Demand for Protection of Persecuted Hindus (Scheduled Castes) , Pakistan

By Naresh Jairam (Islamabad)
Friday,May 21,2010

(Hindu women's getting water from Well , Pakistan)

Islamabad, (PHP): Lending a voice to the long-standing demand of the suppressed Hindu minorities, the Scheduled Caste Rights Movement (SCRM) has urged the government to table a parliamentary legislation in the National Assembly which would ensure the legal protection of fundamental rights of the people belonging to that community.

The SCRM would put forth its demands during a policy forum, which would be held today (May 18) here, during which members of the movement from across the country and other minority leaders would discuss and hold a debate over recommendations for providing legal protection to basic rights of Hindu minorities in Pakistan, The Daily Times reports.

Due to the government's apathy and faulty policies, scheduled caste Hindus, who form a good part of the population, are unable to obtain National Identity Cards, which denies them an access to other basic rights.

Since partition, the community has been the worst affected in Pakistan, as they have been denied even the basic civil rights.

In most parts of the country, local landlords and politicians have illegally occupied religious seminaries, graveyards and land belonging to people of scheduled castes.