The Hindu families, who opted to stay in Pakistan because of their deep attachment to the land they were born and where their ancestors had lived and flourished, had been facing gross discrimination in all spheres of life since long. But they have chosen to remain patriotic and loyal to their land and country. This loyalty is now becoming difficult to sustain because of the continuous onslaught of state and non-state actors on their lives. Many Hindu families have either fled the country or are planning to do so if given an opportunity in India.
What is changing the attitude of the Hindu families, mostly poor but some rich and well-to-do in business and other sectors, is the rising incidences of forced conversions and abductions of their girls. Several independent reports prepared by various NGOs and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in the recent past have painted a rising graph of forced marriages and conversions of Hindu girls in Sindh.
The community’s cries of protest have gone unheeded. The governments, both at the centre and in the province have not bothered to address this serious issue despite being raised by the community, the media and the NGOs in the last few years.
What has disturbed the community even more is the attitude of the local police which refuse to file a complaint against the Muslim accused in case of forced abductions and conversions. A study conducted by an NGO, Sindh Rural Partners Organization (SRPO), info district Mirpurkhas recently, showed that there was no proper mechanism to address the issue at the local level and the family members of the victims had no access to government departments providing legal support. The study indicated that ``cases were neither registered with the police nor the media which indicated towards the worsening level of vulnerability of the Hindus residing in Mirpurkhas.`` Similar situation exists in other districts of Sindh.
Another report, prepared by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), gives comprehensive details about the crimes against Hindu girls in Pakistan as a whole. Titled`` Forced Marriages: Situation in Pakistan``, the report contains examples of Hindu girls getting abducted by their Muslim neighbours and forcefully converted to Islam without their consent. The report pointed out that abductions and forced conversions have become more common in the cities. Citing several instances, the report showed how girls are forced to convert and are kept confined in Islamic centres or mosques before they are compelled to marry their abductors. The crime has the tacit approval of the local authorities because in almost all the cases, even when cases are filed, the perpetrators of the crime are allowed to go scot free. Rarely has any abductor been charge-sheeted, tried or punished by a court of law.
One of the most damning report was published by a well known English daily in Pakistan, Daily Times, which revealed that around 7,000 to 10,000 Hindus (around 1,600 families) had left the country in the last two years. Of them, 450 families were from Sindh. The newspaper had swung into action after a series of incidents involving Hindu girls in Sindh.
The news report indicated that the situation in Sindh was among the worst in Pakistan and interior Sindh the most severely affected by abductions and forced conversions of Hindu girls. Many Hindu families told the newspaper that there were increased cases of rapes, forced conversions and abduction of Hindu girls ever since the so-called ``war on terror`` had begun. Not only were the Hindu families bearing the brunt of these inhuman activities perpetrated by Muslims but also reeled from apathy and callousness on the part of the authorities. With no respite from any quarters in sight, the families told the newspaper, that many of them were planning to leave for India.
The families pointed out to the newspaper that Islamic extremist groups were running a campaign in interior Sindh to ``choose and pick`` Hindu girls for forced conversions. This was being done through loudspeakers at street corners making life perilous for Hindu families living here. “Due to such hate campaigns which are backed by feudal-cum-parliamentarians, more than 450 Hindu families have already left the country using both legal and illegal ways of border crossing into India. They have migrated after selling their properties and other assets at low prices,” the newspaper quoted the families.
The plight of Hindu minorities in Pakistan calls for immediate action by the United Nations and other responsible bodies and nations. Pakistan must be forced to protect the life and property of minorities, especially women and children. The plight of Hindu girls in Sindh is a matter which is as serious a matter, if not more, than the mass abductions of girls by Boko Haram. While there has been a world-wide uproar at the African episode, there is not even a whimper of protest at the systematic campaign against minority women, mostly Hindus, in Pakistan.
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