Hindus under attack

The assault on members of minority communities continues. Over the last few months, violence directed against Hindus in Balochistan has been increasing. In the most recent incident a trader, Ramesh Kumar, was killed in what appears to have been a kidnapping attempt in Quetta gone terribly wrong. In both Sindh and Balochistan, it is thought Hindus may be the particular target of criminal gangs involved in abduction for ransom as the community frequently groups together to pay out the amount and recover the victim.

Following the incidents of kidnapping in Balochistan, leaders of the community have threatened to quit the province and leave for India. The provincial minister for minority affairs has meanwhile warned that unless action is taken to offer Hindus better protection, they may be forced to take action that would “embarrass the province and the country”. It is likely that this too alludes to a movement across the country’s eastern border. Many thousands of Hindus have headed that way over the last few decades, as their lives have become less and less secure, and their numbers have picked up again in recent years.

There is a disturbing element attached to the plight of the Hindus of Balochistan. Some who represent the community have expressed the apprehension that the ‘kidnappings’ in Balochistan may in fact be the work of security agencies, that ‘pick up’ Hindus on the basis of suspicions that they may be ‘Indian agents’ involved in fuelling the insurgency in Balochistan. Accusations that India is stirring up trouble in Balochistan have been voiced more than once by the interior minister and by those in the security establishment and their sympathisers in sections of the media. But even if there is some truth in this, there is no reason to believe that the Hindus in the province are playing any role in fomenting the unrest. Most of them are, in terms of ethnicity, Baloch, and have lived in the province for generations. Furthermore, by and large, they have no affiliation or affinity with nationalist groups – who, it should be noted, are made up mostly of those from the majority community. The whole issue of abductions and kidnappings of Hindus in Balochistan needs to be investigated keeping mind this context of alleged Indian involvement in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2011.