization that work behind the scenes.
“At the end of the day, we know where we're going to be for the next three seasons after the finish this year and that in itself gives a little bit of stability,” Kotsay said. “At the same time, in the present, it's challenging in certain ways to think about the finality of this organization in Oakland.”
Sacramento will be a much smaller environment to house a major league team. Ranadivé said the River Cats venue currently seats 16,000 when counting the stands, the lawn behind center field and standing room only.
First baseman Ryan Noda is concerned with the facilities. He's hopeful that significant upgrades will be made, much like the Toronto Blue Jays did at Buffalo's Triple-A facility. The Blue Jays played at Buffalo's Sahlen Field in 2020 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“New walls, new dugouts, new locker rooms — everything they needed to become a big league stadium,” said Noda, who played some games in Sacramento as a minor leaguer. “As long as we can do something like that, then it'll be all right. But it's definitely going to be different than playing in stadiums that hold 40,000 people.”
Kotsay is confident the upgrades will occur.
“I know it will be of major league baseball quality,” he said. “It's has to be of major league baseball quality. I know the Players Association will make sure that takes place, as they did in Buffalo.”
For the rest of this season, the A's will have to deal with small home crowds and disappointed fans.
“We’re sad for the fans, the diehard fans, who always come to our games, always support us, always support the boys wearing the jersey,” Noda said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, center, shakes hands John Fisher, owner of the Oakland Athletics, before the start of a news conference where Fisher announced his team will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park, during a news conference in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4 2024.The A's announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
John Fisher, owner of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, announces that his team will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park, during a news conference in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4, 2024. The A's announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple A team Sacramento River Cats, is shown in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4, 2024. The Oakland Athletics announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay walks to the dugout after making a pitching change during the eighth inning of the team's baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
