USA : Voiceless Hindu Minorities Suffer Indignity and Injustice in Pakistan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Hindu American Foundation
Date: Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 6:04 AM
Subject: Voiceless Hindu Minorities Suffer Indignity and Injustice, HAF Deplores at National Press Club
To: Gopi Chand (PHP)


Voiceless Hindu Minorities Suffer Indignity and Injustice,

HAF Deplores at National Press Club

Washington, D.C. (June 7, 2013) -- "All they want is peace," said Samir Kalra, Esq., the Hindu American Foundation (HAF)'s Director and Senior Fellow for Human Rights, while describing his conversations with Pakistani Hindu refugees to a standing room only audience at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The Press Club event marked the formal release of the Foundation's ninth annual human rights report, entitled Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights 2012, intended to give voice to Hindu minorities that have "suffered indignity and injustice in silence" in many countries around the world. 
 
The report provided detailed accounts of human rights violations in the areas of: violence against women, forced conversions, mass violence, temple destruction, socio-political ostracization, economic and political marginalization, and discriminatory laws in nine countries and one state in India. 
 
HAF's latest report marked a departure from previous years and featured a new and revamped format, categorizing countries based on the extent of their human rights violations, while including expanded coverage of Hindu refugee populations from Bhutan and Pakistan. 
 
"This year's report represents an evolution of HAF's human rights work and a new focus on providing direct humanitarian assistance to Hindus displaced from their countries of origin," said Kalra, who visited Pakistani Hindu refugee camps in Jodhpur, India earlier this year. "While advocating on larger systemic human rights issues is vital, it is equally important to address the basic needs of these refugee populations." 
 
Kalra was joined at the briefing by Professor Ved Nanda, a world-renowned expert on international law and the Thompson G. Marsh Professor of Law at the University of Denver, and Professor Sachi Dastidar, Distinguished Service Professor in the Politics, Economics and Law Department at State University of New York, Old Westbury and an expert on the plight of Hindu and other non-Muslim minorities in Bangladesh.
 
During his talk, Professor Nanda noted the growing importance of human rights within the international legal framework and praised HAF for its commitment to consistently raising these issues with U.S. policy makers. Similarly, Professor Dastidar provided an overview of violence against minorities in Bangladesh and the country's slide from secular democracy to one with increasing extremism and intolerance. In addition to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Pakistan garnered the greatest censure from the Foundation and were labeled as Egregious Violators for engaging in or allowing rampant and systematic violations to take place against their minority Hindu populations. 
 
"It's critical that human rights concerns are not ignored in light of our larger geopolitical interests in these countries," said Suhag Shukla, Esq., HAF's Executive Director and Legal Counsel. "We cannot achieve our national security objectives in South and Southeast Asia without addressing the lack of religious freedom and fundamental civil liberties that exists in the region." 
 
Other countries or regions covered in the report included Bhutan, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, and Sri Lanka, which were labelled as Countries of Serious Concern for committing severe human rights violations against their Hindu minority, but not rising to the level of Egregious Violators. And the last category, Monitored Countries, encompassed those nations with a history of violations against the Hindu community, such as Fiji and Trinidad and Tobago, but where conditions had improved in recent years. The one exception was Saudi Arabia, which only has a small population of Hindu migrant workers and lacks available data on violations against Hindus to appropriately assess the situation. 
 
The Foundation also featured its new documentary film on Pakistani Hindu refugees at the press briefing, entitled "Victims of History: The Untold Story of Pakistani Hindus in India."

 

For media inquires contact, Samir Kalra, Esq. at samir@hafsite.org or 202-223-8222.  

Karachi : Hindu lawmaker says persecution of minorities could lead to community’s exodus in Pakistan

Monday, Jun 10, 2013, 17:09 IST | Place: ISLAMABAD | Agency: PTI

(File Photo : Pakistani Hindus in India)

Mahesh Malani, the only non-Muslim elected to the Sindh Assembly from Tharparkar, claimed discrimination against Hindus, the country's largest minority group, was forcing them to migrate to 'safer places'.

A Hindu legislator has cautioned Pakistan's new government about a possible exodus of members of his minority community and called for quick and effective legislation to safeguard their rights, according to a media report on Monday.

Mahesh Malani, the only non-Muslim elected to the Sindh Assembly from Tharparkar, claimed discrimination against Hindus, the country's largest minority group, was forcing them to migrate to "safer places".

"The increasing sense of insecurity, caused by issues like forced conversion of Hindu girls to Islam, is compelling the community members to migrate to other places (like India)," Malani was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

Malani, who contested the May 11 polls as a candidate of the Pakistan People's Party, has been pushing for a proposed law seeking registration of Hindu marriages since 2008.

He said the new government should form committees in every district to deal with the problems of minorities.

These committees should comprise Muslims, non-Muslims and members of the Council of Islamic Ideology and they should take up cases related to alleged forced conversions and forced marriages.

Rampant poverty is the main reason behind such incidents, particularly in Sindh where Hindus make up a substantial chunk of the population, he said.

Some Hindu businessmen are shifting their businesses due to the lawlessness in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi, Malani said.

Since September last year, nearly 1,000 Hindu families have been struggling to migrate to India, the report claimed.

Some of them succeeded in making their way to India, a "development likely to raise questions about Pakistan's ability to protect its religious minorities", it said.

Several Hindu welfare organisations at Jodhpur in Rajasthan, which shares a border with Sindh, extended their support to Pakistani migrants, said Ramesh Jaipal of Hare Rama Foundation.

Leaders of the Hindu community had taken up the issue with Pakistan's Supreme Court,which ordered the implementation of laws to address the concerns of minorities, Jaipal said.

"The existing laws should be implemented to protect their rights – this was the court's order," said Malani, who earlier served as a parliamentarian in a seat reserved for minorities.

Nine legislators currently represent minorities in the Sindh Assembly, eight in the Punjab Assembly and three each in the legislatures of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

"My Religion is Sanatana Dharma!" - Astounding New Video!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Santosh Jain
Date: Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 11:53 AM
Subject: Fwd: [Dharmacentral.com] "My Religion is Sanatana Dharma!" - Astounding New Video!
To: Gopinath Das

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dharmacentral <dharmacentral@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 1:39 PM
Subject: [Dharmacentral.com] "My Religion is Sanatana Dharma!" - Astounding New Video!
To: dharmacentral@yahoogroups.com

"My Religion is Sanatana Dharma"
An Important Video Event With
Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

We have just released perhaps the most important video we have ever produced.

Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya discusses in his intensely straight-forward and
refreshingly honest way such issues as religion, identity, Radical Universalism,
authentic spirituality, and what it means to truly be a conscious and aware
follower of Sanatana Dharma.

A few will perhaps consider the contents of this new video "controversial".
Most, however, will have the wisdom to see it as a clarion call for a new
movement toward spiritual authenticity and integrity.

If you are a follower of Sanatana Dharma, Yoga, Vedic spirituality, or Hinduism,
we urge you to watch this powerful presentation. We guarantee, you will be
pleasantly astounded!

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://youtu.be/jTAdlzlLSYU

PS: Don't miss the surprise postscript at the end!

We urge you to please help us get this information out to the world. Please
share this.

Aum Tat Sat

Afghan Sikhs, already marginalized, are pushed to the brink

By Mark Magnier and Hashmat Baktash, Los Angeles Times

June 10, 2013, 6:11 p.m.

Decades of war, instability and intolerance in Afghanistan have fueled waves of Sikh emigration, reducing the community to just 372 families nationwide, says Awtar Singh Khalsa, right, association president of the Karte Parwan temple in Kabul. (Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times / April 25, 2013)

KABUL, Afghanistan — Outsiders may have trouble distinguishing between the turbans worn by Afghan Sikhs, with their tighter folds, varied colors and tucked-in edges, and those worn by Afghan Muslims, usually black or white with the end hanging down the wearer's back.

The subtle differences, however, and what they represent, have fueled widespread discrimination against Afghan Sikhs, members of the community say, prompting many to move away amid concern that the once-vibrant group could disappear.

"For anyone who understands the differences in turbans, we really stand out," said Daya Singh Anjaan, 49, an Afghan Sikh who fled the capital, Kabul, for India after seeing his Sikh neighbors slain. "I'm sure the remaining Afghan Sikhs will vanish soon. Survival's becoming impossible."

There are no exact records on when Sikhs, a 500-year-old monotheistic people from western India and modern-dayPakistan, arrived in Afghanistan, although most accounts place it around 200 years ago. Mostly traders, they prospered and numbered about 50,000 by the early 1990s, concentrated in Jalalabad, Kabul, Kandahar and Ghazni.

But decades of war, instability and intolerance have fueled waves of emigration, reducing the community to just 372 families nationwide, said Awtar Singh Khalsa, association president of the Karte Parwan gurdwara, or temple. This is the last of eight gurdwaras that once operated in Kabul, he said.

During the Afghan civil war of the mid-1990s, most of Kabul's solidly constructed gurdwaras were appropriated by battling warlords who shelled one another, destroying seven of them along with a Sikh school that once taught 1,000 students. Under Taliban rule, Sikhs had to wear yellow patches, reminiscent of the Jews under Nazi rule, and fly yellow flags over their homes and shops.

Among the goals laid out by the United States and its allies after toppling the Taliban government in 2001 was religious tolerance for minorities, who account for about 1% of Afghanistan's population.

In practice, Sikhs say, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's weak and embattled government rarely counters prejudice by the majority population, which emboldens attackers. Hooligans rob, insult and spit at them on the street, they say, order them to remove their turbans and try to steal their land.

Particularly dispiriting, Afghan Sikhs say, are charges by the Muslim majority that they should "go home," even though they've lived in Afghanistan for generations and are protected, at least theoretically, by freedom-of-religion safeguards in the Afghan Constitution.

Another disturbing example of the indignities they face is the treatment of their dead, many said. Cremation, a tenet of the Sikh faith, has been quietly practiced in Kabul's eastern district of Qalacha for more than a century.

In recent years, however, some Sikhs who have tried to carry out cremations have been beaten up, stoned and otherwise blocked from doing so, at times decried as statue-worshiping infidels whose ceremonies "smell." Islam considers cremation a sacrilege.

Many Sikhs said they've complained repeatedly to the government to little avail. "In the last decade, the Kabul government has specified 10 different places for Sikh burials and cremations, but villagers keep giving Sikhs problems," said Anarkali Honaryar, a senator representing the community. "Even when President Karzai issued a decree, nothing changed."

While in New Delhi last month, Karzai said that Sikhs are a valued part of Afghanistan and that he was sorry so many had left. "We'll do our best to bring the Sikh community and Hindus back to Afghanistan," he said.

Sikhs, Jews and other minorities enjoyed tolerance and relative prosperity until the late 1970s when decades of war, oppression and infighting set in. Although many Muslim families have also suffered hugely, Sikhs say they've faced worse pressures as a minority subject to forced religious conversions and frequent kidnapping, given their limited political protection and reputation for being prosperous.

Pritpal Singh, an Afghan-born Sikh living in England who has documented the plight of Afghan Sikhs, said his brother was kidnapped shortly before the family left in 1992.

"I really looked up to him; it was such a shock," he said. "They asked for crazy money and we couldn't pay, so they killed him."

As conditions worsened, Sikhs turned increasingly inward, building a high wall around the lastgurdwara to prevent passersby from stoning the building, and cremating their dead inside, normally unthinkable, to stem angry mobs.

Khalsa said he's met repeatedly with Karzai but nothing changes, and meetings with bureaucrats and politicians often end with demands for money.

"Corruption is unbelievable," Khalsa said. "The Taliban were far better than this government."

For those emigrating, India and Pakistan visas are much easier to secure than those to Europe, so some stop there first, then travel illegally to the West.

Although securing a short-term visitor visa to India is relatively easy, obtaining citizenship is a "nightmare" given India's bureaucracy and general indifference, said Paramjit Singh Sarna, anIndian community leader in New Delhi assisting Afghan Sikhs. It does not help that Sikhism originated in India and that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a Sikh.

Sarna said many Afghan Sikhs live in limbo in India. As "outsiders," they are unable to buy land or work, their travel is restricted, their children born stateless.

Dhyan Singh, a 62-year-old Afghan Sikh who has lived in New Delhi since 1989, said he misses Afghanistan despite the problems.

"Just last night, I dreamed I visited the Kabul gurdwara," Singh said. "It's only fear that keeps me away."

mark.magnier@latimes.com

Times staff writer Magnier reported from Kabul and New Delhi. Special correspondent Baktash reported from Kabul.

