Hindus in Pakistan Migrating to India

via Xavier Patras William:

“We are insecure in Pakistan; we were born here not never accepted as the children of the soil. They say become a Muslim and we will not do anything to you, otherwise you will pay a heavy price” Raj Kumar a resident of Ghotki Sindh said. His daughter was abducted and forcefully converted to Islam. He tried to go to the police and get a FIR registered, but no one stood for him.

Forced marriages have increased at an alarming rate. More than 300 families crossed over to India from Pakistan via the Attari border on Sunday in the wake of their harassment in Sindh province. More have already fled and more are on the way.

Mukesh Kumar a Hindu activist said,” Hindu business men are abducted for ransom in Baluchistan, we have been trying to contact the government, but no one came to our rescue. Our daughters are forcefully taken from the houses and converted, married and sold. What should we do? Where should we go? In 2011 more than 7000 families migrated to India, as their motherland refused to protect them or save their lives. There are at least 5,000 Hindu families who are waiting to move to India but the Pakistani authorities are holding them back. According to immigration officials, over 30 Hindu families have come to India by the train.”

PDSN (The Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network) Secretary General B M Kutty said on Monday that both the federal and the provincial governments had failed to protect the lives, dignity and properties of the Hindu community and other vulnerable groups, which is creating unrest among a larger section of the population. The kidnapping for ransom, abduction and conversion of Hindu girls; growing lawlessness; forced encroachment of Hindus families properties; and growing violence against minorities in Sindh districts of Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Sukkur and Kandhkot had become an everyday story now. The police doesn`t even register a FIR for the Hindu kidnappings.

“We consider the ongoing development as highly unsatisfactory and a cause of great concern for all the citizens. According to the Constitution and international law, it is the responsibility of the state to protect lives and properties of all citizens without any discrimination. Unfortunately, the vulnerable religious groups face tougher social, religious and economic challenges to the extent that that leaving the country is the only option to save their lives.”

The recent national media reports of the migration of Hindu families from Jacobabad, in large numbers, has suddenly caught the attention of the state machinery that is spending more energies on covering the issue than addressing it. The FIA, under the directives of the Federal Interior Minister, reportedly forcibly stopped over 150 Hindus at the Wagah border in Lahore. They were coerced to sign an affidavit committing a return to Pakistan.

These types of pressure tactics are not only a violation of the right to free movement of citizens, they will never help the exodus of the Hindu community that receives little support from the state in terms of security and well-being.

Jamat-e-Islami Chief Syed Munawar Hassan termed the Hindu migration as propaganda. He said, “The religious minorities in Pakistan enjoy all sorts of equal rights. They are free to practice their religion. Pakistan is the only Country in the world which ensures the protection on religious minorities.”

Commenting on forced conversions he said, “ It is the duty of every Muslim to increase the Uma (generation) so that on the day of judgment we can proudly face our creator that we are the largest population and saved so many lives.”