KARACHI: The Pakistan Hindu Council together with the Minority Alliance Party, Sindh Civil Society Forum, Masih Youth Organisation, Piler and Centre for Peace and Development held a protest demonstration and sit-in for the religious minorities’ rights at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

People chanted slogans demanding justice for the Hindus and Christians being killed and meted out injustices. The banners with depressing pictures of the victims read messages such as ‘Stop killing in Sindh’, ‘Catch the murderers of Ashok and Heera Lal’, ‘Stop killing of non-Muslims’, ‘No discrimination against Dalits’, ‘Stop conspiracy of forced migration of Sindhi Hindus from Sindh’, etc.

PTI MNA Lal Mahli said that they wanted justice for the two brothers, Heera Lal and Ashok Kumar, murdered in Umerkot. The brothers were returning home after closing their shop and were mugged on the way. On resistance from them, the robbers shot and killed both of them.

“We demand their killers be arrested,” said the MNA. “The Constitution of Pakistan mentions minority rights but no one recognises our rights. Our people are murdered and we are not even allowed to mourn their deaths and ask for justice. The people in power give us false hope. They don’t do anything for us, really,” he highlighted his grievance.

“We have been living with Muslims all these years and there has never been any problem until 10 years ago. Suddenly members of the Hindu community are being kidnapped for ransom, and are even being killed. We also know that the police is involved in all these crimes but no one does anything about it,” he said.

PML-N Minorities MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Wakwani said the minorities in Sindh were facing too many issues including killings and attacks on their places of worship. “I have approached the Supreme Court, too, about this but after the 18th Amendment all the provinces’ issues are to be taken care of within the province, so we have been protesting. We protested the two murders in Umerkot. And after the protests we were told by some senior PPP representatives that they would form a committee and start an inquiry into the killings. But they didn’t follow up on that,” he said.

President of the Pakistan Hindu Council Chela Ram Kewlani said the people had come all the way from Umerkot and Hyderabad to Karachi with a heavy heart. “We want justice for our two brothers shot dead in Umerkot. We want justice for our kidnapped little sisters, who are forcibly converted to Islam,” he said.

“The Hindus of Sindh, some of whom are poor haris and farmers and some businessmen, have always minded their own business here. We have remained major contributors to this country’s economy. But we are asking for nothing in return other than basic human rights. It’s not a big demand. If we are denied basic human rights, please tell us where do we go then? Do you want us to leave our homeland? We may do that if we are left with no choice but do know this that then you may yourselves become members of the minority communities.”

Michael Javaid, former MPA and chairman of Minorities Alliance Party, regretted that the minorities no longer felt safe in the country so they were migrating. “The disheartened Hindus are leaving Sindh to go to India and the Christians from Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Faisalabad and Gujranwala are taking asylum in Canada, America and Europe,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2014