Pakistani Hindus feel under attack
In this Oct 4, 2012 photo, Ragu Lal, a member of the Pakistani Hindu community shows remains of a worship idol smashed by attackers, at a local temple in Karachi. — Photo by AP
KARACHI: They came after dusk and chanted into the night sky “Kill the Hindus, kill the children of the Hindus,” as they smashed religious icons, ripped golden bangles off women’s arms and flashed pistols. It wasn’t the first time that the Hindu temple on the outskirts of Pakistan’s largest city was attacked, and residents here fear it will not be the last.
“People don’t consider us as equal citizens. They beat us whenever they want,” said Mol Chand, one of the teenage boys gathered at the temple. “We have no place to worship now.”
It was the second time the Sri Krishna Ram temple has been attacked, and this time the mob didn’t even bother to disguise their faces. The small temple, surrounded by a stone wall, is a tiny religious outpost in a dusty, hardscrabble neighbourhood so far on the outskirts of the city that a sign on the main road wishes people leaving Karachi a good journey.
Local Muslim residents blamed people from a nearby ethnic Pashtun village for the attack, which took place in late September on the Day of Love for the Prophet, a national holiday declared by the government in response to an anti-Islam film made in the US. No one was seriously injured in the attack.
It was the latest in a rising tide of violence and discrimination against Hindus in this 95 per cent Muslim country, where religious extremism is growing. Pakistan’s Hindu community says it faces forced conversions of Hindu girls to Islam, a lack of legal recognition for their marriages, discrimination in services and physical abuse when they venture into the streets.
The story of the Hindu population in Pakistan is one of long decline. During partition in 1947, the violent separation of Pakistan and India into separate countries, hundreds of thousands of Hindus opted to migrate to India where Hinduism is the dominant religion. Those that remained and their descendants now make up a tiny fraction of Pakistan’s estimated 190 million citizens, and are mostly concentrated in Sindh province in the southern part of the country.
Signs of their former stature abound in Karachi, the capital of Sindh. At the 150-year-old Swami Narayan Temple along one of the city’s main roads, thousands of Hindus gather during the year to celebrate major religious holidays. Hindus at the 200-year-old Laxmi Narain Temple scatter the ashes of their cremated loved ones in the waters of an inlet from the Arabian Ocean.
But there are also signs of how far the community has fallen. Residents in a city hungry for land have begun to build over Hindu cemeteries, the community’s leaders say. Hindus helped build Karachi’s port decades ago, but none work there now.
Estimates of the size of the Hindu population in Pakistan are all over the map — from 2.5 million or 10 million in Sindh province alone to seven million across the country — a reflection of the fact that the country hasn’t had a census since 1998.
It isn’t just Hindus who are facing problems. Other minorities like Christians, the mystical Muslim branch of Sufis and the Ahmedi community have found themselves under attack in Pakistan, where the rise of religious fundamentalists has sometimes unleashed a violent opposition against those who don’t follow their strict religious tenets.
The discrimination has prompted some Hindus to leave for India, activists warn, though the extent is not known. Around 3,000 Hindus left this year, part of a migration that began four years ago, sparked by discrimination and a general rise in crime in Sindh, said DM Maharaj, who heads an organisation to help Hindus called Pakistan Hindu Sabha.
He said he recently talked to a group of Hindus preparing to move to India from rural Sindh, complaining that they can’t eat in Muslim restaurants or that Muslim officials turned them down for farming loans. Even during recent floods, they said Muslims did not want them staying in the same refugee camps.
Other Hindu figures such as provincial assembly member Pitamber Sewami deny there’s a migration at all, in a reflection of how sensitive the issue is. Earlier this year, there were a string of reports in Pakistani media about Hindus leaving the country, sparking a flurry of promises by Pakistani officials to investigate.
In India, a Home office official said the Indian government noticed an upward trend of people coming from Pakistan but called reports of Pakistanis fleeing to India “exaggerated”. He said he does not have exact figures on how many Pakistani Hindus have stayed in India after entering the country on tourist visas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.
There’s more of a consensus of the seriousness of the problem of forced conversion of Hindus.
Zohra Yusuf, the president of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says the pattern goes like this: A Hindu girl goes missing and then resurfaces days or weeks later married to a Muslim boy. During court hearings to determine whether the conversion was voluntary, students from nearby Islamic schools called madrassahs often flood the room, trying to intimidate the judges by chanting demands that the conversion be confirmed.
Maharaj says he’s tried to intervene in roughly 100 cases of forced conversions but has only succeeded in returning a girl safely back to her family once. If a girl decides to renounce Islam and return to Hinduism, she could be signing a death warrant for herself and her family even if her conversion was forced.
The Hindu community has also been hurt by a lack of unity within its ranks. Hindu society within Pakistan and elsewhere has historically been divided by caste, a system of social stratification in which the lower castes are often seen as inferior. Members of the lower castes in Pakistan say it wasn’t until two girls from a high-caste family were forcibly converted this year that high-caste Hindus took the issue seriously, although it’s been happening for years.
