Insecurity increasing among Hindus, says Pakistani daily

Islamabad, Aug 11 (IANS) There is an escalating sense of insecurity within Pakistan's Hindu community, said a leading daily Saturday as many Hindu families moved from Jacobabad to India.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik's predilection for terming all negative developments in Pakistan as a conspiracy against the state was in full play Thursday, said an editorial in the Dawn.

To a question on the reported migration of many Hindu families from Jacobabad to India, Malik said that approximately 250 visas were issued by the Indian high commission, "under a conspiracy", "a statement that led to several families - with valid documents - being stopped from crossing the Wagah border Friday though they were later allowed to proceed", Dawn said.

The daily said that reports of the intended migration have yet to be substantiated as a number of travellers are said to be pilgrims.

"However, for all of Malik's moralistic talk of the Pakistani citizen's loyalty to the green passport, there is an escalating sense of insecurity within the country's Hindu community," it said.

"This has resulted in an increasing number of Hindus, mostly businessmen and professionals, leaving Pakistan in recent years, although the mass exodus depicted by the media is yet to take shape," the daily added.

The editorial said that the persecution of Hindus "may not be as blatant as, say, that of the Ahmadis, who are routinely gunned down or lynched, or even of their poorer brethren in lower Sindh trapped in a class-based system".

"But increasingly, the kidnappings of Hindu businessmen, the looting of their shops, occupation of their property and the general environment of religiosity have isolated the minority community from the mainstream. Besides, they see no forum for justice and no openings to advance in national life," it added.

The editorial criticised the government, saying it has made no attempt to give back minorities their space or even to provide hope for a better future.

"As Pakistan's minorities find themselves increasingly cornered - not only by extremist groups and an uncaring government but also by a society that shuns the 'other' - the hands of those who reject a pluralistic culture will be strengthened," it added.