Pakistan

For Balochistan’s Hindus, there is a silver lining

Kumar denies that members of the Hindu community are migrating from the province due to security concerns.

Mohammad Zafar March 30, 2013

Local Hindus and Sikhs are integrated into their respective tribes and are not socially isolated. PHOTO: FILE

QUETTA:

Barring major cities, the majority of Balochistan remains a tribal society where the sardar is the master of all he surveys. It is not a one-sided relationship, and just as the people of his area owe him allegiance, so too must he also offer his protection to the members of his tribe.

And because tribal affiliations trump religious differences, it turns out that Balochistan’s tribal religious minorities are offered perhaps a greater measure of protection than in other parts of the country.

For one thing, local Hindus and Sikhs are integrated into their respective tribes and are not socially isolated. In fact, it is difficult for non-locals to even identify someone on the basis of religion within a particular tribe.

Here, instances of injustice committed against minorities are considered attacks upon the tribe itself, and are not taken lightly by most sardars.

According to the Balochistan Hindu Panchayat’s senior vice president Raj Kumar, over 100,000 Hindus live in different parts of Balochistan. Most of these are based in Quetta.

Sitting in his shop in Quetta, Kumar talks about how Baloch Hindus have been living in Pakistan for many centuries, and enjoy equal rights.

“If we have problems, the Baloch tribes are with us. In dangerous situations, we just call them and they stand by us. We live like brothers,” he says.

Despite this, there have been cases in which Hindus have been kidnapped and even killed. Still, many Hindus believe that the recently targeted actions against religious minorities are the work of criminal gangs enjoying the support of state functionaries.

Kumar also denies that members of the Hindu community are migrating from the province due to security concerns. “Only 20 Hindu families from different parts of Balochistan went to other countries in search of a better future,” he says.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2013.