Pakistani Hindus seek safety in India

By PHP Staff
Tuesday, Augest 07, 2012

(Hindu devotees worship at the Manher Mandir temple in Karachi.—AFP Photo)

KARACHI: Preetam Das is a good doctor with a hospital job and a thriving private clinic, yet all he thinks about is leaving Pakistan, terrified about a rise in killings and kidnappings targeting Hindus.

A successful professional, he lives in mega city Karachi with his wife and two children, but comes from Kashmore, a district in the north of Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh.

His family has lived there for centuries and in 1947 when the sub-continent split between India, a majority Hindu state, and Pakistan, a homeland for Muslims, Das’ grandparents chose to stay with the Muslims.

They fervently believed the promise of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah that religious minorities would be protected. Sixty years later, their grandson says life in Kashmore has become unbearable.

“The situation is getting worse every day,” he says.

Two of his uncles have been kidnapped and affluent Hindus are at particular risk from abduction gangs looking for ransom, he says.

Rights activists say the climate is indicative of progressive Islamisation over the last 30 years that has fuelled an increasing lack of tolerance to religious minorities, too often considered second class citizens.

Das says the only thing keeping him in Pakistan is his mother.

“She has flatly refused to migrate, which hinders my plans. I can’t go without her,” he said.

Hindus make up 2.5 per cent of the 174 million people living in the nuclear-armed Muslim nation. Over 90 per cent live in Sindh, where they are generally wealthy and enterprising, making them easy prey for criminal gangs.

An official at the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi who declined to be named said: “Every month about eight to 10 Hindu families migrate from Pakistan. Most of them are well-off.”

He had no comment on whether the number was on the rise, but Hindu community groups in Pakistan say more people are leaving because of kidnappings, killings and even forced conversions of girls to Islam.

“Two of my brothers have migrated to India and an uncle to the UAE,” said Jay Ram, a farmer in Sindh’s northern district of Ghotki.

“It’s becoming too difficult to live here. Sindhis are the most tolerant community in the country vis-a-vis religious harmony, but deteriorating law and order is forcing them to move unwillingly,” he added.

Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and a former lawmaker for Sindh province, said Hindus are picked on by kidnappers and that their daughters are subject to forced conversions to Islam.

“Every now and then we get reports of families migrating. It’s getting worse now. People are extremely harassed and are forced to leave their homeland but our rulers are shamelessly idle,” he told AFP.

Rights activists also say Hindus in Sindh are discriminated against.

“Recently 37 members of five Hindu families migrated to India from Thul town owing to discrimination while three Hindus, including a doctor, were murdered in Shikarpur district,” said Rubab Jafri, who heads Sindh’s Human Rights Forum.

“Lots of violent incidents are happening daily. Most go unreported, which shows vested interests are trying to force Hindus to leave Pakistan.”

According to the Pakistan Hindu Seva, a community welfare organisation, at least 10 families have migrated from Sindh every month since 2008, mostly to India, but in the last 10 months, 400 families have left.

Another survey last year by the local Scheduled Caste Rights Movement said more than 80 percent of Hindu families complained that Muslims discriminated against them by using different utensils when serving them at food stalls.

“Hindu migration is a brain-drain for Pakistan as most of them are doctors, engineers, agriculturists, businessmen and intellectuals,” Jafri said.

But the provincial authorities are reluctant to recognise a problem.

“I do admit that law and order in some districts of Sindh is quite bad, but it is bad for everyone and not just my community, the Hindus,” Mukesh Kumar Chawla, provincial minister for excise and taxation, told AFP.

“Hindus do not migrate in flocks as has been claimed and those who migrate are going abroad for a better fortune,” he said.

Pakistani Hindus are desperate to enter India

By PHP Staff
Tuesday, Augest 07, 2012

Things have just gone from bad to worse for the Hindu community in Pakistan's Balochistan region. So adverse is the scenario that around 100 more Hindu families from the region have applied to the Indian High Commission seeking asylum, Amir Mir reports from Islamabad.

Pakistan's marginalised Hindu community continues to live under the shadow of fear in Balochistan province in the wake of an endless wave of kidnappings, which has compelled many of them to abandon their homeland and migrate to India.

There are recent reports borne out by the privately-run Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that Hindus in Balochistan are feeling threatened in many cases and there are reports of never-ending abductions from the Hindu community.

The Balochistan chapter of HRCP has conceded in its recently released report that of the 300-plus people kidnapped from various parts of Balochistan during the last 15 months, over 50 belonged to the minority Hindu community.

Seen in isolation, these facts and figures may not seem that strange, considering the many problems that currently plague the trouble-stricken Balochistan. However, given the fact that the Hindu population in the province is not more than 30,000, the aftershock of each incident of kidnapping is felt by every Hindu, many of whom have already opted to leave Pakistan.


Although no official statistics are available, Hindus reportedly make up 2.5 per cent of the 174 million people living in the nuclear-armed nation.

Some recent Pakistani media reports say 150-plus Hindu families have already trickled out of Balochistan since last year to destinations as far as Canada but mostly to India next door.

Matters have got so bad that around 100 more Hindu families from Balochistan have applied to the Indian High Commission seeking asylum.

These figures are indeed alarming for the small Hindu community, which has become a soft target of abductions due to the apathy of the concerned authorities.

This is not just a recent phenomenon and has been going on at 'trickle' level for years, but there has been a recent uptick in the numbers of families feeling so insecure that they decided to relocate. Pakistani media reports frequently speak of abduction for ransom, traders and business-people as well as professionals like teachers and doctors, being abducted in broad daylight.

Two recent abductions from Balochistan have added to the sense of uncertainty among the Hindu community in particular.

The first one was the April 9, 2012 kidnapping of Vinod Maharaj Ganga Ram Motiyani, the chairman of the committee that manages the Hinglaj Mata temple in Balochistan, who was kidnapped from the Lasbela, just a couple of days before the annual pilgrimage to the shrine, which he was planning to attend himself.

Thousands of Hindus, including yatris from India, travel to the cave temple of Hinglaj Mata for a pilgrimage in April every year. It is one of the Shakti Peeths of Goddess Sati.

