Pak Hindus to boycott Sindh polls

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Pak Hindus to boycott Sindh polls

Islamabad, Dec 8: The process for restoration of democracy has

suffered a blow in the powerful Sindh province as yet another

minority, the Hindu community, has decided to boycott the local

council elections, protesting against the continuation of separate

electorates, a media report said here on Friday.

 

The Hindu community is the second to boycott polls after the

Christians, who decided not to participate in the local council

elections, reports Pakistani weekly The Friday Times.

 

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of all Hindu upper

Sindh convention at Jacobabad, the paper said.

 

Another daily newspaper The News said efforts were being made by the

administration to convince the Hindu panchayat leaders to call off

the boycott of the local bodies poll in Larkana division of the

province.

 

The paper said only seven nomination forms from minority community —

two from Jacobabad, four from Larkana and one from Shikarpur — had

been filed till the last day.

 

A Hindu panchayat leader was quoted by the paper as saying that "it

would be a big blow for the military regime in Pakistan, if it goes

ahead with polls without the participation of minorities".

 

Speaking to The Friday Times Sudham Chand Chawla said, "Why shouldn't

we protest against being treated as fourth class citizens? Under the

electorate system in Pakistan, minorities including Hindus have a

separate electorate.

 

Hindus are a docile community and are generally hounded by

intelligence agencies, especially if they are seen as getting active

politically, The Friday Times said.

 

The history of separate electorate starts from the regime of Zia-Ul-

Haq, who, in 1985 non-party general elections expelled the minorities

from the mainstream on the basis of separate electorates. The weekly

says that "it is a fact that the Hindu community in Sindh faces

innumerable problems. Kidnappings of Hindus for ransom, kidnappings

of Hindu girls, their subsequent conversion and marriages to Muslim

boys, harassment by the agencies are just some of the problems".

 

The paper said these issues are being avoided by the successive

governments despite the press highlighting these issues and the human

rights of Pakistan writing about it year after year.

 

General secretary (minorities wing) of Pakistan People's Party Mehr

Chand is quoted by the weekly as saying "deliberate efforts have been

made to force us to leave the country...We have decided to launch an

effective struggle against discrimination and injustice. What Islam

preaches, the government should practice it". —PTI