Pakistan's disappearing Hindus
Over 50 Hindu families migrate to India every month. According to Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, the founder of the Karachi-based Pakistan Hindu Council, this is due to the failure of the Pakistani government to find a solution to the acute sense of discontentment among Hindus arising, in part, from increasing incidence of forced conversion, particularly in Sindh province in southern Pakistan. Recently, Pakistani parliamentarians blamed the Taliban for the plight of Hindus and attributed the development to an international conspiracy to defame Pakistan. In fact, many in the Pakistani political establishment consider the problem of Hindu migration as nothing more than individual cases of disgruntlement, rather than a worrying trend.
There are over seven million Hindus in Pakistan and approximately 94 per cent of them are in Sindh province (especially in Hyderabad, Karachi, Tharparkat, Mithi, Mirpur Khas, Shikarpur and Sukkur). Soon after partition, Hindus constituted over 15 per cent of Pakistan's population but now make up less than two per cent. There has been a steady increase in the influx of Hindu migrants to India over the past five years. It is widely perceived that the recent exodus is something similar to the situation between 1989 and 1991, when thousands of Hindus migrated to India.
Many Hindu migrants enter India formally as a pilgrimage destination, usually before festivals, by signing an undertaking with a Pakistani official at the Attari border. They cross with a promise to return prior to the expiry of their 30-day visa, but many request a visa extension soon after they enter India. As India has no asylum policy for Pakistani nationals, migrants often apply for a visa extension of six months to a year. According to Indian government estimates, there are around 4,000 to 5,000 Pakistani Hindus on extended visas in India. Life is very difficult for these migrants but there are many Pakistani Hindus who have chosen not to return to Pakistan over the years, banking on the Indian government’s magnanimity.
The Asian Human Rights Commission reported 20-25 kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls in Sindh every month. The Hindu population, especially those living in Larkana and Sakkhar divisions of Sindh, were mostly affected by forced conversions, kidnapping for ransom, and other forms of harassment. Pakistani officials do not openly admit forced conversion but rather claim such incidents are voluntary. However if these conversions were largely voluntary, they would have occurred throughout all segments of the Hindu population, irrespective of age. Instead, a majority of conversions involve young, attractive Hindu girls, and are often linked to incidents of forced marriage.
A pertinent example of this is the Rinkle Kumari case. Nineteen-year old Kumari was allegedly kidnapped by the influential local politician Mian Abdul Haq (aka Mian Mithhoo) of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party and forcibly married to his son. The Dargah Aalia Qadria Bharchoondi Sharif madrassa, where Kumari was converted, is headed by Mithhoo and is popular for converting Hindu girls. It reportedly aims to convert 2,000 Hindus to Islam every year... Read more:
