'Our people are being kept hostage in India'
'Hindus living a peaceful life, enjoying all the rights in Pakistan'
A Reuters file photo of the locked down Srinagar.
HYDERABAD:
Fifty people from the Bhaagri community, who travelled to India a month ago to visit holy sites there, have been forced to make anti-Pakistan statements under duress by Indian law enforcement agencies, claimed Lakhi Mal, a representative of the Hindu community, in a protest outside the Hyderabad Press Club on Monday.
"Our people are being kept hostage in India and they were forced to issue statements about their alleged oppression in Pakistan," insisted Mal. Days after their arrival in India, the travellers made a case for obtaining Indian citizenship by alleging that they were subjected to religious persecution in Pakistan, and that Hindus were forced to convert to Islam here.
"We reject these accusations which were made under pressure and we want it to be known that we Hindus are living a peaceful life, enjoying all the rights in Pakistan," said Mal.
He further maintained that the Indian government must "first keep its own house in order" and stop the persecution of hundreds of millions of Muslims.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2020.
Fifty people from the Bhaagri community, who travelled to India a month ago to visit holy sites there, have been forced to make anti-Pakistan statements under duress by Indian law enforcement agencies, claimed Lakhi Mal, a representative of the Hindu community, in a protest outside the Hyderabad Press Club on Monday.
"Our people are being kept hostage in India and they were forced to issue statements about their alleged oppression in Pakistan," insisted Mal. Days after their arrival in India, the travellers made a case for obtaining Indian citizenship by alleging that they were subjected to religious persecution in Pakistan, and that Hindus were forced to convert to Islam here.
"We reject these accusations which were made under pressure and we want it to be known that we Hindus are living a peaceful life, enjoying all the rights in Pakistan," said Mal.
He further maintained that the Indian government must "first keep its own house in order" and stop the persecution of hundreds of millions of Muslims.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2020.