MIRPURKHAS July 29: A large number of people belonging to the Hindu community demonstrated near the bus terminal here on Sunday in protest against occupation of a Shamshan Ghat (cremation area) by the land mafia.

They urged the authorities to get the 9.8 acres of land vacated.

Talking to journalists, rights activists Kanji Rano Bheel and Ismail Bijani accused Chaudhry Nadeem, Latif, Haneef and Ashraf of occupying the land and levelling it with the help of an excavator.

They said they wanted to raise a boundary wall around the land but were threatened by armed members of the land mafia and their henchmen.

They said they had informed the Old Mirpur police about the situation and some policeman visited the site but did not take any action.

They said that Bhagat Ashok, who resided there, had been missing for a month. They were of the opinion that he might have been kidnapped by land grabbers.

They called upon public representatives of minorities, IG of Sindh and DIG, SSP, divisional commissioner and deputy commissioner of Mirpurkhas to order a survey of the cremation area, protect the place and recover Ashok.

Our Sukkur correspondent adds: Activists of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and the Sindh National Movement took out a procession in Ghotki on Sunday to draw the attention of the authorities to migration of Hindu families to India.

The procession, led by the acting chairman of JSQM Dr Niaz Kalani and SNM chairman Ali Hassan Chandio, marched from the press club to Peepal Chowk where the participants held a sit-in for three hours.

They alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched to compel Hindus to leave Sindh by kidnapping their women and forcing them to change their religion. Besides, Hindu businessmen were being looted and harassed to force them to wind up their businesses, they said.