Indian Hindus barred from entering Nankana Sahib on visa issue in Lahore

Five Indian Hindus including two women have been barred from entering the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib near here as they had no visa to enter the district, where the Sikh shrine is located.
A source in Evacuee Trust Property Board told PTI that the Hindus - Vaneet Gupta, Neelam Gupta, Narindar Kumar, Hari Om and Vijay Lakhshami - reached Gurdwara Janamasthan, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, by a car from Lahore yesterday.
The Gurdwara authorities, however, handed them over to the ETPB officials after finding that they had no visa on their passports for the district, some 80 kilometres from Lahore.
When asked about the alleged visa violation, the Hindus said they "wanted to visit the Sikh holy place out of respect", the source said. The Hindus had come here to attend festivities in connection with the 'Shivratri' at historic Katasraj Mandir in Chakwal district, some 250 kilometres from here.
When contacted, Deputy Secretary (Hindu Affairs) Azhar Sulahry said the Hindus in question had visa for Lahore and Chakwal only. "The Hindu pilgrims were sent back to Gurdawar Dera Sahib Lahore from Nankana and today they left for India along with other members of the group," he said.
Over 150 Hindu pilgrims had arrived here on February 25 to attend the Shivratri festival at the Katasraj Mandir.

source :dnaindia.com

Read More

Necessary protection: Hindu community demands adequate security

Health Minister Shaukat Yousafzai. PHOTO: PPI

PESHAWAR: The Hindu community has voiced strong disapproval over Health Minister Shaukat Yousafzai’s order to remove the security gate from Pir Ratan Nath Temple which was constructed after a police constable was shot dead outside the place of worship last week.
In a press statement, All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement Chairman Haroon Sarbdyal spoke out against the issue. He said two days ago, the minister visited the area where residents complained that the gate was a hurdle for traffic. Yousafzai then ordered the police to remove it.

“The security gate was constructed by the Hindu community to protect itself and the police guards against such attacks in the future,” said Sarbdyal, “But the minister ordered its removal without even consulting us.”
He lamented the police had safeguarded their stations and other government and religious buildings by placing blockades and barbed wires around them, whereas one step taken by the Hindu community to protect themselves was not acceptable to Yousafzai. “We may be a minority, but we are citizens of Pakistan and have equal rights,” said Sarbdyal.
In his defence, Yousafzai said he had earlier ordered the capital city police officer to sit down with locals and resolve the issue amicably. He stressed his intention was to facilitate all inhabitants of the locality.
source:tribune.com.pk

Read More

Demanding rights: ‘No security for Hindu community’

Hindu Panchayat president Mukhi Eshwar Lal Makheja laments string of violent incidents. PHOTO: FILE

 

SUKKUR:  Minorities’ rights and their safety are guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan but the Hindu community laments that they are deprived of their basic right. 

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Hindu Panchayat president Mukhi Eshwar Lal Makheja reported that a string of violent incidents, including kidnapping for ransom, robbery, extortion, gang rape and forced conversions had been inflicted upon members of the community over the last three months.

Citing examples of the incidents, Makheja said that a trader, Lachman Das, had been kidnapped from Airport Road, Sukkur, about two and a half months ago and had not been rescued to date. Another trader belonging to the Hindu community, Ravi Kumar, was kidnapped near Sangi but was later rescued.

Makheja appealed to the authorities to provide protection to the Hindu traders as they were an important part of the country’s economy. “Members of the Hindu community are involved in the rice and dates trades, apart from playing their roles in the services sector as doctors and pharmacists,” he said.

source:tribune.com.pk

Read More

5-year-old Hindu girl raped in Sibi

Rapist is said to be drug addict and is being interrogated, Sibi police says. PHOTO: FILE

QUETTA: A five-year-old Hindu girl was abducted and raped before she was left unconscious near the Railway Colony in Sibi district on Wednesday. The police traced the accused, with the help of sniffer dogs, and arrested him. The rapist is said to be drug addict and is being interrogated, said the Sibi police on Thursday.
“The girl went out at 7pm on Wednesday to buy candy from a nearby shop when she was abducted,” a relative of the victim told reporters. Three hours later some passers-by spotted the girl in an unconscious state in Railway Colony, where was lying in the dark and informed the police.  She was taken to hospital for treatment where doctors asked the relatives to move her to Quetta instead because of her critical wounds. She was constantly bleeding, said doctors.
“The culprit is identified as Sunny Masih. The Hindu community observed a shutter-down strike in Sibi on Thursday against the incident and held protest demonstrations, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused.
Protesters organised a procession and marched to Sibi city. “The police should protect the life and property of people. Criminals need to be severely punished for this brutality,” said one of the protesters.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2014.

