Hindu Human Rights

[Guest]

<b>Helpless Hindus of Pakistan & Bangladesh </b>

J.G. Arora

jgarora@gmail.com
Organiser
May 31, 2009

<b>It is tragic that though Sanatan Dharma, commonly known as Hinduism,
proclaims universal brotherhood and oneness of humanity, and addresses
entire humanity as divine children (Shrunvantu vishve amrutsya putraha - Rig
Veda: 10-13-1), most of the Hindus have either been killed or converted or
driven out from Pakistan and Bangladesh which used to be Hindu lands. And
those Hindus who are still left in Pakistan and Bangladesh are being treated
with disdain and discrimination; and are being denied even the basic human
rights. </b>

<b>GENOCIDE AND PERSECUTION</b>

Only a few centuries ago, Hindu religion and culture used to reverberate
from Afghanistan to Indonesia. Indian sub-continent including the present
day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and even Zabol in Iran
was Hindu land, and had no Muslim presence till Muhammad bin Qasim’s Arab
army attacked Sindh in 711. After repeated invasions, Hindus lost the
present day Afghanistan to Muslims in 987. And the areas now known as
Pakistan and Bangladesh were lost to Muslims in 1947.

Pakistan comprised of two segments: East Pakistan and West Pakistan. In
1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh, a separate country. Both Pakistan
and Bangladesh have been declared as Islamic republics.

Hindus have always been threatened and discriminated against in Pakistan and
Bangladesh on religious grounds. Though in 1947, Hindus accounted for 24 per
cent of the present day Pakistan’s population, now number less than two
per cent. Situation is equally grave in Bangladesh where Hindus numbered 31
per cent in 1947, but now number nine per cent. Most of the Hindus / Sikhs
have either been driven out, or have been killed or forcibly converted in
Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, in India, the present percentage of Muslim
population is much higher than that in 1947.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have never explained what they have done to their
Hindu population.

Hindus suffer constant threats to their lives, security and property in
Pak-Bangla lands. Many Hindu temples have been desecrated and destroyed in
Pakistan and Bangladesh. There are regular reports of illegal encroachments
on Hindu temples and lands, looting of Hindu property, discrimination,
persecution, molestation and abduction of Hindu girls both in Pakistan and
Bangladesh.

During 1970 and 1971, Hindus in East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) underwent
massive massacres by the Pakistani army and its collaborators. Over two
million Hindus are reported to have been killed in East Pakistan during 1970
and 1971 leading to Indo-Pak war in 1971. Besides, countless Hindu women
were dishonoured and kidnapped during this period.

As per Dr. Sabyasachi Ghosh-Dastidar’s book, EMPIRE’S LAST CASUALTY:
INDIAN SUBCONTINENT’S VANISHING HINDU AND OTHER MINORITIES, over three
million Hindus have been killed in the process of Islamisation in the area
now known as Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) since India was partitioned
in 1947. This loss of three million lives remains suppressed from the world.

Even now, Hindus are facing genocide, terror, persecution, dishonour and
atrocities in Bangladesh every day. And there is selective killing of Hindu
judges, professionals, teachers, lawyers and civil servants in Bangladesh to
smash Hindu resistance.

Human rights organisations like Amnesty International are silent spectators
of this blatant ethnic cleansing of millions of Hindus.

<b>FORCIBLE CONVERSIONS AND MARRIAGES </b>

The alarming trend of Muslims kidnapping young Hindu girls and forcibly
marrying them to Muslims is tormenting Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Though Pak-Bangla media may occasionally report such atrocities, main stream
media in India observes scrupulous silence in this regard. To illustrate the
dismal situation, just one such example is given here. It was reported in
Pakistan’s premier English daily ‘The Dawn’ dated November 3, 2005
that 19 Hindu girls mostly from Punjab Colony, Karachi were missing from
their homes. Relatives of these girls believed that they had been kidnapped
and were being forced to change their religion, the press release added.

Columnist Irfan Husain’s write up entitled “Conversion Losses”
published in The Dawn dated December 3, 2005 relates the tragedy of Hindu
parents in Karachi whose three young daughters Reena, Usha and Rima of
marriageable age vanished in October, 2005. In a few days, the shocked
parents received a courier package containing three identical affidavits
from their daughters stating that they had converted to Islam and,
therefore, could not live with their Hindu parents. And father of the girls
just wailed, “We just sit and stare at each other. For us, life is
over.”

And this hopeless situation can be the fate of any Hindu parent in Pakistan
and Bangladesh.

<b>KIDNAPPINGS AND KILLINGS </b>

Even during the last few months, thousands of Hindus have been forced to
flee Pakistan, and take shelter in India.

Increasing incidents of kidnappings, robberies and forcible conversion have
rattled Hindu community in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Those unable to pay the
ransom are just killed. Hindu film maker Satish Anand’s kidnapping in
Karachi and recent release after payment of a huge ransom is just one of
such countless examples.

In April, 2009 Sikhs in Karzai in Pakistan were targeted to pay fifty
million rupees as Jazia, the tax levied on non-Muslims. As the victims could
not pay the said Jazia, their houses were looted and destroyed.

<b>DISCRIMINATION AND DISPOSSESSION </b>

Discrimination against Hindus is a fact of life as also a fact of law in
Pakistan and Bangladesh.

As per Constitution of Pakistan, only a Muslim can be the President or Prime
Minister of Pakistan. As per Bangladeshi Constitution too, only a Muslim can
be the head of the state.

The Vested Property Act was passed in 1965 as “Enemy Property Act” in
Pakistan. This law legitimized confiscation of Hindu property. After
emergence of Bangladesh in 1971, this Act was renamed as the Vested Property
Act in Bangladesh, and the state was made the owner of the Hindus’
property. This Act has legitimized the forfeiture of millions of acres of
ancestral Hindu lands. And Hindu lands and properties are being taken over
by the government (under the Vested Property Act) to be distributed among
Muslims.

<b>WAY OUT </b>

In 1950, Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan signed an agreement called
the Nehru Liaqat Pact under which both the governments undertook to protect
life, liberty, religion and safety of minorities in each other’s country.

But government in India is doing nothing in the ongoing genocide and
deprivation of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

It is the Indian government’s legal and moral duty to ensure that as per
the Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950, and as per the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Pakistan and Bangladesh treat their minorities
in a human manner. India must also ask Bangladesh to repeal the Vested
Properties Act, and restore the lands and properties of Hindus to Hindus.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights must also be approached to
redeem the situation. Denial of human rights to Hindus violates UN Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.

In Pakistan and Bangladesh, Hindus have only the right to suffer and right
to silence. Shockingly, the tragedy of Hindus of Pakistan and Bangladesh
remains untold by Indian main stream media.

India's callous inaction regarding the pathetic plight of Pak-Bangla Hindus
is disgusting. Killing of Hindus in Pakistan, in Bangladesh or even in India
is not taken seriously by main stream media, by government or by various
political parties or by human rights industry in India.

Is it because for some sections in India, only the terrorists,
anti-nationals and Pak-Bangla infiltrators are entitled to fundamental and
human rights?

<b>Will India ever act to save Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh? </b>