Dalits hold rally over 'forced conversion', other woes.

KARACHI -- An alliance of Dalits in Pakistan on Thursday took out a rally from the Karachi Press Club to the Sindh Assembly building to highlight a host of issues, ranging from alleged forced conversion to the suspension of the Thar Express, being faced by the community.

Hundreds of people, including women and children, from different segments of the scheduled caste Hindus like Kolhi, Bheel, Meghwar, Oad and Bagri, participating in the rally under a banner of the Pakistan Darawer Ittehad' also staged a sit-in outside the provincial legislature.

The protesters carried banners inscribing with slogans like 'Why minority girls are seen as sex slaves by radicals', 'No one stands for minority communities' and 'We want protection'.

Shiva Kutchi, Narain Das Jaipal, Sardar Khemchand Bheel, Nirmal Kumar Meghwar, Parkho Mal Bheel, Dr Amreshi Kutchi, Mansangh Thakur, Narain Das Lakhani, Molchand Parmar, Bhimar Lal Karnani and others, leading the rally, said that forced conversion was a 'serious issue' in Sindh but for the last eight years, a draft law to this effect had been pending legislation before the Sindh Assembly.

The leaders accused the government and political parties of taking no serious steps to address the issue of 'forced' conversion of underage Hindu girls seriously.

They warned that if their demands pertaining to the kidnapping-cum-conversion of Hindu girls and others were not...