Pakistani Hindus protest against abduction of community members in Sindh province

Pakistan’s Hindu community members along with people from other faiths have been staging a protest since September 1 over.

The abduction of some members of the minority community by bandits in riverine areas in southern Sindh province’s Kashmore, according to a media report on Monday.

Dr Chand Mahar, the senior vice president of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) minority wing in Sindh and one of the individuals leading the protest, said the demonstration was being staged at Dera More — an area near the Sindh-Punjab border — since Friday last week, Dawn.com reported.

Three members of the Hindu community — identified as Mukhi Jagdish Kumar, Sagar Kumar and Jaideep Kumar — have been in dacoits’ captivity after they were recently intercepted by them, Mahar said.

He added that a Muslim doctor — Munir Naij — had also been held captive for the past 40 days.

Mukhi was a 72-year-old businessman and Jaideep was nine years old, Mahar said, adding that they were kidnapped from Kashmore. Sagar was also abducted from Kashmore city while Naij was kidnapped in Guddu around 40 days back, he said.

Protests over their abduction, as well as increasing incidents of robberies in Sindh, were also held in several other cities in the province on Sunday, with the relatives of the victims demanding their early and safe recovery.

The protesters, including people from all faiths, also demanded an operation by the Army and Rangers against the kidnappers and bandits.

“Everyone is asking us to call off the protest but hostages are still in dacoits’ captivity,” he said, adding that people were “fed up with these kidnappings”.

He said Kashmore Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amjad Sheikh had assured the protesters that the hostages would be recovered soon.

Mahar estimated that around 40 people had been kidnapped by riverine bandits during the last few months. “Some of them were released after the payment of ransom,” he added.

“We are taken as easy prey by dacoits as far as the payment of ransom is concerned. Since most of them (members of the Hindu community) run businesses, they are kidnapped by dacoits,” he said.

Dr Lal Chand Ukrani, president of the PPP’s minority wing in Sindh, voiced similar sentiments. “We (Hindus) are easy targets,” he said. “Muslims are also kidnapped but Hindus are an easy target for ransom.”

He said he had raised the matter with former chief minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah and had been in talks with him over the issue before the end of his tenure “because the law and order situation in upper Sindh is very bad, especially in Kashmore”.

On Sunday, caretaker Sindh Home Minister Haris Nawaz told reporters in Thatta that a plan had been finalised for launching an operation against bandits in the riverine areas of Jacobabad and Shikarpur, and the next phase of the operation would be more result-oriented.