source:http://tribune.com.pk

Read More

Hindu bodies blame Pak of discrimination

Various Hindu organisations have blamed Pakistan of discrimination against Hindu pilgrims aspiring to visit Pakistan on religious occasions and have urged the Indian government to take up the issue with the neighbouring country on priority.
“Pakistan High Commission had rejected visas to young Hindu boys during Katasraj pilgrimage in 2013,” said Sri Durgiana Temple Committee General Secretary Ramesh Sharma. He said not only were Hindus discriminated by Pakistani government but were also not given facilities during their visit. He said Indian government should take up the issue with Pakistan on priority.
Eight organisations from Indian Punjab and three each from Delhi and Haryana have a quota of only 200 pilgrims to visit Pakistan twice a year.
“This year Hindu jatha is going to Pakistan from February 25 to March 3 to celebrate Mahashivratri at Katasraj cluster of temples,” said Ramesh, president of Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha, Delhi, Indermohan Goswami also blamed Pakistan High Commission officials of discouraging Hindu pilgrims.
“They simply don’t entertain our passports and deliberately make us wait for visas,” he said. The sabha has a quota of 60 pilgrims.
“Security of Hindu pilgrims is one of the major issues,” he said.
President of All India Hindu Rashtriya Sansthan Surinder Kumar Billa said, “Our demand is not only to increase quota of pilgrims but also development and preservation of Hindu religious sites in Pakistan”.

source:pakistantoday

Read More

Guard shot-dead outside Hindu temple in Peshawar

Unidentified motorcycle-borne gunmen fatally shot-dead a constable guarding a Hindu temple in Jhanda Bazar area in Peshawar on Sunday morning.

Local police told The Hindu over the phone that the constable's name was Ghulam Mohammed and the incident took place after 8 a.m. However, even the first information report (FIR) did not name the Hindu temple and merely referred to it as the one in the Jhanda Bazar area, police said.

There are two temples — Nandi and Valmiki — in Peshawar, which has a small Hindu population. 

source:thehindu.com

Read More

Minor Hindu Girl Raped And Killed in Pakistani Punjab

A nine-year-old Hindu girl was raped and killed in Punjab province of Pakistan, officials said today.

Basti Kata, a resident of Mauza Ghunia in Rahim Yar Khan district, located 400 km from provincial capital Lahore, said his daughter went missing while playing outside his home on Thursday.

Kata informed police and registered a missing person's report. The girl's parents and other relatives made frantic efforts to find her but to no avail.

Yesterday, some of Kata's relatives found the girl's body in an open field. Police took the body to a state-run hospital in Khanpur, where the doctor on duty refused to perform an autopsy.

The aggrieved family staged a protest outside the hospital. Following the intervention of the local administration, the doctor conducted an autopsy that confirmed rape.

"It appears the girl died while being raped," the doctor said. Police have registered a case against unidentified persons.

Hindus are the largest minority in Pakistan but make up only about two per cent of the population of 180 million.

Most Hindus live in southern Sindh province, where there have been several instances of alleged abduction and forced conversion of women from the minority community.

In Balochistan, which has a sizeable Hindu population, the community has been targeted by militants and criminal gangs in recent years.

source:news dot outlookindia dot com

Read More

Pakistan: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari appoints ‘untouchable’ as adviser

Karachi: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, has appointed a Hindu ‘untouchable’ as his adviser, an unprecedented office for a low caste Hindu in this conservative society.

Surendar Vallasai, a former journalist, who later joined the media cell of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was appointed as Bilawal’s adviser on minorities affairs.

The patron-in-chief of the PPP has appointed six other PPP activists as advisers who would brief the leader on their respective fields, while Valasai would keep the leader abreast on minorities issues in Pakistan.

“My appointment as adviser to the patron-in-chief came as a surprise to me as I had never expected such a huge responsibility,” Valasai said.

Pakistan lists 40 scheduled castes and tribes including Bheel, Bagri, Balmeke and Menghwar and its constitution guarantees equality among all citizens and disapproves any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or religion.

However, the equality is not practised on the ground and minorities, especially the scheduled castes, face highly discriminatory behaviour.

Valasai, the son of a poor mason, had to quit his studies for a mass communication qualification midway and started working as proof reader for English daily Sindh Express in 1990. He later became a reporter at the newspaper.

After joining PPP Media Cell in 1997 at Bilawal House, Valasai worked closely with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and would update her on the news covered in Sindhi, Urdu and English newspapers.

Valasai said that Bilawal had a loving heart and mind for the weak and oppressed members of the society, especially minorities.

In Christmas wishes to the minority Christians in Pakistan, Bilawal tweeted: “I want to see a Christian PM [prime minister] in Pakistan in my lifetime.”

Pakistan’s constitution allows only a Muslim to hold the office of prime minister and president in the country.

Courtesy:newindianexpress dot com

Read More

Abductor Tried to Forcibly Convert Me: Pak Hindu Woman

 

A Hindu woman school teacher, who was reported missing last month, has told a magistrate in this northwestern Pakistani city that her kidnapper tried to force her to convert her faith and marry him.

Sapna Rani, aged around 25, told Magistrate Mohammad Fayyaz Khan that her abductor kept her unconscious most of the time while she was in captivity, the Dawn daily reported today.

Khan directed police to conduct a medical examination of Rani and submit a report.

Rani was recovered from Khairpur area of Bahawalpur in Punjab province late on Saturday after police officer Shaheenullah Khan traced her through the cell-phone of her alleged captor, Zahid Nawaz.

Nawaz is a resident of Bahawalpur.

Rani had gone missing on December 21 while returning home from her school in Paharipura area of Peshawar. She told the magistrate that a car stopped near her and she fell unconscious when a person put a cloth doused with an anaesthetic on her face.

She said when she gained consciousness a day later, she saw a man later identified as Zahid Nawaz present in the room. She said whenever she gained consciousness, Nawaz would demand that she should marry him after converting to Islam.

She said on her refusal, Nawaz would put an anaesthetic-doused cloth on her face.

Rani said as she was unconscious most of the time, she was unsure whether she was sexually assaulted.

Police had registered a case after a complaint was lodged by her cousin, Suresh Kumar.

The kidnapping had created unrest among the Hindu community in Peshawar and its leaders appealed to authorities to recover the teacher.

Police said they made special efforts to trace the woman as her family was poor and passing through a lot of distres
courtesy:news dot outlookindia dot com

Read More

‘Missing’ Hindu teacher recovered

Peshawar :06 January: A Hindu female teacher, who had gone missing from Gulshan Colony on the GT Road a few days ago, was recovered from Khairpur in Sindh province, the police said. Sapna Rani was recovered during a police action. A case was registered by the police after she went missing.The news.

courtesy:thenews dot com dot pk

Read More

No country for Hindu-Sikh: Cremation grounds vanishing, families compelled to bury dead in Pakistan

New Delhi: Hindu and Sikh families are certainly having a bad time in Muslim-dominated Pakistan.

 

With cremation grounds are vanishing fast in Pakistan, the minority Hindus and Sikhs are compelled to bury the the mortal remains of their dear ones, Amritsar-based Sikh historian Surinder Kochhar told Mail Today.

 

In a shocking revelation, Kocchar said that some travel hundreds of kilometers just to perform the last rites, while others have no option but to bury the dead.

 

 

According to Kochhar, there were about 12 cremation grounds before Independence in Lahore. But not even a single facility exists at present. After Independence, there were 1,200 Hindu families living in Lahore which has now come down to only six.

 

The condition is quite similar in other Pakistani towns too including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly called North-West Frontier Province), where about 35,000 Hindus and Sikhs live, he said.

 

A member of the Hindu community, whom the report did not identify, said that the cremation sites that had existed in Lahore before 1947 had either been demolished or converted into houses.

 

He further added that the Hindu families in Swat and Tirah Valleys, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Malakand, Bunair, Naushera and Peshawar are forced to travel long distances to reach Hasan Abdal (Panja Sahib) to cremate the dead, the historian said. 

 

Each of these journeys can cost around Rs 50,000, he said, adding that the danger of robbery is also there.

 

The grieving families are stopped at every district and wait for hours to get a no-objection certificate (NOC). Besides Hasan Abdal, another cremation ground is located 86 kms away from Lahore.