According to a legend, when goddess Sati, the consort of god Shiva, burnt herself in response to her father's anger at her for inviting Shiva to a ceremony, Shiva became furious and started to create disasters, problems, violence, and sufferings in the world.

In order to calm his anger, God Vishnu took the body of Sati and cut it into 51 pieces which all fell at different parts of the Earth. Hindus believe that the head of Sati fell in the area of Hinglaj Mata in Baluchistan. Thus, this area is a revered pilgrimage site for Hindus.

A month and a half since Motiyani's kidnapping, local police have been unable to trace him, amid questions about the identity of his kidnappers. Were the abductors belonged to intelligence agencies, were they Taliban militants or members of a kidnapping ring?

Motiyani's family members have been quoted by Pakistani media as saying that two men clad in security forces uniforms took him on April 6 from a general store he ran, saying that he had been summoned by a police deputy superintendent. That was the last time they saw him.

"We don't know who these men were," said the SHO of the Lasbela police station, Ataullah.

"But we are sure it was not the police who took him away. The men took the DSP's name but he was not in Lasbela at that time. I cannot really say where he is and who picked him up."

Motiyani's family went to the Lasbela police station an hour after he was picked up but were shocked to find that he was not there. According to his brother Lila Ram, when they telephoned Motiyani he replied that he was mistaken about the DSP and said the men who took him claimed he was summoned by a major of Pakistan Army.

Motiyani's phone has been switched off since. However, it is largely believed that he has been kidnapped for ransom.

The other kidnapping, which sent shockwaves through the Hindu community, was that of Rajesh Kumar, the son of Dr Nand Lal, a member of the Quetta chapter of the Human Rights Commission and the Pak-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy.

Rajesh was kidnapped in broad daylight from Quetta on February 13, 2012. His family sources say the kidnappers had established contact with them and demanded Rs 20 million as ransom initially.

Later they reduced the amount to Rs10 million but they are not in a position to arrange the ransom money. It is generally believed by the Balochistan police that the kidnappings are being carried out by revengeful separatists out to create havoc in the province, which is going through an unannounced military operation against Baloch nationalists who want a separate homeland.

However, the family members of Motiyani and Rajesh say their loved ones have not been kidnapped by Baloch separatists but by criminal gangs who are well aware of the fact that the Hindu community is a soft target.

Taking notice of the increasing cases of abductions of Hindu nationals in Balochistan the HRCP said in a statement: "Many Hindus have now stopped sending their children to school because of a lack of security. Hindu traders, doctors and retailers are being kidnapped for ransom or threatened to mint easy money. The son of a well-known Hindu doctor as well as a Hindu surgeon was abducted last year. But their relatives did not file a case with the police, as is the case with most victims who do not file a criminal case against their abductors out of fear."

"The pace at which Pakistan is losing its diversity as a nation bringing together many kinds of people is terrifying because those who have lived together for centuries as part of well-integrated communities, now eye each other with suspicion."

Voicing concern over the rising incidents of kidnappings of Hindus in Balochistan, the Indian government recently reminded Islamabad of its responsibility to discharge its constitutional obligations towards its minority citizens.

"It is the responsibility of the government of Pakistan to discharge its constitutional obligations towards its citizens, including those from the minority community," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in the Lok Sabha on May 9, 2012.

He was responding to the issue of treatment of minorities in Pakistan raised by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi.

However, keeping in view continuous kidnappings of Hindus in Balochistan, it seems that the Pakistan government has not yet taken concrete measures to address the concerns of the Indian government.

Pakistani Hindus protest kidnapping of young girls

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
By PHP Staff

(PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS, MPA Munawar Lal, Amar Lal and Mangla Sharma among others were present at the protest held regarding the forceful conversion of Rinkle Kumari from Hinduism to Islam outside Karachi Press Club on 4th march 2012)

Islamabad : Some political parties and Hindu groups in Pakistan are furious over the kidnapping and alleged conversion of Hindu girls in Sindh province.

The Human Rights Club, Young Hindu Forum, Minority Commission of Pakistan, Awami Jamhoori Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Hindu Council and Aurat Foundation held a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club Sunday, the Daily Times reported Monday.

They alleged that a Hindu girl, Rinkal Kumari of Mirpur Mathelo town, was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam. Another girl, Asha Kumari, was kidnapped from Jacobabad about a month back.

Pakistan Hindu Council chief Ramesh Vankwani alleged that a Supreme Court directive for the recovery of Asha Kumari has not been followed by the police, the Dawn reported.

He said another Hindu, Gangaram Motiani, president of the Hinglaj Mata Shewa Mandli, was kidnapped by men in police uniform in Bela area of Balochistan April 6.

The incident took place ahead of one of the largest annual Hindu gatherings at the Hinglaj Mata temple, he said.

Holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans, the demonstrators said a conspiracy was being hatched to expel the Hindu community from Pakistan.

According to the Pakistan Hindu Council, Hindus constitute around 5.5 per cent of Pakistan's 170 million people. Of them 94 per cent live in Sindh while the rest are distributed in Punjab and Balochistan.

Temple committee chairman kidnapped in Pakistan

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
By PHP Staff

(Photo : Hinglaj Mata Mandir in Baluchistan ,Pakistan)

Islamabad : The chairman of the committee that manages the famous Hinglaj Mata temple in Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan has been kidnapped just two days before the beginning of the shrine's annual pilgrimage, according to a media report on Monday.


Maharaj Ganga Ram Motiyani was abducted at Lasbela in Balochistan by two men in police uniform.

His followers organised a protest outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday and demanded that the government take steps for his recovery.

"Motiyani's kidnapping appears to be a conspiracy against Hindus since he was kidnapped two days before the gathering. He has not been kidnapped for ransom because he is a poor man," Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council and a former member of the Sindh Assembly, was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune daily.

Thousands of Hindus, including travellers from India [ Images ], visit the cave temple of Hinglaj Mata for a pilgrimage in April.

Hindu leader Chandar Turshani said two men in police uniform arrived at Motiyani's shop at 8.30 pm and said a senior police official wanted to meet him.

"We contacted the area police station within half an hour but he was not there," Turshani said.

"When we spoke to Motiyani on his phone, he said that he was being taken to meet an army major," Turshani alleged.

Motiyani's family lost contact with him after an hour.

