Minority rights: For Hindu community, asylum may be the only option

what can the hindus expect in pakistan when from the start they have to face severe discrimination.I remember when i was in school how my deeniyat books used to extol the virtue of breaking statues in temples and how the men who went in the temples and destryoed their statues were regarded as muslim heroes and on reading this many of my friends were inspired enough to say ‘yar clifton may bhi inka aik temple hai buton wala mai bhi waha ja kar in kay but toronga to mjko bhi sawab milayga” .

when from childhood we are taught to hate non-muslims to the extent that going into their mandirs and wreaking havoc there are looked upon as good ,heroic things to do.

we should fee ashamed of ourselves that how low our society has gone by following its obsession with radical islam.Recommend

There will be a day when the entire Shia population will ask to migrate to India as well. Mark my words.Recommend

Vienna,11-06-2011
I would say Kumarbhai think once again.India is not much safer, since just as water
finds its own level after discharge or addition humans also tend to adjust. Look at
the fate of Tasleema Nasreen, the brave girl. In India her freedom remains restricted
as was in Khaleeda Zia´s Bangla Desh.There is one difference she is safe from
being lynched.Indian Hindus as Hindus are not better humans.I say my experience
is just being simple human is safer everywhere across all the borders.
-Kulamarva BalakrishnaRecommend

this story should have been in the ‘featured’ section of ET .instead its at the right hand side from where it will be bumped off soon.the web desk of ET should take notice.Recommend

I hope that his asylum request is granted quickly. While some in this country will not care about “an infidel” leaving this “land of the pure”, let me assure you that you will be missed by at least one Pak brother :(

Wishing you all the best…Recommend

His fears are unfounded, Islam is a religion of peace..Recommend

I hope that his asylum request is granted quickly. While some in this country will not care about “an infidel” leaving this “land of the pure”, let me assure you that you will be missed by at least one Paki brother :(

Wishing you all the best…Recommend

I personally feel pakistan is in need of serious introspection. A society where citizens are not protected is bound for disaster. It is not just a question of minorities; the way things are going, I am very fearful of the future of the whole region as a concerned Indian. I hope things get better.Recommend

The entire area starting from Syria thru Pakistan covering all Arab lands have been known for violence for a long time.On some pretext or other, mostly they kill each other, invade countries, loot and rape etc during the past centuries. That culture has not left them yet. Religious hatred/bigotry is one such manifestation of such violence in their genes. One recent example is the Iran Iraq war which killed thousands of muslims over a long decade during the eighties. Recommend

There is enough bigotry in India – support for Modi is a case in point. However, my question is – why is there no movement to remove the hatred and indoctrination in the text books – that is quantifiable – easy to achieve…Recommend

all hindus should consider shifting to india for their well being and future.indian govt should settle them here in india with all respect and dignity.pakistan has become increasing dangerous for all non muslim and also for ahmedis and shias.islam has always spread through forced conversion,rape,oppression since the medieval time and there is not much change in 21st century.islam may be religion of peace,but islamic history is tainted with violence with bigoted maulvis directing to crush infidels.Recommend

As a Pakistani Muslim I am ashamed and sorry for failing them.Recommend

It is the fault of Nehru and Gandhi who trusted Jinnah with taking care of minorities. They should hav negotiated with mountbatten for assisted migration of all families to india. Nincompoops!! We are less human than we think ourselves to be. We are sub standard humans. Recommend

It ius very sad what is happenening to non-muslims in all Islamic lands and more so in Pakistan,as once all muslims of pakistan were hindus case in point enen mrJinnah’s grand father was a gujarati katiawari hindu,but what is use of talking to a society which kills its own in for different reason.What hurts most is often repeated mantra like chant”islam is religion of peace,it is not what abstract passage in holy books matter,what the followers practice,any impartial man or woman with any sense of brain would see how the pious muslim practice their religion where they are majority.I had high hopes for the fair sense of our fellow brothers of Pakistan,so there is no more hindus/parsee/sikh,or ahmedias or even shias in Pakistan,would there be no more problem,terrorism or killing in Pakistan?Do not kid yourself,even that is going to pass soon,and let us hope the reign of peace and paradise desend on the land of pure,we will see that too,then Pakistan will clamour,mossad,jews and american conscipracy.we all have seen this game played out before,will any more sanity left in that land of PURE?It is hoped after all that has happened to pakistan in last 63 years,somebody will say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’.Recommend