 

courtesy:daily dot bhaskar dot com

Read More

Two Dalit Hindu women raped; one of them murdered in Umer Kot

by, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two scheduled caste, Hindu women were raped by their Muslim landlords before their family members. Later on, one of them was murdered in revenge for making a report to the police. She and her mother were abducted by one of the landlords from outside the clinic of a doctor in broad daylight, close to the police station, and she was shot dead in front of her mother. The Shadi Pali Police Station of Umer Kot district, Sindh, took time to register the First Information Report (FIR) in order to give the rapists time to abscond. The family members of the victims are displaced from their village and are living on the roadside in the cold nights but the police and authorities have refused to help them. In providing protection to the rapists, the police and notables of the area forced the victims to reach to a settlement and give amnesty to the rapists. Once again the police have shown their efficiency to get approval from judicial magistrate so that perpetrators are freed.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Ms. Kakoo Kohli (24) and her elder sister, Nallan (26), who belong to the Jane sect of the Hindu religion, were residents of Goth Lalu Shar, Umarkot district, Sindh province. They were both raped by Mr. Mohammad Khadim Shar and his brother Mr. Sirajuddin Shar, the sons of the landlord and the owner of the village, Mr. Lalu Ilyas Shar.

The girls and their family members were working in the fields of Shar and were provided a hut to live in. The main culprit, Mohammad Khadim Shar, was lusting after Shrimati (Ms.) Kakoo and on several occasions asked for sexual favors. However each time Shar was denied. The poverty of Kakoo and her sister and lack of economical support prevented them from leaving their workplace. After a long session of frustration, anger and shame, generated by the constant denial and rejection from Ms. Kakoo, Mohammed Khadim Shar finally decided to take her by force.

Dalit women, who are mostly defenseless, are considered ‘sexually available’ and are targeted for sexual violence by the Muslim community. Dalits in particular and the entire Hindu community in general are vulnerable and voiceless and unable to oppose the atrocities which are perpetrated on them. The Kohli Hindus are considered to be the lowest people in the Hindu religion.

On October 18, the perpetrator, Mohammad Khadim Shar took his brother Sirajudding Shar with him and attacked Ms. Kakoo’s house at gun point and restrained all the members of the Kohli family, including the mother and father. Khadim raped Kakoo and Siraj raped Nallan in front of their family members. After the rape, the attackers threatened the family that if they report the incident to anybody they would be killed. However, after the incident, Kumar Veerji Kohli, the father of Kakoo and Nallan took the victims to the Shadi Pali police station to report the rape. However, as usually happens, the police refused to file the report until they completed their investigation. After two days the police agreed to file an FIR which infuriated the main perpetrator, Khadim Shar. The police arrested Sirajuddin Shar but allowed Khadim to abscond. Sirajuddin was able to obtain bail.

In the meantime, the Umarkot police, on the instructions of the landlord, arranged a Jirga, an illegal court declared by the high court of Sindh, consisting of elders of the area. The Jirga compelled the victims and her family to reach a settlement with the perpetrators and this was sanctioned by the Judicial Magistrate. The police officials were happy to serve the landlords and the case against the perpetrators was withdrawn.

Khadim Shar was insulted that a Hindu woman from the lowest caste had filed a case against him and this, in his eyes, was a challenge to the supremacy of Islam. On November 29, while he was at his fields, he received information that Kakoo and her mother were attending the clinic of a local doctor. He took the jeep belonging to his friend and abducted the woman and her mother at gun point in full view of many persons. After reaching his fields he shot Kakoo in the head. He was arrested but still has not been charged as there were no eye witnesses and police classify the mother as a biased witness.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

A large number of scheduled castes are working as agriculture workers and are in the worst condition of debt bondage due to their poor working conditions. While men are exploited as bonded workers and are victims of the forced and bonded labour, the women particularly young girls are often sexually abused by landlords and local influential people. The Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network (PDSN), the Dalit Network of over 30 organizations supporting rights of marginalized groups particularly the minorities and scheduled castes, says that they have noticed that sexual violence against Scheduled Caste women and young girls is on rise in rural areas of Sindh. Newspapers have been publishing over a dozen news items about acts of sexual violence against Dalit women during the last three months alone in the province of Sindh. In many cases women were gang raped. The irony is that hardly any culprit is booked, leave along punished by the legal system.

According to Covert Wires, it is noteworthy that the Dalits consist of more than one-third of the Pakistani Hindu population but the Pakistanis for propaganda purposes do not consider them Hindus and try to Islamize them. About 14 Lakh Dalits have not been included in the Hindu population in last census which counts the Hindu population as 26 Lakh whereas its actually 40 Lakh.

UGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the following authorities calling upon them to conduct an enquiry in the case of rape of two sisters and murder of one of them in Qamar u Din Shar village, the bank of Mithrao Canal, the area adjacent to Shadiply village of Umerkot, Sindh in jurisdiction of Shadi Pali Police Station. Please also urge them to prosecute the high police officials who are protecting the perpetrators of the rape of Hindu women peasants including, the Station Head Officer (SHO) Rasheed Chandio and Saboo Shar. Please urge them to provide protection and a residence to the family members of the victims.

The AHRC writes a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of violence against women calling for his intervention into this matter.

To support this appeal, please click here: 

SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Two young scheduled caste Hindu women were raped by Muslim landlords, one of them was murdered later on
Name of victims: 1-Mrs. Shrimati Kakoo Kolhi (24), daughter of Veerji Kolhi, resident Lalu Shar village, District Umerkot, Shadi Pali police station, Sindh Province
2-Ms Nallan (26), daughter of Veerji Kolhi, resident of Lalu Shar Village, District Umerkot, Shadi Pali police station, Sindh Province
Names of alleged perpetrators: Mr. Mohammad Khadim Shar, son of Lalu Ilyas Shar, resident of Lalu Shar village, Shadi Pali police station, Umarkot district Sindh
Mr. Sirajuddin Shar, son of Lalu Ilyas Shar, resident of Lalu Shar village, Shadi Pali police station, Umarkot district Sindh
Date of incident: October 18 and October 29, 2013
Place of incident: In the jurisdiction of Shadi Pali police station, Umarkot police station, Sindh

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the rape of two sisters from Kohli caste of the Hindu religion by their Muslim landlords and murder of one of them in revenge for daring to make a complaint against a Muslim.

I am appalled to learn that Ms. Kakoo Kohli (24) and her elder sister, Nallan (26), were both raped by Mr. Mohammad Khadim Shar and his brother Mr. Sirajuddin Shar, the sons of the landlord and the owner of the village, Mr. Lalu Ilyas Shar.

According to the information I have received, the girls and their family members were working in the fields of Shar and were provided a hut to live in. The main culprit, Mohammad Khadim Shar, was lusting after Shrimati (Ms.) Kakoo and on several occasions asked for sexual favors. However each time Shar was denied. The poverty of Kakoo and her sister and lack of economical support prevented them from leaving their workplace. After a long session of frustration, anger and shame, generated by the constant denial and rejection from Ms. Kakoo, Mohammed Khadim Shar finally decided to take her by force.

I was shocked to learn that on October 18, the perpetrator, Mohammad Khadim Shar took his brother Sirajudding Shar with him and attacked Ms. Kakoo's house at gun point and restrained all the members of the Kohli family, including the mother and father. Khadim raped Kakoo and Siraj raped Nallan in front of their family members. After the rape, the attackers threatened the family that if they report the incident to anybody they would be killed. However, after the incident, Kumar Veerji Kohli, the father of Kakoo and Nallan took the victims to the Shadi Pali police station to report the rape. However, as usually happens, the police refused to file the report until they completed their investigation. After two days the police agreed to file an FIR which infuriated the main perpetrator, Khadim Shar. The police arrested Sirajuddin Shar but allowed Khadim to abscond. Sirajuddin was able to obtain bail.

In the meantime, the Umarkot police, on the instructions of the landlord, arranged a Jirga, an illegal court declared by the high court of Sindh, consisting of elders of the area. The Jirga compelled the victims and her family to reach a settlement with the perpetrators and this was sanctioned by the Judicial Magistrate. The police officials were happy to serve the landlords and the case against the perpetrators was withdrawn.

Khadim Shar was insulted that a Hindu woman from the lowest caste had filed a case against him and this, in his eyes, was a challenge to the supremacy of Islam. On November 29, while he was at his fields, he received information that Kakoo and her mother were attending the clinic of a local doctor. He took the jeep belonging to his friend and abducted the woman and her mother at gun point in full view of many persons. After reaching his fields he shot Kakoo in the head. He was arrested but still has not been charged as there were no eye witnesses and police classify the mother as a biased witness.

It is widely accepted that Dalit women, who are mostly defenseless, are considered 'sexually available' and are targeted for sexual violence by the Muslim community. Dalits in particular and the entire Hindu community in general are vulnerable and voiceless and unable to oppose the atrocities which are perpetrated on them. The Kohli Hindus are considered to be the lowest people in the Hindu religion.