"The provincial and district governments have assured us that he will be rescued but we are clueless about why Motiyani was taken and what condition he is in," said Turshani.

Recycling history: And all of Hanuman’s men put this temple together again

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
By PHP Staff

(PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESSOne of the oldest temples in the city, the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir is tucked away in Soldier Bazaar, Pakistan)

KARACHI: It was a tough fight – including a lawsuit and a call for donations – but one of Karachi’s oldest Hindu temples is finally being renovated.

The 1,500-year-old Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir is finally getting a facelift with the use of its old stones after its management battled with land grabbers to regain partial control of its original land.

One of the oldest temples in the city, the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir is tucked away in Soldier Bazaar. Even though work on its renovation suffered a setback a couple of years ago, its management is adamant that it will complete it, despite encroachments on the temple’s plot, intimidation and threats by land grabbers as well as a lack of funds.

“The temple was supposed to be renovated within two years. But a shortage of funds and the cases we have been fighting for the ownership of our land have slowed down the process. Yet we won’t give up,” says the determined Shri Ram Nath Maharaj, the temple’s caretaker. The Hanuman temple holds special significance for Hindus.

“It is the only temple in the world which has the natural statue of the Hanuman deity, and is not man-made. Years ago, the statue was discovered from this place,” he explains, pointing towards the 8-foot blue and white statue, which is located in a room that will not be touched for renovation or reconstruction. The rubble of building material and grilles lies around the temple as construction continues on a free langar khana or soup kitchen and a praying area. To preserve the look and feel of the temple, the original yellow stones are being used to rebuild the arched walls. “We believe in preserving our temple. We had to renovate because it was in ruins, with parts of the roof caving in.”

Blocks of old stones are being moulded into new ones. “The process of using the old stones to rebuild is time-consuming, difficult and costly. It is easier to buy new material and use it,” explains the Maharaj.

But as Dr Noman Ahmed, the chairperson of the architecture and planning department at the NED University, put it, houses of worship are usually preserved by using the same material from which they were originally built. “Unless there is a defect in the stones, the same ones can be used to rebuild them,” he said. However, there is rarely major reconstruction done on ancient buildings. Instead there are minor restorations or cleaning.

“Temples can be rebuilt in a personal capacity but it is better to seek professional help from the government’s heritage department,” he urged.

The temple isn’t being renovated with the yearly budget allocated to the Sindh minorities’ affairs ministry. Instead, poor Hindus and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement stepped up with donations.

“We need Rs4.5 million for the reconstruction,” said the Maharaj. “We have received half of the money but we need the rest to complete it.” A banner hangs in the temple requesting for donations.

Encroaching on the house of worship

The Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir has faced the same issue as many of the temples in the city – encroachment. Half of the 2,609 square feet land of the temple has been taken over.

According to documents shared by the Maharaj, in 1995 the plot (GRE 270 and 271) was divided into 10 parts. Land grabbers claimed the lease. In 2006, the temple won back four of these plots after the lease was cancelled by a district court and then-DDO East Sultan Ahmed issued a notice.

The anti-encroachment department was ordered by the City District Government Karachi to remove the illegal encroachers from three other plots, but even though six years have passed, that decision has yet to be implemented. “The illegal owners continue to reside on the land which belongs to the temple. We are still fighting in court for the ownership of the other two plots,” said the Maharaj as he sat in his incense-filled office, where a stereo played bhajans or hymns and pictures of Hanuman adorned the walls.

It seems that the temple has its work cut out. The official who runs the anti-encroachment work in KMC, Abdul Malik, was unaware of the illegal occupation on the temple’s land. “I know there is a temple in Soldier Bazaar, but I don’t know if there are encroachments around it,” he said, promising to look into it.  Maharaj hopes to win back their land. “We could once again attract foreign devotees. When we win back our land, I will make guest rooms, a parking lot and a place for shoes,” he said. For now, the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir has to make do with what little land it has managed to regain.

Pakistani Hindus fear forced conversion of young girls

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

By PHP Staff

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From:  AAA

Date: Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 11:47 PM

Subject: A SHOCKING VIDEO REPORT BY BBC ON FORCIBLE CONVERSION OF HINDU GIRLS TO ISLAM IN

To: KatariaN@aol.com

Dear Colleagues:  Namaskar:

A SHOCKING VIDEO REPORT BY BBC ON FORCIBLE CONVERSION OF HINDU GIRLS TO ISLAM IN PAKISTAN

Enclosed herewith please find a report by BBC which says that Pakistani Hindus fear forced conversion.  Hindu girls are being kidnapped, converted to Islam and forcibly married to Muslim men.

Hindu leaders and India Government should do something about it.

Please click on the following Link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-asia-16599534

Narain Kataria

Introduction to Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan (HSSP)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
By PHP Staff


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sumeer Kumar (PHP Lahore)
Date: Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 8:32 AM
Subject: Introduction to Hindu Sudhar Sabha (Pakistan)
To: PHP Islamabad

 (Photo : Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan)

(Photo : Secound picture of activites of HSS-P)

You ever well wisher,
Sumeer Kumar (Lahore, Pakistan)

Hyderbad Hindus preparing for any forced conversion in Pakistan.

Tuesday, April 12, 2012
By Gopinath Rajput

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Abbas Kassar
Date: Sun, Jun12, 2011 at 1:33 PM
Subject: hyd hindus against forced conversion
To: PHP

HINDUS FOR STOPPING FORCED CONVERSION OF THEIR GIRLS
BY ABBAS KASSAR

(Photo : HYDERABAD: Large numbers of Pakistani Hindus, Civil Society activists, peasants, and labourers took out rally under the banner of Human rights Commission of Pakistan, Sindh task force on Friday from Hyder Chowk to Hyderabad Press Club against the violation of human rights in Sindh)

HYDERABAD, June 12, 2011:The scheduled caste rights movement has expressed concern and indignation on kidnapping of Hindu girls and then their forced conversion after keeping them in fortresses of Jagirdars or seminaries.

 The movement members also asked for ending forced occupation on their places of worship including temples, Gaushalas, Mandirs, Masans, graveyards and their other religious places and to restore their religious status.

