[Reader-list] 25 Hindu girls abducted every month, claims HRCP official

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

*25 Hindu girls abducted every month, claims HRCP official*

*Tuesday, March 30, 2010

By Rabia Ali*

Link - http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=231616

As many as 20 to 25 girls from the Hindu community are abducted every month
and converted forcibly, said Amarnath Motumal, an advocate and council
member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

“There is no official record to support this statement, but according to
estimates, in Karachi alone, a large number of Hindu girls are being
kidnapped on a routine basis,” Motumal told The News. “The families of the
victims are scared to register cases against the influential perpetrators as
death threats are issued to them in case they raise their voice. So, the
victims choose to remain silent to save their lives,” he said.

Motumal said the word ‘Hindu’ had become an insult and a kind of abuse for
the Hindu community. “Almost 90 per cent of the Hindu community comprise
poor and impoverished families whose needs and rights have been neglected by
the ones at the helms of power,” he said, adding that since a majority of
the people feel helpless, only a few families come to him with their cases.

A former MPA, Bherulal Balani, said that the Hindu girls, especially the
ones belonging to scheduled castes, were mostly being abducted from the
Lyari area. “Once the girls are converted, they are then sold to other
people or are forced to do illegal and immoral activities,” Balani said. He
added the perpetrators were very powerful and that was the reason that no
cases were being registered against them.

The number of attacks against the Hindu community has increased in the
interior Sindh during the last three months. At least nine incidents have
been reported which range from forced conversion of Hindus to rape and
murders.

In one incident, a 17-year-old girl ‘K’ was gang-raped in Nagarparker area.
In another incident, a 15-year-old girl ‘D’ was allegedly abducted from
Aaklee village, Tharparkar, and was forced to convert. About 71 families
migrated from the village in protest against the girl’s abduction.

Moreover, the Hindu communities were not even spared on the occasion of
their joyous festival of Holi as two girls, Anita and Kishni, were kidnapped
in Kotri. Moreover, two Hindu boys, Ajay and Sagar, were abducted from
another place on the same day.

One Amir Gul was murdered in the beginning of March in Tando Haider,
Umerkot, allegedly by a landlord. Later in the month, a boy, Kishan Kumar,
was kidnapped from Kandhkot, Jacobabad.

MPA Pitamber Sewani told The News that these acts were being done by certain
elements who believe that these minority communities might support the
government in the upcoming local bodies’ elections, and these elements want
to harass them.

However, President Pakistan Hindu Council Ramesh Kumar criticised the
minorities’ representatives for not raising their voice at relevant forums.
He said that they were simply representing their respective parties and not
the poor people. He added that poor economic conditions had led to an
increase in kidnapping cases in the province, especially in the Kandhkot and
Jacobabad areas.

Coordinator HRCP Task Force Sindh Dr Ashothama Lohano told The News the
according to their one fact-finding report, the most affected persons of
violence belonged to Hindu and Christian communities. He said that various
reasons have been cited for this. “The recent wave of extremism is one
reason, which has destroyed the harmony of the land of Sufis. Another reason
is the destruction of the agriculture sector and small markets that has led
to frustration and lawlessness. Yet another reason is that the elected
representatives are working only for the party and not for the community,”
Dr Lohano added.

He further said that minority communities were easy targets as the Hindus
were generally hesitant to raise voice against the injustices. “When the
Hindu communities become politically active, they are blamed for having
Indian connections,” doctor Lohano said.