A large number of scheduled castes are working as agriculture workers and are in the worst condition of debt bondage due to their poor working conditions. While men are exploited as bonded workers and are victims of the forced and bonded labour, the women particularly young girls are often sexually abused by landlords and local influential people.

I urge you to institute an immediate investigation into this heinous act of rape and murder by an influential landlord who was protected by the police. The police officials who allowed the perpetrators to abscond and later forced the victims to settle with their attackers must be investigated and prosecuted. Compensation, including housing must be provided to the remaining victim and her family.

I look forward to your urgent intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1.Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk or pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
2. Mr. Pervz Rasheed
Federal Minister of Law and Human Rights
Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
3. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Federal Minister for Interior
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad (Pakistan)
Tele : 0092-51-9212026
Fax: 0092-51-9202624
Email Address: interior.complaintcell@gmail.com
ministry.interior@gmail.com
4. Syed Qaim Ali Shah
Chief Minister
Karachi, Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 920 2000
Email: pressecy@cmsindh.gov.pk
5. Additional Chief Secretary (Home)
Tughlaq House,
Karachi, Sindh province
Government of Sindh
Fax: +92 21 99211549
Sindh secretariat
Karachi, Sindh
secretary@home.gos.pk
6. Mr. Ali Mumtaz Zaidi
Secretary, Minority Affairs Department
Sindh Secretariat, Karachi
Sindh province
Telephone 99206184- 99202039
Fax 92 21 99206183
secy.auqaf@sindh.gov.pk
7. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9213452
Email: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
8. Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
High Court Building
Saddar, Karachi
Sindh Province
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 21 9213220
E-mail: info@sindhhighcourt.gov.pk

Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :

Urgent Appeal Case

Document ID :

AHRC-UAC-150-2013

Countries :

Pakistan

Issues :

Impunity, Judicial system, Minorities, Violence against women

 

Courtesy:humanrights dot asia

Read More

Lyari’s displaced Christians and Hindus want temporary abode

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Karachi
 
The Christian and Hindu families who had to leave Lyari’s Slaughter House area a few months ago fearing for their lives have demanded that the government should provide them with a temporary abode outside the troubled neighbourhood as they were scared of returning home.

In meeting with DIG South Abdul Khaliq Shaikh on Friday, the leaders of the communities said they “ready to live on the streets rather than going back to Lyari”.

“The DIG assured us that the police will provide full security in Slaughter House, but the families are not ready because criminal gangs are operating there with immunity,” said Peter Bernard, a Christian leader told The News.

“We have offered that the government should meet the families and talk directly with them,” said Mohan Lal Maheshwari, who represents the Hindus.

Around 550 Christian and Hindu families had left Slaughter House in October after the area’s gangsters killed three Christian men.

The leaders say that they understand that the police will provide them with security, but the problem is that the gangs rule the whole of Lyari.

“The police can provide security in and around the compound. But the men go to work and the children go to schools. They [the gangs] can hit them anywhere and anytime they want.”

The displaced families are living in the homes of their relatives in various Christian- and Hindu-majority areas in the city.

Many families are too poor to rent a house. It has already been over three months and they are living in their friends and relatives’ houses.

“The government should come forward with a solution, or else the families will be forced to live on the streets in the cold. They are too frightened to return. It’s always wise to choose life over unspeakable hardships,” said Bernard.
Courtesy:thenews dot com dot pk
 

Read More

Pakistan government restores ancient Hindu temple

The government of Pakistan has restored an historic Hindu temple in Punjab province's Chakwal region.

Members of the country's Hindu minority have thanked authorities for renovating the temple - called Katasraj - saying it is a significant step in reassuring them of their status in a Muslim-majority society.
BBC Urdu's Shumaila Jaffery reports.

Courtesy:bbc.co.uk

Read More

Voluntary service offered for Hindu temples

Not satisfied with maintenance and upkeep of ancient Hindu temples at Katasraj in Chakwal district, the All India Mahajan Jagaran Manch (AIMJM) has announced to perform karsewa (voluntary service) at these temples.
"They white wash, clean and put lights in the temples before arrival of Hindu jathas from India and lock them as we leave Katasraj," AIMJM President Manch Gulshan Mahajan told Indian reporters.
Mahajan had recently returned from Katasraj pilgrimage. Notably, many Hindu devotees had complained of poor maintenance of Hindu temples and installation of khandit (broken) idols of Hindu deities. A few had even said that they were told by Pak officials that they had kept the idols in a museum for their preservation.
He said the temples should be opened daily and permanent priest should be appointed to perform daily religious rituals. He informed that MJM would communicate with the concerned ministry for seeking permission for karsewa.
All India Hindu Shiv Sena President Surinder Kumar Billa said, "According to my information there are no idols in the temples and makeshift arrangements are made during visit of Hindu jathas from India."
He also said that there was a broken Shivalingmam in a temple close to Amar Kund, which was polluted by the effluents coming from a nearby cement factory.