Addressing news conference at Hyderabad press club here on Sunday the leaders of newly formed Scheduled caste rights movement Ramesh Lal, Mangal Preetam, advocate Shewak Rathore, Lakshmi Bhatia, Mirchand Sajhani,Jawaherlal and others said that in 1967 the government of Pakistan had declared 41 castes as schedule castes and had kept their quota of 6% in services of Pakistan but in 1990s that quota was converted into minority quota. They said since then the government has never implemented on this quota of giving jobs to them. They said the upper
caste Hindus who are Banyas are not their part as they also have declared them untouchables and get themselves elected on assembly seats.

They said these very Banyas have opened the Gutas of wine in almost every town but the fact is that even in Hinduism  taking wine is forbidden. These very upper class Banhyas never represent them and
demanded reservation of assembly seats for schedule castes. They said that schedule caste Hindus form 6 % of total population of Pakistan and 10% in Sindh and demanded their representation in services and
assemblies. They said that a Sindh minister Mohandas Kohistani runs chain of Gutas of wine be dismissed from cabinet.

Among other demands they asked for law for registration of marriages of scheduled castes,
legislation to end hatred against them, to insert word Hindu in place of scheduled caste in column of religion in census, to increase seats of minorities in assemblies and senate according to their population, They said that since creation of Pakistan no increase in 10 reserved seats for minorities has been made. They said that schedule caste Hindus like Kolhi, Bheel, Bagri, Meghwar, Rawara and others have no
permanent homes and were living in make shift places at mercy of landlords in rural areas and of municipalities in suburban areas.

Theyasked for allotment of land and plots to them so they can make their permanent homes. They demanded public holidays on their religious holidays, to restore 6% quota for them in government services. They
demanded rehabilitation of peasants liberated from private jails of landlords and to help get their arrears of share cropping.

They also demanded action against those involved in forced conversion of Hindu
girls and that this stop should be stopped forthwith.

Ends

Minority within a minority: Scheduled Caste Hindus seek equal rights in Pakistan

Tuesday, April 12, 2012
By PHP Staff

(Photo : Member of Scheduled Caste Hindu womens from Sindh, Pakistan)

ISLAMABAD : Scheduled Caste Hindus have demanded a separate marriage law for their community.

Speaking at a news conference here on Tuesday Chairperson of the Schedule Caste Hindu Rights Movement (SCRM), Ramesh Jaipal demanded legal protection of their fundamental rights, particularly of Hindu marriage registration, land ownership, equal political participation and protection of religious places and graveyards.

For Hindu families, lack of marriage registration mechanism is a matter of a serious concern, Jaipal said. It’s been more than four years but the demand has only fallen on deaf ears so far. Despite assurances by a number of political and government officials nothing has happened, he said.

“Lower caste” Hindus in Pakistan are officially known as the “scheduled casts” and frequently described as “achhoots” or untouchables. They face dual discrimination, as a minority in a Muslim country and as member of a “lower caste” among fellow Hindus.

They are typically employed in less respected jobs such as fishermen, cobblers, brick makers, and sweepers. Their jobs are usually inherited through generations. Pakistan’s attitude towards “lower caste” Hindus has for long been a case of double standards and denial. But this discrimination is not officially recognised. Hence, there is no legislation against it. And, as a consequence, impunity is widespread, added Jaipal.

Lack of computerised identity cards (CNIC) and marriage registration has resulted in many domestic, social and psychological problems for the Hindu families, especially the female segment. Hindu married couples face numerous problems in travelling and lodging outside of their place of residence.

Due to an absence of CNICs and marriage registration mechanism, Scheduled Caste Hindu women do not get any share in their husbands’ property, and their access to health facilities and participation in social, economic and political processes is also minimal. According to them, for years they have been forcibly converted to Islam and married to Muslim men while they were already married to a Hindu. Since there is no documentation to prove the earlier marriage, the woman’s husband or families are unable to take up the issue on legal grounds.

Pakistan is home to 3.4 million schedule caste Hindus also known as Dalits, a minority of 0.25 per cent in a nation of mainly Muslims. According to the 1998 census, upper caste Hindus are just over 2.1m, though these figures are contested by the representatives of the lower caste Hindus.

Ramesh Jaipal (SCRM) Address the issue of Pakistani Hindus

Tuesday , April 10,2012
By PHP Staff

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ramesh Jaipal
Date: Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 1:57 AM
Subject: link of Ramesh Jaipal Address the issue of Pakistani Hindus
To: PHP Islamabad

Dear All         hope you all are fine there, please see below link of Youtube about problems of Pakistani Hindus address Ramesh Jaipal and see my press conference News with Regards Ramesh Jaipal

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (editor-in-chief)
Monday, June 13, 2011

(Photo : Studio photo of Anandamayi Ma, India )

Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life that throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same atman everywhere.
-- Sri Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982), Bengali mystic

Muslims Put Up Water Stalls During Lord Hanuman Puja, India

By PHP Staff
Monday, June 13, 2011

 (Photo : Purana Hanumaan Mandir in Lucknow, India )

LUCKNOW, INDIA, May 25, 2011: Traditional water stalls do not discriminate between any religion. As per the traditions, Muslims set up water stalls at prominent places in the city while they also queued up to have prasad and cold drinks during this Hindu Festival. Lucknow celebrates Bada Mangal as a reverence to Lord Hanuman wherein people from all walks of life set up stalls offering water, cold drinks and sweets to the denizens. The trend continues for all the four Tuesdays in the month of Jyestha in the Hindu calendar.

Praising the spirit of Lucknow, historian Roshan Taqui opined that Muslims and Hindus have always been in forefront in celebrating and extending a helping hand in each other's festivities. "The most visible example is the Purana Hanuman Mandir in Aliganj. A crescent over its dome symbolises Hindu-Muslim unity," he said. It is believed that the temple was built after the mother of a Muslim ruler had a dream telling her to build a temple to Lord Hanuman. "Still today we can find Muslims putting up stalls of flowers used for offerings outside various temples of the city," said Taqui.

Hindus also set up stalls during Muslim festivals. "We support the water stalls on Bada Mangal and our Hindu brethren put up water stalls during Muharram. It is the spirit and tradition of Lucknow. There is no religious discrimination. Our religion also stresses on offering water to the thirsty," remarked spokesperson, All India Shia Personal Law Board, Maulana Yasoob Abbas.

