HYDERABAD, April 1: Leaders of a number of political parties, Hindu community and prominent writers have said that Hindus are Sindh’s real heirs and demanded that ‘Rinkal Kumari, Dr Lata Kumari and other kidnapped Hindu women be immediately recovered and handed over to their families.’

They demanded an immediate end to ‘harassment of Sindhi Hindus’ and adequate protection for the community. They called for enactment of a law to regulate marriages of Hindus.

They were speaking at a conference organised by the Sindh Human Rights Council at the press club here on Sunday.

MPA Petambar Sehvani said it was in 1939 that a conspiracy was hatched against the Hindus with an incident of firing on Bhagat Kanwar Ram at Ruk station. After partition, thousands of Hindus were murdered and forced to migrate, he said, adding that temples were torched in Sukkur and seven million Hindus were forced to leave Karachi.

These atrocities have continued since, he said. He called upon the Hindu community to unite on one platform, instead of joining other parties to protect their rights.

Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi blamed the state for the excesses being committed against the Hindus.

When Sindh was a sovereign state, he said, there was no distinction between Hindus and Muslims. Hindus used to pray at shrines while the Muslims never entered temples with their shoes on.

He said excesses against the Hindus began after Sindh lost its sovereignty. He alleged that minor girls were being kidnapped and forcibly married. Awami Tehrik president Ayaz Latif Palijo called upon the Hindu community that instead of suffering in silence they should wage a struggle for their rights.

He called upon all the people to consider it their duty to protect the Hindus.

Jeay Sindh Mahaz (C) chairman Riaz Chandio accused the establishment of dividing the people of Sindh into communities and races and pitting them against one another.

The people were being harassed and intimidated in the name of religion, he said, adding that it was duty of all nationalists todenounce the excesses.

Human Right Council leader Ramesh Gupta urged nationalist forces of Sindh to raise their voice the way they had done on the issue of Kalabagh dam.

Veteran leftist leader Comrade Jam Saqi said a conspiracy was afoot to expel all Hindus from Sindh in order to occupy their property.

Sindh United Party leader Dr Dodo Maheri said that Rinkal Kumari had screamed in the Supreme Court that she should like to go with her parents. Therefore, he said, she should be handed over to her family.

Civil society leader Sehar Rizvi said the Hindus of Sindh were the real heirs of the land and it was a great injustice to dub them as a minority. She said a conspiracy was afoot to divide Sindh again and it must be thwarted.

Others who spoke on the occasion included woman rights activist Nazeer Qureshi, Professor Inam Shaikh, senior journalists G.N. Mughal and Asad Chandio, Professor Aijaz Qureshi, Professor Badar Soomro, Dileep Daulatani and Mustafa Baloch.

Conference on 9th

Leaders of civil society have condemned what they termed kidnappings of Hindu girls and their forced conversions and marriages and the kidnapping of Hindu traders. They have decided to hold a conference on the issue in Hyderabad on April 9.

They were speaking at a meeting convened by the Minority Rights Commission in a local hotel. The meeting decided to launch a joint struggle to protect the rights of the minorities of Sindh.

The speakers included Father Daniel, Zulfiqar Halepoto of the Sindh Democratic Forum, Sindh Hari Porhiyat Council leader Punhal Sario, Zulfiqar Shah, M. Parkash and Ms Shahnaz Sheedi.

They alleged that some forced had planned to force the Hindus of Sindh to migrate.

They said that all nationalist forces and political parties as well as social organisations should unite to protect the rights of Sindh’s minorities.

Later, a delegation met Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi and Awami Tehrik president Ayaz Latif Palijo and invited them to attend the conference which they accepted.

Dr Magsi and Mr Palijo said minorities living in Sindh were real Sindhis and an integral part of Sindh and their legal rights must be protected.