Islamabad, July 28: Pakistan's noted human rights activist Ansar Burney, has said that he would sue TV anchor Maya Khan and ARY Digital for carrying out a live religious conversion on television by using his volunteer Sunil to convert from Hinduism to Islam.
Ansar Burney tweeted, “The ‘Burney Legal Solicitors' London is going to send legal Notice to Anchor Maya Khan and TV owners of 10 million sterling pounds”.
Ansar Burney alleged that the TV anchor Maya Khan resorted to cheap tactics by inviting his office worker Sunil to the show without his permission. Burney has also fired his brother Sarim Burney from Ansar Burney Trust, declaring him equally responsible in the entire drama.
Ansar Burney said: “This conversion was a drama created by (TV show host) Maya Khan and my brother Sarim Burney. I have dismissed my brother from the Ansar Burney Trust”.
The former federal minister for human rights while speaking to Indian media said that he was trying to ascertain if Sunil was forced to change his religion on the live TV show.
He said: “I have been told that the boy was offered inducements, and that he was very keen on appearing on TV though he might not have known what was going on”.
He said the Hindu boy had worked for Ansar Burney Trust for several years and was deliberately used by anchor Maya Khan.
He also tweeted, “My worker has full right of freedom but what Sunil told me is a painful story of Drama so I have to take action”.
Sarim Burney, brother of Ansar Burney, was featured prominently in the special Ramazan show and was seen sitting next to the Hindu boy Sunil while the cleric converted Sunil to Islam.
The human right activist was quoted saying that he was looking into some corruption charges that had been leveled against his brother, Sarim Burney.
The live conversion on TV show triggered concerns among minorities in Pakistan.
Ansar Burney was of the opinion that if Sunil had chosen to convert to Islam of his own free will, it should have been kept a private matter.
He said, “The boy could have converted in front of a few witnesses. There was no need to televise the whole thing”.
Sunil was converted by Maulana Mufti Muhammad Aqmal on a special live Ramzan show on ARY Digital channel that is hosted by Maya Khan.
During the show beamed on Tuesday, Sunil sat among a group of children and men and said he had decided to convert to Islam while working for the NGO headed by rights activist Ansar Burney.
“Two years ago, I observed the fast during Ramzan. There is no pressure on me to accept Islam, I want to accept Islam of my own will,” he said in response to questions from Aqmal.
The cleric then asked Sunil to say he was “accepting Islam without any pressure and without being forced by anyone” and to recite the “Kalimah Tayyibah”.
Following the conversion, Maya Khan announced that Sunil would be renamed Muhammad Abdullah.
Khan, who was sacked by Samaa TV channel earlier this year after she earned the ire of people across Pakistan when she accosted “immoral” couples dating in Karachi's parks, said she hoped Sunil “would become a good Muslim”.
Hindu leaders expressed concern at the development, saying it could increase pressure on the minority community.
“This has caused sadness in our community as it does not set a good example. Such shows will increase pressure on our community,” Amarnath Randhawa of the Lahore-based Hindu Sudhar Sabha told PTI.
“Minority communities are already oppressed in Pakistan and the pressure is bound to increase on people when such things are played up in the media,” Randhawa said.