Indian Government Approves First Caste Census In 80 Years

By PHP Staff
Monday, June 13, 2011

 ( Photo : India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh )

NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 19, 2011 (Voa News): For the first time in 80 years, India is planning a detailed survey of religious and caste affiliation. Castes in India are part of a traditional Hindu system of social categorization and are believed to have an impact on the economic fortunes of the population. Leaders say having detailed caste data can help them better target social programs.

Indian officials plan to distribute questionnaires about caste and religious affiliation during June and July, alongside efforts to count those Indians who are living below a government-set poverty line. This is the first concrete plan by the Indian government to collect caste affiliation data since 1931, prior to the country's independence from the British.

N. Bhaskara Rao is one of India's most experienced and respected demographic researchers. He says the caste survey has two well-intentioned aims. "One is to establish a more reliable estimate," he said. "The second is, those who are not represented, those who have not yet gotten on to the power structure - to bring them into the fold of power."

Ancient Hindu scripture outlines four basic social classifications, along with a fifth class of so-called "untouchables," now known as Dalits, who were at the bottom of the hierarchy and traditionally performed society's most menial jobs. The reality is far more complex, with thousands of sub-groupings weaving an intricate hierarchy of socially perceived roles.

India's post-independence constitution set a goal of eliminating caste-based discrimination. Modern Indian governments have taken a more practical approach - seeking to target job quotas, food subsidies, and other social programs at lower-caste Indians. Supporters of a caste census says the data it generates will be crucial in tailoring such programs.

Twelve Thousand Hindu Couples Tie The Knot In Mass Marriages Across Andhra Pradesh, India

By Staff
Monday, June 13, 2011

(Photo :   Priests perform rituals during a mass marriage of 175 couples at Lalitha Kala Thoranam in Hyderabad on Friday, India)

HYDERABAD, INDIA, May 21, 2011: The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, lauded the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) trust for organizing a mass marriage for poor people. About 12,000 couples across Andhra Pradesh entered into wedlock yesterday as part of the sixth phase of mass marriages by TTD.

Amid the chanting of Vedic hymns, the marriages were performed in various towns of the state between 9.52am and 10.04am, the auspicious time set by pundits.

TTD, which manages the affairs of the famous Tirumala temple, spent about US$155 on each couple, providing them wedding apparel, mangala sutra (chain), silver toe rings for brides, and food for 60 guests from both sides.

The temple body has so far performed marriages of 46,000 couples under Kalyanotsavam, launched four years ago, to strengthen the Hindu marriage system and to help the poor Hindu families perform marriages of their children in accordance with Hindu traditions.

Rally for Hindu leader in Hyderbad, Pakistan

By PHP Staff
Thursday, May 26, 2011

(Photo : Protest Rally Against fake Murder Case on Veerji Kolhi, Pakistan)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Abbas Kassar 
Date: Wed, May 25, 2011 at 12:07 AM
Subject: rally for Hindu leader in hyd
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

DEMO AGAINST FALSE CASE ON A MINORITY LEADER
BY ABBAS KASSAR
HYDERABAD, May 25, 2011: Civil society along with Hindu communities of
Kolhi, Bheel Meghwar and others took out rally in Hyderabad against
registration of false murder case on Hindu leader and noted social
worker Veerji Kolhi at Nagarparkar police station on behest of an
influential Wadera. The activists of various civil society
organizations took out rally from city gate hotel on national highway
to press club where the leaders addressed it. Hundreds of men and
women participated in rally. They were chanting slogans to withdraw
false case against Veerji Kolhi. Those who addressed the rally before
press club Hyderabad included Punhal Saryo of Sindh Hari Porhyat
Council, Zulfiqar Shah of SPO, Jabbar Bhatti, M. Parkash of Pakistan
Liberal Forum, Javed Soz Halai, Dr. Ashothama Sindh coordinator of
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Shafiq Kandhro, Abbas Khoso,
Kashif Bajiee, professor Amar Sindhu of Aurat Foundation, advocate
Bhagwandas Bheel, Pahlaj Kolhi, Veersi Kolhi and Mukesh Meghwar. They
said that Veerji Kolhi is a noted social worker who had done a
labourious struggle for human rights. He had carried an arduous
struggle last year for getting justice for the rape victim Hindu girl
Kishwari. His such activities proved thorn in eyes of Waderas who are
used to commit atrocities with the minority people men and women.
Being infuriated the influential Waderas who are involved in
atrocities against Hindus including committing rape on their women
arranged registration of false murder case against Veerji Kolhi only
to remove him from the path of right. They said that on the day FIR at
Nanagarparkar police station was lodged Veerji was in Hyderabad having
meeting with civil society.They said that the human rights activists
cannot be bowed by such false cases. They demanded judicial inquiry of
this case and demanded to punish police officers who had lodged case
on behest of Waderas. Otherwise they warned to extend the scope of
protest in whole country.
Ends

PAKISTAN: Young Hindu was abducted from police station by a religious mob and his whereabouts are unknown. Police refuse to investigate

By Mohammad S.Solanki (executive editor)
Thursday, May 19, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Krishna Kumar
Date: Thu, May 19, 2011 at 2:26 PM
Subject: PAKISTAN: Young Hindu was abducted from police station by a religious mob and his whereabouts are unknown. Police refuse to investigate
To: publicmail@president.gov.pk


Dear Mr. Asif Ali Zardari,

PAKISTAN: Young Hindu was abducted from police station by a religious mob and his whereabouts are unknown. Police refuse to investigate

Name of victims:
1.Mr. Mohabat Mal (22) son of Veero Mal, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
2. Mr. Veero Mal, father of the victim, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
3. Mr. Pyro Mal, maternal uncle of the victim, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
4. Mr. Parro Mal, maternal uncle of victim, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province

Names of alleged perpetrators:
1.Maulvi Ahtesham Pathan, Pesh Imam (mosque leader) of Madani Masjid, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
2. Maulvi Iftekhar Punjabi, resident of Madani Masjid, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
3. Maulvi Maqsood Punjabi, resident of Madani Masjid, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
4. Inspector Javed Pathan, station House Office (SHO), Satellite town police station, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
5. Mr. Kanwar Singh Thakur, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
6. Mr. Riaz Ahmed Soomro, district police officer (DPO) Mirpurkhas district, Sindh province
Date of incident: August 13, 2010
Place of incident: Satellite Town, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the abduction and rape of a young Hindu man by a Muslim fundamentalist group and the indifferent attitude of the district police of Mirpurkhas to take legal action against the perpetrators.