For all the praising abt india n its minority rights let’s start with the gujrat massacre that took place killing thousands of muslims as well as hindus..
The 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy[3]. As a result, 58 Hindu pilgrims, mostly women and children of ladies compartment returning from Ayodhya, were killed. The attack prompted retaliatory massacres against Muslims and communal riots on a large scale, in which 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed and 223 more people were reported missing. 523 places of worship were damaged: 298 dargahs, 205 mosques, 17 temples, and 3 churches. Muslim-owned businesses suffered the bulk of the damage. 61,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus fled their homes. Preventive arrests of 17,947 Hindus and 3,616 Muslims were made. In total 27,901 Hindus and 7,651 Muslims were arrested. Nearly 10,000 rounds of bullets were fired in police shootings that killed 93 Muslims and 77 Hindus

Let’s move on to sikhs:
The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, also referred to as the 1984 Anti-Sikh Pogroms or Massacres, were four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs belonging to Indian National Congress, killed unarmed Sikh men, women, and children, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked Gurdwaras.

In the 1970s, during the Indian Emergency, thousands of Sikhs campaigning for autonomous government were imprisoned.The violence began in June 1984, during Operation Blue Star, when Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to attack Sikh separatists in the Golden Temple. The attack on the Golden Temple resulted in innocent pilgrims being killed, and religious artifacts and historical buildings being destroyed. The attack, and a later operation by Indian paramilitary forces to clear separatists from the countryside of Punjab, was perceived by many moderate Sikhs as an assault on their faith.

The violence in Delhi was triggered by the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards in response to her actions during the preceding months. The Government of India reported 2,700 Sikh deaths however human rights organizations and newspapers report the death toll to be 10,000-17,000. In the aftermath of the riot, the Government of India reported 20,000 had fled the city, however the PUCL reported “at least” 50,000 displaced persons.[6] The most affected regions were neighborhoods in Delhi.

And what do you have to say abt the indian occupied kashmir where everyday innocent muslims are killed, womens are being raped by the indian army.
The demolation of Babri mosque

These kind of human n religion violence take place on the other side of the border as so stop potraying urself as angels from heaven above

Let’s not move that far you the hindus have caste saystem where one of the caste is named as the untouchables.. Better humans duh!!
So before you criticize wot happens in Pakistan make sure ur enviornment is clean enough..Recommend

I urge the Hindus of Pakistan to please migrate to developed countries and if that is not possible, to India or Nepal. Not that India is any safer for Hindus (Congress which has been in power for most of the 64 years of India’s independence hasn’t done much for the Hindus).

There are many Christian countries and more than 57 Muslim countries but there are only two Hindu majority countries(and they don’t call themselves officially Hindu) in the world.

Just like the Jews, Christians and Muslim people care about their respective populations around the world (irrespective of their ethinicity or nationality), so too should Hindus.

It’s high time that Hindus around the world started caring about each other, no matter what their differences.Recommend

I want to thank all pakistanis who have discussed/shared in this news item stories & experiences of discrimination & kidnappings of young Hindu girls. The first test of a good human being is being open minded and 2nd being honest. You have demonstrated both and if there is ever any hope of change in this region, of someone bring g change in human attitudes it’s from people like you. There are only few comments unlike hundreds that come from pakistanis on a news story. But these few individuals are the GOLD standard of human decency. Recommend

@Rabiya:
Godhra carnage against Muslims is a blotch on Indian culture. It is unforgivable but is not a continuous occurrence as in PakistN. The samjotha express was equally bad but one man engineered.

Golden temple attack and resultant killing of devotees fully justified intact I think Indian army was too soft with taking off shoes etc. Once militants had made temple home with weapons, the sanctity of temple was violated and devotees should have stopped going. They should have expected military action.

Sikh riots completely failure of our culture but Sikhs also at fault. In Godhra massacre also at fault was Muslim leadership.

Kashmir army action fully justfied in light of militancy.Recommend

More than 160 million people in India are considered “Untouchable”—people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems them impure, less than human.