“We always fight our war ourselves,” said Bholoo Devjee, a Hindu activist from Karachi, speaking about the lower castes.
In recent months the government has begun to take the concerns of the Hindu community more seriously. In Sindh province, legislators proposed a law to prevent forced conversions in part by implementing a waiting period before a marriage between a Hindu and a Muslim can go forward, and there’s discussion about proposing such a law on the national level as well.
In the case of the Sri Krishna Ram temple, law enforcement authorities opened a blasphemy case against the people who rampaged through the building. But residents here are skeptical that these developments signify any long-term improvement in their plight. Weeks after the incident no arrests have been made, and the Hindus complain that no high-ranking Hindu officials have come to visit them or help them get compensation.
Sunda Maharaj, the spiritual leader at the temple, which was first attacked in January 2011, said he and the other residents do not want to move to India. “We are Pakistani,” he said.
But he would like more help from the government, specifically a checkpoint to stop people from getting close to the temple and money for the Hindus to buy weapons.
“Next time anyone comes we can kill them or die defending our temple,” he said.
my deepest regret. we are failed nation and not true muslims.
You are a nice person. Thanks a lot.
I am happy that atleast few pakistani brothers showed guts to admit the plight of minorities in pakistan.
Pakistan has become like Jungle, with animals living in it.
A Crime done anywhere can be equated with a crime and give us solace that we are better or inferior! Yes, One Gujarat or other riots happened but it was reported widely and it was Hindus who opposed that. What happened is Pakistan – why there is no voice of moderation! Is 60 odds years are long enough time to forgot everything and start behaving like Middle-eastern barbaric intolerant and insane tribes…I do not know answer but for sure the common liberals in Pakistan are saving themselves rather help to create a just society for everyone. Hindus should leave Pakistan in mass at least they would not be prosecuted for being who they are!! Likewise – those who do not like India should leave it at once for all goods!!
The Most important ingredients of success is Pluralism and tolerance.
Pakistan is now totally lost.. You have never had either.
I feel in the name of humanity, all hindus of pakistan should be allowed to come and settle in India. Let pakistan be a country only for muslims.
There is a not even a single Hindu write or columnist in ANY pakistani newspaper.
How come ?
Simple. There is not one among these pagan hindus who can write in English or Arabic.
Is anyone even thinking as to what the majority Muslim population is being made to go through?
Some madersas are teaching wrong teachings of Islam as such these incidents are increasing. The government knows about it but is not taking any action as they do not want to annoy these madersas as they may retaliate.The government should however know that providing security without discrimination is its foremost responsibility.
These madrasas also mass-produce the ‘strategic assets’ of Pakistan.
I find it interesting that liberal Pakistanis when describing the fleeing of Hindus and Sikhs during the partition generally say that these people, who ran for their life, “chose” to opt for India. Actually, they had three choices- to convert to Islam, to get killed or to flee to India. Most chose the last option and even that option was not risk-free because many of them were killed en-route. The Hindus who are leaving Pakistan for India are also making a similar “choice”.
you need to remember this only began when the muslims of india were killed first in india. This is not to say what happened is justified, it was not. any civilised person would condemn the mob, which leads not to justice but to injustice. the person to blame more than anyone else in my opinion is Mountbatten. His change of the original plan for partition led to this mess.
**Akram, it would seem that you never studied History. The Muslims in India are in a much better shape compared to Hindus in Pakistan. I am an IT professional and see scores of Muslims doing very good in this field. It is a nation of equal opportunuties for all religions. The only things that are letting India down are caste based politics and corruption.
What ever Mountbatten did, or didn’t, at least he didn’t called ‘Direct action’.
Jinnah made that call. That’s how it started. What happened on indian side is equally bad, but it started after what happened in west punjab. Even Pakistani historians wrote about it. Read K Aziz, Ishtiaq Ahmed etc.
in which book u read that brother’(i m sure it is book from primary school of pakistan written by those yahya or ayub khan). i would like 2 suggest u book from 3rd person (freedom at midnight). read them and then reply.
who was responsible for partition.
muslim league started killing in bengal first then in reply hindus started killing of muslims in bihar.
forget about it it was strategical exit of british from our motherland.
@Akram, Muslims are not killed in India widely as in Pakistan. Muslims in India are proud to be Muslim in India.
“Even during recent floods, they said Muslims did not want them staying in the same refugee camps.” Shame.
Now I know why I have a love and HATE relationship with my country
Not only Hindus but also Shia, Bohra, Ahmedi, Christians, Sikhs, Sindhi and Baloch nationalists but who cares, right?
Pakistanis (non minority) are concerned about Rohingyas
Well said.
These Hindus are part of me. They are Pakistan and they are here to stay. Today I am a Hindu and every Pakistani with awaken conscious is Hindu. Let’s not be silent anymore. Let’s stand up to protect our brothers and sisters. They are Pakistani first and then Hindus. God bless Pakistan and Hindus.
You are blessed.
No religion preaches violence. Some however do allow it under special circumstances specially when its powers are encroached upon. I am not pointing towards Islam indirectly. Most religions in the world do not tolerate criticism or are at least averse to questioning and justification.
In my view the extremism and ideological violence stems from this sanction for violence embedded as a safety valve in many religions.
Hence, I won’t single out Islam here as the reason for violence against Hindus. I don’t even blame the rogue mullah who might have equated the existence of Hindus and their place of worship in Pakistan as an attack on Islam, for his followers. Instead, I hold the rest of the able minded people (of Pakistan in this case, but believers of their respective religions elsewhere too) accountable for allowing religion to get away with something no other entity in this world is allowed.. calling for violence on anyone who questions, disagrees with or even altogether ignores it (one or all of the above depending upon the religion in qestion ).
If Hindus can have mutiple idols of various prohpets[Gods] In One temple …
can muslim have books of multiple prohpets from adam to muhhomad in One Masjid??
Just asking .. or its banned in Islam??
Why is this part of the world obsessed with religion? Why not simply live .. and let live?? The world is big enough to survive differences of opinion.
Riots happen sometimes in India, but not on daily basis. Places of worship may have been demolished, but not bombed when it is full of devotees. India is the only country where Muslims of all denominations like Sunnis, Sufis, Shias, Ahmadis, Bohras, Bahais etc can worship in their mosques, without any fear of being bombed
It is unfortunate that Pakistan, which is created for Muslims, cannot claim that….The basis for creating Pakistan itself has become meaningless in their country
So true.
I should have felt ashamed – but I passed that point a long time ago.
Islam never teaches about ill treating other religions and force conversion, Pakistanis have ruined the essence of this great religion ! they kill, rape, force convert, demolish places of worship of minorities and spread terrorism and hatred for non muslims.what goes round comes round hence its people are living in fear everyday. God save this country!
Actually, the Moulvi will be able to substantiate each of his actions by a verse from the Quran.
All Muslims of the sub-continent need to understand that their ancestors were Hindus.
Sadiq
This has been going on since Arabs over ran parts of India …and then,Mughal empire took over.
I live in Canada but reading about the insanity and injustice going under guise of religion…gives me the shakes…my heart goes out to Hindus in Pakistan and also to millions who work in Arab countries who are treated much the same way!
I am a Hindu working in middle east. I have not seen discrimination on the basis of religion here albeit some isolated cases. In fact many senior positions are held by Hindus and Christians here. so, don’t give sweeping comments if you don’t the truth.
@NK
I respect your first hand account on the face value. But you may do a nice experiment tomorrow that will validate or discard the perception you have. Go and try to buy a small piece of land (even the room you are staying in will also do) and build a temple there; or if you need a more generalized impression build any place of worship other than Islamic. And my guess is you can’t. If you are not free to believe what you want, it is oppression and discrimination. The only reason you are hired to do your work is because the locals are either too rich and busy spending oil money or uneducated.
we must learn islam properly. hindus should not be afraid. the first teaching of islam is tazkia-nafs,= self control. control your anger, you will win. no violence please.see how much you lose everyday by violence in the name of islam. please respect islam by self-control, knowledge, morality, no-corruption, charity, feeling for others, help-others,research , morality, good manners, respect for elders and parents, submission to ALLAH, safety for others. ALL THIS PLUS FIRM FAITH IN ALLAH IS ISLAM.
these culprits are black-sheeps which are present in all societies. do not worry PAKISTANI HINDUS. you are safe
Dear Whatever u said, We hear this a lot. Many people say its a religion of peace many says it teaches you tolerance and many other good qualities you mentioned above. Perople will quote from Quran and Hadiths.But when come to practical we do not see these things.
People are judged by their deeds not what they say or follow. Many Muslim says Alcohal is haram in Islam but I ll say it is much better than forcing someone to their faith or falsely implicated some one to blasphemy law or killing innocent people. .
Islam is the perfect covenant between man and god.Muslims,however,fail to live up to high standards of behavior set in Islam for it’s adherents.
This goes around and around and around,repeated and re repeated…..the message has probably been around for centuries?
People get bored and no one believes it after a while you know?
Does your comment make any sense or r you habitual of preaching islam on each and every forum.
I support your sentiment.
Unfortunately, the facts do not support you.
Still, a thumbs up from me.
And pakistanis compaint about discrimination against west?
What more can you expect from a country which was formed on the basis of religion.It has become a threat to the entire world.
Pakistani muslims (and muslims in general) cannot even agree amongst themselves. How can the rest of the world expect any external agreement? Of course there is the major distinction of Sunni v Shi’ite, then come the lesser differences .. Sufi, Ahmadi, Alawite, Wahabi etc etc etc…. more than 70 islamic sects are listed, many of which refuse to acknowledge one another , for which ” the west” is eternally grateful. Whilstever Islam continues to fight itself … the rest of the world is safe.
YOu are absolutely right my friend and also you have good solution to violence.