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Plight of Hindus in Pakistan

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 from Peshawar 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. 

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.