A random sampling of headlines in mainstream Indian newspapers tells their story: “Dalit boy beaten to death for plucking flowers”; “Dalit tortured by cops for three days”; “Dalit ‘witch’ paraded naked in Bihar”; “Dalit killed in lock-up at Kurnool”; “7 Dalits burnt alive in caste clash”; “5 Dalits lynched in Haryana”; “Dalit woman gang-raped, paraded naked”; “Police egged on mob to lynch Dalits”
“Dalits are not allowed to drink from the same wells, attend the same temples, wear shoes in the presence of an upper caste, or drink from the same cups in tea stalls,”
India’s Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense.

Nearly 90 percent of all the poor Indians and 95 percent of all the illiterate Indians are Dalits
Every hour two Dalits are assaulted; every day three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered, and two Dalit homes are torched.

No one believes these numbers are anywhere close to the reality of crimes committed against Dalits. Because the police, village councils, and government officials often support the caste system, which is based on the religious teachings of Hinduism, many crimes go unreported due to fear of reprisal, intimidation by police, inability to pay bribes demanded by police, or simply the knowledge that the police will do nothing.

No one believes these numbers are anywhere close to the reality of crimes committed against Dalits. Because the police, village councils, and government officials often support the caste system, which is based on the religious teachings of Hinduism, many crimes go unreported due to fear of reprisal, intimidation by police, inability to pay bribes demanded by police, or simply the knowledge that the police will do nothing.Recommend

OK ! Since there are talks abt indian minority. its approprite that i should comment here, as i am an south indian tamil muslim..

to be very honest, this country has been so kind and grace enough to all its citizen,( i hate to be called as minority, as i am very much indian and belong to larger part of society) be it christian, muslim or buddhist.. just an example, in my province, chief minister is a hindu, high court chief justice is a muslim and my governor is a sikh.. or in central ministry, our speaker is a dalit, our pm is sikh, our vice president is a muslim.. so the message is minorities represent every part of job and every system in place.

in our 60 year of independence we have had 3 muslim president and 2 muslim vice presidents..and we have so many indian muslim promience who have been awarded bharat ratna, viz a viz, bismillah khan, abdul kalam zakir hussian, khan abdul gaffar khan, abul kalam azad ( out of 41 receipients 5 are muslims)… perhaps with just mere 12 % of muslim population, i could confidently say that india is the only country in the whole world, where there is a goverment subsidy for hai pilgrimage..even the mighty uk or usa would never do it..

if you gonnna talk abt gujarat massacre or ayodhya issue, yes those are few blackmarks in our system. we learnt our lesson and moved on.. tell me which country havent had such a bad past.. be it america or britan.. yet they all learnt their lesson..

being born to lower middle class muslim family, with my sheer education, we are moved up to average middle class family..and good things is much of muslim community have realized the imp of education.. and for the record, the last year civic service exam topper was a kashmiri muslim boy,and now been posted in kashmir as per his wish.. so i am say with confidence, the minorities are very well taken care than the majority of pakistanis are taken care by your own goverment.

The problem with pakistan is, that they think, they are the saviours and guardians for all muslim around the world. i am indian, a muslim. to me, my country and the welfare of my people are my utmost importance..so better look after yourself, and the other will take care of themself too..Recommend

n recently world famous Muslim artist M.F. Hussain called the Picasso of India who died two days ago in living abroad in self-exile since 2006 this is how you treat people across the border???
n in mumbai the financial hub of india muslims face property crunch, they are denied land due to Muslim faith Recommend

I was talking to one bangladeshi musilm

We were doing a rational discussion on islam.
The bangladeshi muslim said that :Koran has multiple interpretations .At some quotes it will speak against hidnus,jews and christians (this is exteme side).While to appease,convert and please people,it will show the softer side.So he said that it is bipolar.

He was describing that Stricter you are with respect to book,more intolerant you grow.

I would love islam as religion of peace,if it removes those verses where it treates polytheist are sinners,christians are non believers and jews ………….there are 100 videos on youtube where 2 to 3 year old child are asked question and answers are highly intolerant.