I am shocked to know that a group from Madani Masjid (mosque) under the leadership of its Pesh Imam (mosque leader) abducted a young Hindu in order to force him to convert his religion. The victim was raped during his nine month’s captivity and was forced to sign plain papers that he has left the Hindu religion and converted to Islam. This practice had been common now for many years in the some areas of Sindh province bordering India where a sizable Hindu community live and are from scheduled castes.

I want to bring in your attention the case of Mr. Mohabat Mal son of Veero Mal, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province, was pursued by a group of Muslim religious leaders of the Madani mosque, Mirpurkhas, on August 13, 2010, the first day of holy month of Ramadan, to change his religion as they wanted to arrange his marriage with a girl from the Muslim community and would also provide a good social status as he was from Dalit community, a scheduled cast section of the Hindu religion. Mohabat Mal went along with Maulvi Ahtesham Patham, the leader of the mosque and his two accomplices, Maulvi Iftekhar Punjabi and Maqsood Punjabi. The victim was forced to sign the plain papers for his conversion. After some resistance from him the man was locked in the house of Ahtesham, adjacent to the mosque.

I am also informed that on April 4, 2011 he managed to run away from their custody and reached his house where he told his parents that he was abducted and sodomised by the Mosque leader and he was forced to sign plain papers and was declared as Muslim. The parents tried to file a complaint in the police station but some policemen informed the mosque leader. The mosque leader with more than 100 persons attacked his house and threatened the parents that they would face more trouble if they ever try to file the case. In the meanwhile Mohabat Mal contacted one Hindu community based human rights organization at Hyderabad, 70 kilometers from his city, the Mirpurkhas, to help him. The organization managed a lawyer who prepared a petition for Sindh High Court, Hyderabad, against his forced conversion of religion and his rape during his nine months of captivity. One day before the filing of the petition more than hundred people under the leadership of Pathan and other perpetrators attacked his house in Mirpukhas and the family was made hostage. The family was forced to contact Mohabat to surrender himself to them. The family also contacted police and police officials including the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Satellite Police Station, Mirpurkhas. Inspector Javed Pathan, assured the family that if victim surrender to the police then they will take him before the session court and record his statement. On police assurance he was contacted the next day by the parents to come to the house and present himself to the police. At this time he was at the high court to file the petition against the rapist and abductors but he left quickly to attend his family and record his statement. On the same day, May 12, he went to police station where a big mob amounting to hundreds of people were gathered outside. The police took him inside the police station to record his statement before producing him in session’s court. Mosque leader, Ahtesham Pathan, delivered a fiery speech outside the police station and suddenly the mob entered the police station and took him out by passing overhead from hand to hand.

I am distressed to learn the police provided the lame excuse for failing to take action by saying that he is Muslim and the agitators will produce him before the session’s court. The police once again when confronted by religious extremists remained silent spectators. The District Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Riaz Ahmed Soomro, and Mr. Kanwar Singh Thakar, the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) arrived at the scene but told the family members that they cannot stop the mob as there are chances of Hindu/Muslim riots. The police did not follow the mob when they took the victim and the mob continuously announced that the victim was their new Muslim friend when they took away him to an unknown destination. Since then his whereabouts are unknown and police stopped the investigation as the victim has become Muslim and he would be in better environment. The lawyer and activists of Hindu community have several times contacted the police high officials of the district to recover him but the police told them that they have his signed papers which claim that he has converted to Muslim so they cannot do anything in the case.

Amazingly, in order to look as if they were taking action the police arrested the victim's father, Veero Mal, his two maternal uncles, Mr. Pyaro Mal and Mr. Parro Mal on the complaint of Pathan, the mosque leader, that they had abducted victim and kept him in illegal captivity. This complaint was filed when first time Mohabat Mal ran away from the captivity of mosque leader.

I am gravely concerned that it is a common practice in Sindh province where the ruling party received the majority votes and which claims to be the custodians of the interests of religious minority groups. The constitution and Pakistan Penal Code provide all constitutional and legal protection to religious minority groups. But the government has left the minority groups without any protection and given freedom to fundamentalist groups to use force against the minorities with the connivance of police.

Pakistan has also ratified the International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its following are articles are violated through their negligence of the provincial government and police; Article 10 all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. Article17-1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation 2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Article 18- 1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. 2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

I hope that you will follow the constitutional and legal rights of the members of religious minority groups and would also follow the ICCPR article which was ratified by the government of Pakistan.

I urge you to take action for the recovery of Mr. Mohabat Mal who was abducted by the Muslim fundamentalist groups and would also provide protection to him and his family. I also urge to prosecute the perpetrators and police officers of the district Mirpurkhar district who covertly supporting the Muslim extremist groups of the district to forcefully converting the religion of members of the Hindu community.

I look forward to your prompt response and action in this case.

Yours sincerely,

Krishna Kumar (PHP)
Pakistan

Will Brad Pitt explore Hinduism?

By PHP Staff
Thursday, May 19, 2011

(Photo : Brad Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one and he has been described as one of the world's most attractive men, a label for which he has received substantial media attention)

United States : Hindus have suggested Hollywood star Brad Pitt to explore Hinduism in view of his statement in People.com about his religious experience in childhood which he described: "I found it very stifling".

Esteemed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Pitt would appreciate rich, diverse and long tradition of Hindu philosophy; and its interpretation of the nature of reality.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that if Pitt needed any help in deeper Hinduism exploration, he or other Hindu scholars would be glad to assist.

Rajan Zed recommended Pitt to realize the Self. Ancient Hindu scripture Katha Upanishad points out that when wise realize the Self, they go beyond sorrow. Self is supreme and those who meditate on Self are freed from the cycle of birth and death. When one realizes Self, there is nothing else to be known.

Pitt was quoted in People.com dated May 16: "I got brought up being told things were God's way, and when things didn't work out it was called God's plan," he said. "I've got my issues with it. Don't get me started. I found it very stifling."

Oscar nominated William Bradley Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), 47, is an American actor and film producer. Named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine twice, Pitt has Oscar winner Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie (Changeling) as domestic partner and both have six children. He was reportedly raised as Southern Baptist and is vegan.

Oscar winner Hollywood star Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) joined the Hindu fold in the recent past.