Courtesy:pakistantoday dot com dot pk

Read More

Hindu school teacher goes missing in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A Hindu school teacher was allegedly kidnapped by unidentified people while on her way back home from school near the Pakistan Radio Colony on Saturday afternoon.
Faqir Chand, the father of the missing 25-year-old woman Sapna Rani, said his daughter is a teacher at the Peshawar Science Academy near Ayub Flour Mill on GT Road.
While talking to The Express Tribune, he said Rani went to school at around 7:45am on Saturday morning and when she did not return till 4:00pm, the family started to worry.
After trying in vain to locate her, Chand’s nephew Suraish Kumar went to the Paharipura Police Station to lodge a missing report after which ASI Sardar Ali Khan registered a case and launched investigations.
Bindya Rani, the kidnapped woman’s grief-stricken mother, said “We don’t have an enmity with anyone,” and pleaded to the government to do everything in its power to find her daughter.

Courtesy:tribune dot com dot pk

Read More

Khairpur Hindu traders threaten to move business to India

Thursday, December 19, 2013
From Print Edition

SUKKUR: Hindu traders in Khairpur have threatened to move their businesses to India if police did not stop their atrocities against them.

According to reports, local Hindu traders had been observing shutter down for last four days in Nara, Peerano Pattan, Choundiko and Sikandarabd against what they call the atrocities of Station House Officer Mansoor Nizamani.

They alleged they were tortured by the police when they refused to give extortion.

Representatives of traders Siri Chand and Kirshan Das said that police instead of providing them security demanding money. On their refusal, fake cases were registered against them, they added.

Courtesy:thenews dot com dot pk

Read More

Hindus Protest Demolition of Temple in Karachi

A large number of Pakistani Hindus today joined a protest outside the Press Club here over the demolition of an 80-year-old temple in the city's Soldier Bazar area.

The Krishna or Rama Peer Mandir at Dholi Khata in Soldier Bazar has become a bone of contention between the minority Hindu community and a powerful builder, who bought the land on which the temple was built from the military estate office through a government auction.

"Religious articles, including pictures and statuettes of our gods, are still lying in the rubble of the demolished temple and families living in the compound on which the temple was built still remain homeless," Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, told PTI.

Several families displaced by the demolition of the temple participated in the protest. Observers said the issue highlighted the growing insecurity of Pakistan's minorities.

Vankwani, a member of the Sindh chapter of the PML-N party, said authorities had trampled the sentiments of Hindus across the world by razing the historical temple.

"The departments responsible for this gross injustice are the military estate office and the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), who auctioned off the land to a powerful builder without caring about our sentiments," he said.

An ETPB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the temple was illegally built on military land that had been auctioned. The temple was legally razed on the orders of a court, he said.

Many Hindu temples in Karachi have in recent years been the subject of disputes involving commercial builders.

The ETPB official said the dispute over the shrine in Soldier Bazar began in 2008, when the Military Estates Officer issued eviction notices to the temple and more than a dozen Hindu families living in houses built around it.

But Vankwani insisted that maps with the ETPB showed the temple was present on the plot even before Partition. "The Hindu families have been living in the compound since Partition and instead of being thrown out, they should have been offered ownership rights for a price," he said.

Mukesh Kumar Jaidia, a resident of Doli Khata, said the government could have spared the temple. "This incident shows that there is no care for Hindus in Pakistan," he said.

The 1998 census - the last official population count - placed Pakistan's Hindu population at 2.5 million.

FILED ON: Dec 16, 2013 21:19 IST
Courtesy:news dot outlookindia dot com

Read More

Bilawal calls for impartial probe into Hindu girl’s murder

Tuesday, December 10, 2013
From Print Edition

Karachi
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Patron-in-Chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday strongly condemned the cold-blooded murder of Hindu Dalit girl Kaku Kolhi in Shadi Pali village in the Umerkot district at the hands of her tormentors and called for investigations by an honest police official to ensure justice.

Expressing sympathies with the members of Kolhi’s family, he said he was anguished to learn about the atrocities against this poor segment of society by criminals and goons, a statement issued by the Bilawal House said on Monday.

