Hindus in Pakistan
are migrating to India
and various countries around the world. Hindus do not feel safe in Pakistan – they
are ostracized, tortured, kidnapped for ransom, abducted and are forcibly
converted to Islam. Hindu girls are kidnapped and married to Muslim men. Here
are various reports on the plight of Hindus in Pakistan :
Several Hindu families from Jacobdabad are migrating to India due to
the increasing cases of forced conversions, extortion and kidnapping for ransom
faced by the community, said Dr Ramesh Kumar of the Pakistan Hindu Council
(PHC).
Little else explains why the state machinery has largely
refused to acknowledge that there is an anti-Hindu campaign at work. This is
despite the fact that Hindu businessmen continue to be routinely held to
ransom, Hindu shops are looted and Hindu women forcibly married off to Muslim
men. Most recently, the Chief Minister of Sindh ordered an inquiry but it is
highly unlikely that anything will come of it as long as the authorities refuse
to acknowledge the truth about Hindu persecution in Pakistan . Mostly, the authorities
write off such charges by pointing to Pakistan 's overall law and order
situation. ‘Who is safe in Pakistan ?'
is the common refrain. Similarly, with regard to the forced conversion of Hindu
women, the popular response is that they eloped and married Muslim men out of
love. Such ridiculous denial of reality extends to even the highest echelons of
power.
“We are in no man’s land. We have Pakistani passports but we
prefer to live in
India .
But despite several appeals to the Union government, India has not granted us
citizenship,” says Sardari Lal.
Sammakh Ram came fromPeshawar
in 1998 and settled at Jalandhar along with his family members. “You cannot
imagine the plight of minorities in Pakistan . They have no rights. We
will never return,” he says emphatically.
Sammakh Ram came from
Buaditta Mal, who has come from Sialkot , says, “People at our native place
make fun of us and interfere in our religious congregations. They even throw
away idols of gods and goddesses. If we protest, they beat us up.”
Many of the approximately 2 million Hindus in Pakistan are
compelled to pay regular sums, as a type of ransom, to extortionists and local
leaders in exchange for the physical security of their families and themselves.
(iii) It is conventional wisdom that no job higher than a clerk’s post may be
obtained by a Hindu. Furthermore, Hindus usually need a Muslim as a silent
partner in order to run a business.