Who Is Shiva Kachhi? How A Pakistani Hindu Activist Rescued Minor Hindu Girls From Forced Conversions Despite Death Threats And ‘Fatwa-Style Calls’ From Islamist Group

A Pakistani Hindu minority rights activist has issued an urgent appeal to the international community, claiming his life is in imminent danger after receiving death threats and fatwa-style calls from an Islamist group for speaking out against the forced conversion of minor Hindu girls in Sindh province.

Shiva Kachhi, founder-chairman of minority rights organisation Darawar Itehad, said clerics linked to the Sarhindi faction of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have openly called for his killing. He alleged that despite repeated complaints, Pakistan’s federal and Sindh governments, as well as the police, have failed to act.

‘Complete Silence and Inaction by the State’

In a video message and multiple posts on X on January 18, Kachhi said he was being branded “anti-Islam” and “anti-state” labels frequently used in Pakistan to incite violence against activists and dissenters.

“Despite open death threats and fatwa-style calls for my killing, there has been complete silence and inaction from the authorities,” he wrote, warning that any harm to him or his family should be held as the responsibility of the State of Pakistan.

Who Is Shiva Kachhi?

Kachhi is a Pakistan-based Hindu activist from Umarkot district in Sindh, the only Hindu-majority district in the country. He heads Darawar Itehad, an organisation that documents cases of abduction, forced religious conversion and forced marriages involving Hindu girls, many of them minors.

Most of Pakistan’s Hindu population estimated at 4 to 5 million lives in Sindh, where activists have long raised concerns over weak enforcement of minority protections.

Rescuing Abducted Hindu Girls

Kachhi has been actively involved in rescuing abducted Hindu girls and helping reunite them with their families. He has claimed that dozens of girls who were forcibly converted after abduction were returned to their families following legal interventions and public advocacy.

In December 2025, Kachhi said threats against him escalated after he helped rescue several minor girls, triggering backlash from extremist elements allegedly involved in forced conversions.

Appeal to the International Community

Calling the inaction of authorities “state failure and criminal complicity”, Kachhi tagged the United Nations, UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the US State Department, seeking urgent intervention and protection.

“My only crime is speaking against religious extremism, forced conversions and injustice,” he wrote. “If extremists can openly issue murder threats while the state looks away, then no citizen in Pakistan is safe.”

Minority Rights Under Strain in Pakistan

Human rights groups have repeatedly flagged forced conversions of Hindu girls in Sindh, but prosecutions remain rare. Activists say cases often fail to reach mainstream media, while hardline Islamist groups continue to wield street and political power.

Despite periodic assurances from political leaders, critics argue that Pakistan’s identity as an Islamic republic and the influence of extremist groups have left minority safeguards weak and inconsistently enforced.

‘Silence Will Embolden Extremists’

Kachhi warned that failure to act would only embolden extremist groups further. “Silence today will embolden extremists tomorrow. Protection delayed is protection denied,” he said, urging immediate criminal action against those issuing threats.

His case, rights activists say, highlights the dangers faced by minority defenders in Pakistan where rescuing vulnerable girls from forced conversions can come at the cost of one’s life.

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