The arrival of 479 Pakistani Hindus in India seeking asylum, reveals a little-reported humanitarian situation on the sub-continent that has its origins in the partition of the two countries 66 years ago.
In 1947 at the insistence of Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the western states of British India were split away to form mainly Muslim Pakistan. The divide resulted in massive dislocation at the time as millions of the ‘wrong’ religion on either side of the new border became refugees in order to escape persecution.
Spasmodic atrocities have continued ever since, but the sheer weight of Muslim numbers left in India (it is not widely known that India holds the world’s second largest Muslim community after Indonesia) has been a source of some protection.
Not so with the Hindus in Pakistan. While Hindus made up 22 per cent of the population in 1951, that number has shrunk to two per cent today. At the time of partition Jinnah promised the Hindu minority they would be “free to practice their religion, free to visit their temples”. In fact most of those temples have been destroyed during sectarian disturbances or forcibly converted to other uses and Hindus live in perpetual fear of persecution and worse.
Elections in Pakistan inevitably lead to upsurges in violence and with one pending next month it is not surprising that the latest batch of refugees has crossed the border.
Their spokesman, a farmer who gave his name as Dharamyeer, said he would rather die than return to Pakistan.
“Hindus are not safe there. Our daughters are abducted and forced to convert. We can’t cremate our dead as Pakistanis tell us we must bury them instead,” he said.
“We want Indian citizenship so that at least we can die here peacefully.”
So far that has not been granted with the Indian Government threatening to deport them now their visas have expired. However, after widespread publicity and sympathy for their plight, a one month’s extension has been granted. This may give them time to complete the legal formalities required for citizenship applications.
Thank you Graham for another enlightening article on South Asia. It continues to sadden me that religions in today's world are fostering as much suffering and hatred as they have in the past, although the religions in question have changed.
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