Well ,we all know that religion is division and humanity is the only religion.I respect islam for 99% good things but those 1% bad verses make it look very bad…

Why islam stress on superiority of religion over others?
why islam has to care about numbers?
The day it allows people to migrate and leave religion,it will become great religion.Recommend

Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy[3]. As a result, 58 Hindu pilgrims, mostly women and children of ladies compartment returning from Ayodhya, were killed

rabiya this is a lie.train was stopped 30-40 women because vhp gundaas kidnapped a muslim teen girl who was helping his old father selling tea at plateform.compartment was not attacked or put on fire by muslim.this is absolute.riot was preplanned.since 1969 rss perpetuated 15-16 riots to make inroad in secular high caste hindu community.they suceeded.fire was started from inside.it was reserve compartment all passengers are alive.
from where these people came when it was locked from outside.
riot was preplanned within half hours of this incident dargah of wali gujrati eas demolished and within days road was made in this place.

yes minorities are in bad situation everywhere.but situation is not so bad in pakistan.orrisa never happened there.sikhs have most of their shrines there,all of them are in good shape.
pakistani hindus never faced the pain of hundreds of communal riots.or agony of bomb planting.even now hindus believe muslims more than their own community.
tharparkar is hindu majority city on the border.muslims never retaliated.after initial migration
hardly anybody ever left.they feel safe and happy there.
many many rich men in karachi are hindus.
regarding kidnapping,this is law and order problem.muslim girls also get kidnapped.delhi has become rape capital of the world.99%of raped women are hindus.
pakistan is passing through worst period of his life.even then there is no mass exodus of hindus.
thousands and thousands are leaving india as well for better prospects.thousands of pakistani muslims too are missing.
but making case against somebody based on lies is not good.situation is bad for everybody.Recommend

@Ajay:

“I want to thank all pakistanis who have discussed/shared in this news item stories & experiences of discrimination & kidnappings of young Hindu girls.”

I share your sentiments. It is indeed heartening to see that there still are people with conscience, compassion to others and humanity left in Pakistan. I am sure these humanitarians are dying internally seeing their country increasingly trending towards religious radicalization, bigotry and terrorism.Recommend

@mandeep: I’m very well aware of the shortcomings here n like u said things are no different at that side.. If the man thinks he’ll be safe in India he has every right to go.. But what’s the assurity?
Well abt sikh n muslim living happily in India.. I wonder why do sikhs ask for a seperate homeland? KHalistan if I’m not wrong..
Evry year thousands of sikh come to Pakistan for their religious festival ‘baisakhi* n they believe Pakistan as there second home..Recommend

@Rabiya:
A gentle reminder about 1970-71: East Pakistan – 3 million then Pakistanis butchered by your very own Army! No wonder they split! So much for Muslim brotherhood! Pak could not keep even its muslims together and split the nation on account of language! And the number of people butchered – half number of jews that hitler killed. What’s your excuse/denial/conspiracy theory?Recommend

Rabiya,
I am Sikh, During high time of Khalistan movement, No sikh want this so called Khalistan except few criminal sponsor by Pakistan. We Paid highest price for Independence from British compare to any other. We are and will be the first to die for our motherland Hindustan. We were all Aryan before any other religion come into day light. If you do little research on your own ancestry you might find that your own forefather were Aryan not Arab. Some where during Mugal era they convert to Islam due to fear or raped. And same tradition is continue in so called Pakistan. Recommend

@Rabiya & @Mandeep

Sikhs visit Pakistan because a few of their most holy sites are in Pakistan. Sikhs originated in the area that is present day Pakistan. If they had good leadership during Partition times, Nankana Sahib would never have gone to Pakistan. It is amazing how the whole world is held hostage to the whole Jerusalem issue and the Al Aqsa mosque. Almost every muslim is up in arms about that. What if Sikhs showed the same kind of militancy on the issue of Nankana Sahib. It is as holy to us as Mecca and Madina to muslims.

Second as a sikh who lived through those horrid times, I can tell you that fault lies with Sikh miltants too. They are the ones who started with terror attacks, kind of like what the Taliban are doing in Pakistan today. Violence with the help of PAkistan was escalated to unacceptable levels. Please do learn a little bit about issues before you speakRecommend