The move comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the alleged kidnapping of two Hindu girls and their forced conversion to Islam.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani also submitted a resolution with the support of minority lawmakers from all major political parties condemning such incidents.

The five-point resolution calls for immediate passage of the bill against forced conversions.

One of the bills proposes five years to life imprisonment for a person who forces another to convert.

The bills are intended to serve as a deterrent.

One of the two bills suggests the setting up of specific courts to hear cases of forced conversions and shelter homes for victims.

It states any case of forced conversion before the court should be dealt within a period of 90 days with any reason for adjournment given in writing by the court.

The other bill – the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 2019 – indicates that those involved in child marriage cases be given rigorous imprisonment.

It suggests increasing punishment from one month to three years, and an increase in the fine from Rs1,000 to Rs200,000.

Hindus in Daharki taluka of Sindh’s Ghotki district staged a sit-in, after which a video claiming the two girls had converted to Islam went viral on social media.

In it, they claimed no one had forced them to convert, and that they had embraced Islam of their own free will.

But the Hindu community leaders alleged the underage sisters had been abducted by people from the Kohbar and Malik tribes on the eve of Holi.

An FIR was logged at Daharki Police Station on behalf of the victims’ brother, Shaman Das, son of Hari Das Meghwar.

According to the complainant’s statement, some time ago, he had a brief altercation with Barkat Malik and Huzoor Ali Kobhar, who used to stand outside his home.

Das claimed he was at home when six armed people entered and took the family hostage at gunpoint.

At one point, Safdar Ali and Barkat Ali caught the sisters, aged 13 and 15, and dragged them outside the house.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Shah and his three unidentified accomplices rummaged through the cupboards to find valuables.

According to the FIR, the accused stole 4 Tola of gold and Rs75,000 in cash.

Das says Safdar Ali, Barkat Ali and Ahmed Shah drove away with his sisters in a white Toyota Corolla, while the three unidentified men took off on their motorcycles.

Most of the gifts were distributed among Christian families working at brick kilns. The work is exhausting and badly paid, and most families are trapped in bonded labour – having taken out loans from their employers to buy food, they have been left with debts they can’t afford to pay.

Happily, the gifts provided a time of Christmas joy and thanksgiving. As well as receiving much-needed provisions, the families were reminded that they are not alone because we remember them in our hearts and in our prayers.

Gifts were distributed to families and children at six bricks kilns in the districts of Kasur and Raiwind and also to Sunday school children in Lahore. And some financial assistance was given to the struggling families of Christians who are in prison having been falsely accused of blasphemy.

Unfortunately, we had not been able to prepare packages for everyone. When the children who were to receive gifts heard their names called out, they laughed and jumped for joy. But my colleagues noticed the sad faces of the children who had been left out – so they dug deep and managed to find something for every child who was there.

300 children at brick kilns received a package containing sweets, dried fruit, peanuts and savoury snacks.

100 Sunday school and orphan children in Lahore received Christmas packages – one child from every family was selected so that no family was left out.

500 parents at brick kilns received packages containing essential food stuff, including flour, tea, sugar, cooking oil, rice and lentils.

Financial assistance was given to the families of Christians who have been imprisoned on false blasphemy charges (this is a widespread problem in Pakistan that affects people of all faiths).

All families expressed their sincere thanks for the gifts they received – and asked us to thank you for sharing your blessings.

We believe in creating lasting solutions to poverty. The Edge Foundation focus on self-sustaining business models that can become vital agents of change in poor communities. Poor people have the skills, ideas and passion to make a positive change, but their lack of funds hinders them in bringing this to a reality. Traditional banking is often not available to them, and those that are offer interest rates that are unaffordable. Too often, families fall victims to loan sharks which drag them deeper into poverty.

The Edge Foundation provide interest-free loans. Before a loan is given, beneficiaries are vetted and trained on how to use their loans, to avoid microloans being misused (paying school fees, food and medicine).

We will hold 2 classes a month on how they can prevent HIV, by teaching them how it’s passed and by providing test kits too.