Daily Times

Sindh is home to the majority of our Hindu community that makes up less than three percent of the total population of Pakistan. The Hindus, like all citizens, deserve the protection of not only their basic rights but also their right to live, the safeguarding of which is the legal and moral responsibility of the government. On the eve of Eid, four doctors were killed, three of whom were brothers, allegedly in a dispute over a dancing girl who was brought to the area of Shikarpur by Hindu boys about three days prior to Eid. The conflict between the Hindus and the Muslim Bhayo community had been brewing for quite some time. However, while the full details of the incident and the motive behind it are still being investigated, it seems a bit early and a bit naive to conclude that the killings were perpetrated as merely a quarrel over a dancing girl. The situation may not be as straightforward as narrated, especially when the Hindus have often been subjected to religious acrimony and injustice by Muslim extremists who categorise non-Muslims as perpetual enemies and never acknowledge, let alone respect, their status as equal citizens of Pakistan regardless of their religious affiliation, a principle we are taught to respect by our constitution and Islam. For a long time, the Hindu community has been the victim of discrimination and persecution in the province of Sindh. With the growing incidence of kidnappings and abductions of young girls, forced conversions to Islam and premeditated murders, the Hindus in Sindh have every reason to worry. These acts of continual persecution have often been turned a blind eye to by the authorities concerned, and so the Hindu community continues to live in a state of fear and insecurity.

While the president and the prime minister have taken notice of this tragic incident and demanded an inquiry into the matter, as per the standard procedure, the importance of recognising the gravity of the situation cannot be highlighted enough. The government must take immediate steps to ensure the protection of all minorities in the country and provide them with all the rights that they are entitled to as equal citizens of Pakistan. The longstanding issue of religious intolerance must be dealt with with a firm hand and vehemently condemned. *