The grieving members, while speaking
to the Indian media, said gun-wielding
motorcyclists often came to their
shops and demanded huge sums of
money and also harassed Hindu ladies,
taking away their ornaments, in Sindh
and Balochistan. On the issue of conversion
of Hindu girls, the community
members criticised the process of sending
the women to Darul Aman while the
courts heard their cases.
The fact remains that the government
of Pakistan woke up only after the electronic
media carried reports that the
Hindu families are migrating to India to
escape violence and discrimination.
Amid the panic, Pakistan Immigration
authorities tried to stop 250 Hindus
from crossing over to India at the Wagah
border, citing reasons of "security clearance"
– but it was too late. The immigration
authorities are believed to have
received directions from the Interior
Ministry not to let any Hindus to go to
India even for pilgrimage, according to
sources. The late action was akin to locking
the stables after horses have bolted.
It is commendable that President Asif
Ali Zardari, after taking serious notice of
media reports about a prevailing sense
of insecurity among Hindu families in
Sindh province, immediately set up a
committee of parliamentarians to look
into their grievances.
The committee is now visiting different
parts of Sindh to express solidarity
with members of the Hindu community,
reassuring them of adequate security.
Now it is to be seen how far Zardari succeeds
in instilling a sense of security in
the minds of the worried community
and extract a promise of no migration in
future.
After President Zardari, the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also
filed an adjournment motion in the National
Assembly on the migration of
Hindus to India. Dr Darshan, Sheikh
Aftab Ahmed, Dr Nelson Azeem, Dr
Araish Kumar, Junaid Anwar and Abid
Sher Ali of the PML-N signed the motion.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah
took notice of the pleas of the Hindu
community and formed a three-member
committee comprising minority
ministers to look into the matter.
Besides political leaders, Pakistani
media also highlighted the genuine security
concerns of Hindus. In an editorial
comment, The Daily Times – a
Pakistani newspaper – on August 11,
said: "The increasing trend of Hindu
traders and families’ complaints that
their shops are looted, houses ransacked,
women forcibly converted to
Islam and kidnappings for ransom carried
out paint a sorry picture of the
plight of this peaceful and inoffensive
minority community. What is even more
disturbing than the actual ground realities
that afflict the Hindu community in
Sindh and Balochistan is the state of denial
our authorities and government
high officials are in."
As expected, persecution of Hindus in
Pakistan also resonated in India with
members voicing concern and asking
the government to take up the matter
immediately with its neighbour and
summon its envoy to convey its disapproval.
Members of BJP, BJD and SP referred
to instances of growing violence
and harassment of minorities in Pakistan
and demanded that the Parliament
adopt a resolution condemning it.
Of course, the recent revelations that
at least 20-25 Hindu girls are abducted
in Sindh every month should be a matter
of concern to India. It is shocking to
know that at the time of Partition, the
Hindu population which stayed back in
Pakistan was 20% but now it has shrivelled
to around 1.7%. Millions of Hindus
were forcefully converted to Islam. More
than 96 percent of Pakistan’s 180 million
people are Muslims, while Christians
and Hindus account for about 1.5 percent
each. According to sources, the
Christian communities are also undergoing
the same suffering with their
women being kidnapped, converted
and forcefully married off as second and
third wives.
No doubt, Pakistani authorities have
now swung into action, but a moot
question arises: Why had the government
failed to take action against the
culprits against whom complaints of
kidnapping, loot, rape and forcible conversions
were made by the families of
the victims. Instead of restoring victims
to their families, they were paraded on
the roads and sent to Darloom Ahwan.
The truth remains that it was Pakistani
media which painted the conversions as
voluntary by beaming the images of victims
on TV screens. However, the facts
suggest otherwise.
The role of the judiciary in the forcible
conversion of a 19-year-old Hindu girl,
Rinkie Kumari, has raised many eyebrows.
As during the hearing, Rinki's
parents were not allowed to enter the
courtroom and meet the girl while the
kidnappers with hundreds of armed
persons were present inside the court as
well as outside the court. Moreover, the
court sent the girl to an Islamic rehabilitation
centre against her wishes to remain
with her parents. The partial
proceedings in the Rinki case and the
way justice was dispensed have exposed
the communal tendencies of justice-delivering
authorities. The one-sided
judgement has naturally prompted fears
in the justice-seeking minority community.
All said and done, religious intolerance
has led to Hindus’ exodus from
Pakistan.
The fact remains that fundamentalists
have also encroached on most of the
temples, cremation grounds and educational
institutions of Hindus which has
made it difficult for them to perform funeral
rites of the departed members.
Unfortunately, the governments in the
past and present have turned a blind eye
to the miseries being heaped upon the
non-aggressive and peace-loving community
by the zealots.
Undoubtedly, the exodus is Pakistan's
internal matter entirely, but it is at the
same time duty of India to provide them
refuge and facilities on humanitarian
basis. India should also urge Pakistan to
provide foolproof security to its minorities
and protect them from harassment
and persecution.
This is also the right time for Pakistan
to roll back the tide of extremist darkness
that increasingly threatens to
drown all rational, tolerant, inclusive
views. It is equally the responsibility of
every citizen of Pakistan to promote harmony
and create an atmosphere of
peaceful coexistence. This will go a long
way in curbing the exodus of minorities.
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