‘Pakistani Hindus should not be called Indians’

MQM-P’s Sanjay Perwani says such attitude of ruling party is nothing but ‘extreme discrimination’

ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Central Leader MNA has called for reminding the people at large that Pakistani Hindus are proud patriots and should not be referred to as Indians.

Perwani, who is also a member of the National Assembly, took strong exception to the blanket manner in which Pakistan's vibrant Hindu community was wrongly labelled as Indian sympathisers.

He appealed to such elements to remember that Hinduism is a religion and not a nationality.

The MQM-P leader said that it saddened him to see how even public figures - important ministers and colleagues - wrongly attributed Pakistani Hindu community to Indians.

Stressing that he and other members of his community were proud of their Pakistani nationality, Perwani said, “Our patriotism and love for Pakistan should never be doubted.”

He also revealed to move a motion in the National Assembly in the next session against the undermining treatment of minorities.

He said PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi recently passed remarks which were against the Hindu minority.

While talking to The Express Tribune, he said, “Similar remarks had been passed by government minister Abdul Qadir Baloch in the lower house of parliament, for which, later on he had apologised.”

He said this sort of attitude of the ruling party is nothing but “extreme discrimination”.

Furthermore, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA Lal Chand Malhi submitted an adjournment motion in the NA Secretariat in this context as well.

The motion read, “The business of the house may be adjourned to discuss an urgent matter of public importance regarding the atmosphere being created by the ruling party to imply that minority communities cannot be Pakistanis. Showing continuous disdain towards minorities by the ruling party’s senior leadership in honourable courts and media is a cause for concern among the people of Pakistan in general and minorities in particular.”