Bilawal pledged that the PPP would take every step and make efforts to protect the people from marginalised communities and ensure their dignity and security.

He further asked the Sindh government to take special interest and follow the investigations to ensure that nobody influenced the smooth investigations and that the culprits might not slip off the hook.—APP

News Desk adds: Last week, civil society and human rights organisations staged a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club to protest against the cold-blooded murder of a Hindu girl in the Umerkot district.

The demonstration was jointly organised by the Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network (PDSN), Sindh Civil Society Forum (SCSF), Sindh Secular Forum (SSF), Sindh Progressive Youth Front and other organisations to protest against the gang rape and murder of the Dalit girl.

Raising slogans against “the influential murderers”, the participants urged the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo moto action against the culprits, saying that the local administration was supporting the culprits and adopting delaying tactics to arrest them.

“Arrest the rapists and murderers of Kaku Kolhi,” read one of the placards.The speakers also criticised political parties for allegedly supporting the accused. They condemned the police for not arresting the suspects, who gang-raped Kolhi and her sister in Shadi Palli.

When no action was taken against the culprits, they killed one of the girls for raising voice against them, they said.The speakers, including Mahnaz Rahman of Aurat Foundation, Zulfiqar Shah of the PDSN, Asad Chandio of the SSF, Shirneen Khokhar and Dr Birma of the SCSF, expressed concern over the atrocities being allegedly committed against the minorities in Pakistan, especially scheduled caste Hindus in Sindh. They said these Dalit peasant communities were the original inhabitants of Sindh, but they were treated as untouchables.

Courtesy: thenews dot com dot pk

Read More

Nostalgic memories lift spirits of Hindu pilgrims

A Hindu boy rings a bell at the Sadh Belo Temple in Sukkur. PHOTO: EXPRESS

SUKKUR: For Sanwal Das, an Indian visitor, there is no difference between India and Pakistan when it comes to love, affection and hospitality.
Das used to live in Ghotki till 1962 when he migrated to India. His cousins still live in Jarwar therefore he sees Pakistan, in general, and Sindh, in particular, as his second home.

Das now lives in village Raj Nand near Raipur in Chhattisgarh, India, and runs a small confectionary shop. He has come to Pakistan to attend the birth anniversary of Sain Shadha Ram.
The people back in India used to scare him by saying that it was very dangerous to visit Pakistan because of the rising incidents of terrorism but during his visit he has seen no such thing. “I think misconceptions are the main reason behind the tense relations between the two countries.”
Seventy-two-year-old Indira Wazirani — migrated to India from Karachi in 1947. “We used to live in a three-storey building on Burnes Road. I was only six-years old and had just started going to school when we moved to India.”
Recalling her childhood, she says, “I still remember the pakoras and gol gappay of Papoo.” She narrates that Papoo sold her chips which she was fond of. After partition, she recalls, a man came over to her house and handed her father Rs300 to take over their residence. “Someone please take me to Karachi, because I am dying to see my Karachi and Burnes Road,” Wazirani pleads with gleaming eyes.

Her younger sister, Chanda Virani, works as a journalist with Sindhu Desh Television and this is her fourth consecutive visit to Pakistan. “I was not born in Sindh, but I don’t know why Sindh attracts me and I come to pay homage to the land of love,” she says. She feels at home when in Sindh as it embraces her as soon as she sets foot here. “My elder sister is passionate about Sindh, especially Karachi, where she was born.”
“Believe me when I say, though we live in Mumbai, we sing the songs of Sindh.” There are some visa restrictions because of which they cannot visit Karachi, but one day they will surely visit Karachi and go to Burnes Road to have a look at their old home and other places, she says.
A delegation of 84 Hindu pilgrims from India led by Sant Yudister Lal entered Pakistan through Wagah border on December 1.
They went to Mirpur Mathelo to attend the three-day birth anniversary of Sain Shadha Ram in Shadhani Darbar Hayat Pitafi. On Sunday, the delegation visited Sadh Belo Temple in Sukkur, where thousands of Hindus from across the province accorded warm welcome to Lal and other members of the delegation.
Talking to the media, Lal says he used to visit Ghotki and Sukkur almost every year in connection with the annual celebrations of Shadhani Darbar.
“The people of both the countries love and respect each other, which is a binding force.” The delegation, after their two-day stay in Ghotki, will leave for Lahore. They will leave Pakistan on December 12.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2013.
coutesy: tribune dot com dot pk

Read More