Harassed Hindus in Pakistan Flee to India Slug: India Hindu families Reporter: Bismillah Geelani Date: 16/08/2012 I !

R" #$$ording to Indian %order offi$ials& more than '00 (a)istani Hindus ha*e arri*ed in India in the last fe+ +ee)s +ith tales of religious perse$ution, !he (a)istani Hindus& +ho are $oming %- road and rail on pilgrimage *isas& tal) of )idnapping& looting and for$ed religious $on*ersion, Inside (a)istan& Hindus are also protesting $alling on the go*ernment to %etter prote$t them from *iolen$e from the .uslim ma/orit-, In response the (a)istani (resident has set up a panel to loo) into the situation, But as Bismillah Geelani reports from e+ Dehli Indian opposition politi$ians +ant their go*ernment to do more,,, !01!: S2131 Sam/hauta 04press arri*ing at the Indian rail+a- station5, Bed 6nder narration Sam/hauta 04press is one of onl- t+o trains running %et+een India and (a)istan, It runs t+i$e a +ee) and is an important lin) $onne$ting the t+o neigh%ors that share a $ommon $ulture and histor-, It %rings together thousands of families and pilgrims +ishing to *isit Hindu hol- pla$es, !hat7s +h- it7s )no+n as the friendship train, S21 1 6( But these da-s man- +ho arri*e from (a)istan %ring +ith them tales of horror and hate 8 perse$ution %e$ause of their religion, .u)esh #hu/ah& +ho arri*ed last +ee) runs a general store in (a)istan7s Sindh pro*in$e , o+ he +ants to sta- in India, #hu/ah 9:I( 1 ; .#:0 6RD6 < =>e fa$e a lot of pro%lems there, "ur homes and shops are looted in %road da- light? people %arge in our houses and shops and ta)e a+a- $ash and /e+eller-& our $hildren are %eing a%du$ted from s$hools, "ne of m- relati*es +as a%du$ted re$entl- and the )idnappers demanded a huge amount of mone- as ransom +hi$h +e $ouldn7t afford and after t+o months +e re$ei*ed his dead %od-, !he situation is +orsening +ith e*erpassing da- and it seems in the $oming da-s the onl- for us to sa*e oursel*es +ould %e to $on*ert to Islam,@

#nother passenger is Suman Aumari from (a)istan7s Sindh pro*in$e, "*er B0 per$ent of the Hindus in (a)istan li*e there, She sa-s the situation is parti$ularl- dangerous for +omen, Aumari 9:I( 1 ; 20.#:0 6RD6 < =It is mu$h +orse in Aara$hi, !he +omen there are totall- unsafe, !he- are %eing targeted freCuentl- and fa$e a lot of *iolen$e, !hose of us +ho ha*e managed to $ross o*er don7t +ant to go %a$),@ Suman sa-s man- more Hindu families +ant to lea*e (a)istan %ut the Indian go*ernment isn7t issuing enough *isas, (a)istan has more than D million Hindu $itiEens 8 it7s nearl- 2 per$ent of the total population, But in the last F -ears a spate of )idnappings& murders and alleged for$ed $on*ersions ha*e left the $ommunit- +ith a deep sense of inse$urit-, 0arlier this month& a teenage Hindu girl +as a%du$ted from (a)istan7s Ga$)o%a%ad $it-, She later told her parents on phone that she has *oluntaril- $on*erted to Islam and married a .uslim man, But the $ommunit- %elie*es she +as for$ed to do so, S21 from the (a)istani !H :ast month the $on*ersion of a teenage Hindu %o- +as %road$asted li*e %- a (a)istani !H $hannel during a prime3time Ramadan $hat sho+, !he %o- insisted that it +as a +illing $on*ert, Gopalapuram (arthasarthis the former Indian #m%assador to (a)istan sa-s dis$rimination against Hindus is getting +orse, (arthasarthi 9:I( 1 ; .#:0 0 G:ISH < =!he population of Hindus in (a)istan a$$ording to their 1BF1 $ensus +as 21 per$ent& a$$ording to the 1BB8 $ensus it +as 1,D per$ent, !hese fa$ts spea) for themsel*es& %ut I lea*e that aside, "f late& a$$ording to Sindh go*ernment re$ords& poli$e re$ords& 2F Hindu girls are for$i%l- $on*erted e*er- month in Sindh, I +as in Sindh in the 1B80s and this sort of thing ne*er happened, !his is a manifestation of >aha%i fundamentalism& one is seeing in$reasing >aha%i radi$aliEation +hi$h is e4$lusi*e in (a)istan and it goes against the grain of Islami$ %elief +hi$h has traditionall- %een a feature of the su% $ontinent, = But Hamid .ir 0ditor of (a)istani !H $hannel Geo e+s disagrees, .ir& 9:I( 1 ; .#:0 6RD6 < =Religious e4tremism is more in Ah-%er (a)htun)h+a and (un/a%, But in %oth these regions the Hindus and Si)hs li*e in pea$e, 0*en in some tri%al areas +hi$h are tradition !ali%an stronghold& these people don7t ha*e an- pro%lems& thedon7t ha*e pro%lems +ith the !ali%an either, !he atta$)s on them are ta)ing pla$e mainl- in Sindh and Balu$histan +hi$h are $omparati*el- li%eral and se$ular so$ieties, #nd it7s not the religious e4tremists +ho are doing this %ut the $riminal elements +ho target them %e$ause Hindus in these areas are e$onomi$all- +ell off& edu$ated and are mostl- a %usiness $ommunit-,@

S213I Sounds from the (arliament :a+ma)ers in %oth $ountries are dis$ussing the issue in (arliament, Some Indian la+ma)ers are urging the go*ernment to ta)e up the issue dire$tl- +ith (a)istan, !he (a)istan president has set3up a three person panel to loo) into the Hindu grie*an$es, India7s main opposition Bharati-a Ganata (art- or BG( is also urging the go*ernment to gi*e fleeing Hindu families all the assistan$e the- need in$luding Indian $itiEenship, Ra/nath Singh is a senior BG( leader, Singh 9:I( 1 ; .#:0 HI DI < =!he go*ernment of India should immediatel- summon the (a)istani #m%assador in India and e4press its displeasure and $on$ern o*er the treatment of Hindus in (a)istan, !he go*ernment should also tal) to other nations and %ring international pressure on (a)istan to ensure the safet- and se$urit- of minorities in (a)istan,@ !he go*ernment hasn7t -et responded, But a senior leader from the ruling 9ongress (art- .ani Shan)ar #i-er sa-s& the opposition is $ommunalising the issue, #nd he fears this +ill threaten the impro*ing relations %et+een India and (a)istan, #i-er 9:I( 1 ; .#:0 0 G:ISH<: =!he same for$es +ho are demanding that the (a)istani Hindus must automati$all- %e gi*en as-lum here are also demanding that Bangladeshi .uslims should %e dri*en %a$), >e should loo) upon this in purel- humanitarian terms and deal +ith Hindu or .uslim a$$ording to the rules that +e ha*e in this regard, If -ou $ommunalise this& -ou are onl- going to damage the India3(a)istan relationship and therefore the relationship %et+een their respe$ti*e go*ernments and minorities in %oth $ountries,@ 2or #sia 9alling this is Bismillah Geelani,