Islamabad, Oct. 6 (ANI): The police and representatives of the Hindu community in Pakistan gave contradicting statements over the issue of minority persecution in the country during a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Human Rights.
During the meeting presided over by Committee Chairman Riaz Fatyana, the police maintained that minorities in Pakistan get equal rights and there was no Hindu migration from Sindh, while representatives from the Hindu community thought otherwise.
"Pakistan is a country where every citizen reserves the right to live his life the way he wants. Minorities especially Hindus girls are never pressurised to accept Islam or to convert their religion," The Express Tribune quoted Additional Inspector-General (AIG) Falak Khursheed, as saying.
He said that only three families had migrated to India while 200-300 other people had gone for a pilgrimage to their holy places this year.
On the other hand, minority MNA Dr Araish Kumar from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said that the AIG was misguiding the committee by presenting wrong figures. He said that around 12 cases of forced conversions were reported in Tando Allahyar in past one month, while 7,000 Hindus had migrated to India in the past three years.
After a long discussion, the committee recommended that district-level special cells, with representatives from police, home department, civil society and Hindu community, be established to protect minority rights, the paper said.
The committee further advised the Sindh government to lodge cases under the "Anti Terrorism Act" against those who attack temples and other worship places for minorities in Pakistan, and directed the home department and the provincial government to set up "safe houses" where kidnapped girls can be kept for around one month before being moved to any court, it added. (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
