Serious issue: Hindu community protest girl’s ‘gang rape’

Protesters say they are true Pakistanis and such hatred won’t be tolerated

KARACHI: Scores of human rights activists, nationalists and office bearers of Hindu rights organisations staged a protest outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday against the alleged gang rape and killing of an intermediate student and school teacher, Hawa Meghwar.

The participants shouted slogans against the police and local influential people, as well as against the provincial government for supporting the culprits, alleging that there is a conspiracy afoot against Sindhi Hindus.

The participants said that Meghwar was gang raped and then murdered in Kunri, district Umerkot, where she used to teach.

The incident occurred on August 25, said Meghwar's fellow community member, Punmoo.

"The cause of death has been recorded as natural," he said, adding that the police had detained her innocent cousin, Nirdosh, in the case.

Pumoo said that the influential people in the area were supporting the real culprits. "It is a conspiracy against Hindu people," he alleged.

He said that Meghwar's father, Pirboo, was under the influence of local landlords and was unable to join the protest.

The participants said that all the members of minority communities considered themselves Pakistanis. "But the state doesn't consider us Pakistanis," lamented a participant, Shankar Lal. "We are true Pakistanis. Such hatred won't be tolerated."  The participants said that kidnappings, rapes and killings were routine matters in Kunri and its surrounding areas, forcing the people of Sindh to migrate to other countries.

The protest was organised by the Action Committee for Human Rights and the All Pakistan Hindu Punchayat. Members of different Hindu communities, political workers and Meghwar's community members participated in the protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st,  2015.