LARKANA: Distancing themselves from the Hindu Panchyat Committee (HPC), members of the Sikh, Harijan, Oad, Bheel and Bagri communities in Larkana district on Monday founded their own forum to plead for their legitimate rights.

Making an announcement at a press conference in the local press club, chairman of the new forum — Hindu Panchayati Rabita Forum (HPRF) — Dr Mahesh Kumar Oad and general secretary Lashman Dad Bagri along with other office-bearers said that the HPC represented only Hindus and neglected the other minority communities.

They said they felt the need for a separate forum because the Sikh, Harijan, Oad, Bheel and Bagri communities were not getting their due share in job quota, development schemes for minorities, construction and repair of worship places and graveyards and other facilities being extended to them by the government.

The neglect on the part of the HPC had created resentment among the non-Hindu minorities and had now heightened. They said they wanted equality among all Sikh and Hindu sub-castes to be ensured and all of them should equally benefit from the facilities and concessions meant exclusively for minorities.

The HPRF leaders urged all the authorities concerned to channelise such facilities and concessions through the new forum so as to arrest the growing sense of insecurity in the component communities of the forum.

They said that the decision to dissociate themselves from the HPC was taken after a thorough debate on various issues concerning the Sikh and Hindu sub-castes.

HPC meeting

In a separate development, the Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot chapters of the HPC met here on Monday to discuss the issues arising out of what were described as “excesses” by MNA Ramesh Lal.

The meeting was informed that the MNA had implicated certain members of the Hindu community in false cases and was also committing excesses with other community members.

Kalpna Devi and Seth Santosh Kumar, the chairpersons of the Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot HPC chapters, respectively, along with other office-bearers attended the meeting.

They criticised MNA Ramesh Lal for getting a “false FIR” lodged against Maharaj Ramesh Kumar, who was later sent to jail. They alleged that the MNA used to disrespect community members and distribute funds among undeserving people.

The meeting appealed to Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to take notice of the MNA’s attitude and activities and spare time for a meeting with an HPC delegation to discuss and sort out the issue.

Migration over insecurity

BADIN: Frightened by the murder of one of their relatives by armed robbers more than a week ago, four families belonging to the Hindu community said on Monday that they were in the process of leaving for India on a “pilgrimage visa”, our Badin correspondent reports.

Residents of Tando Ghulam Ali, the families told the media that their relative, Seth Bhojo Mal, a trader, was shot dead by armed men who also robbed him of Rs600,000 some 12 days back.

His son, Shaman Das, and other relatives, including Sunil Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Bhero Lal, Teejal Das and Mukhi Jeewat Ram, said that the area police had failed to arrest the culprits so far.

Therefore, they said, they felt insecure and decided to migrate to India after winding up their businesses in Sindh.

Meanwhile, representatives of the minority communities in the district who are in touch with the police have expressed their satisfaction over the progress of the investigation into the case.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play