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Stuck Between The Politics Of Oppressive Governments And 'Peace' Activists:
The Plight of Pakistani Hindu Refugees

By Devika Mittal

20 February, 2014
Countercurrents.org

This article is based on the report of a delegation of four students (including myself) who went to meet the Pakistani Hindu Protestors today at Jantar Mantar.

A group of about 100 people are sitting on an indefinite strike on Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. They are organised under a group called Seemant Lok Sanghathan - Universal Just Action Society that has been working for rights of Pak Hindu Migrants since a long time. The head of the organisation, Hindu Singh Sodha, is also a Pakistani Refugees who had migrated in 1970s. While about 100 people were on Jantar Mantar, according to Mr. Sodha, in Rajasthan alone from where they have come, more than one lakh Pakistan Hindu refugees are living. Most of them are farmers and daily wage workers.

According to Mr. Sodha, there have several waves of migration and these are rapidly growing. During the 1971 war, about 90,000 Pakistani Hindus had migrated to India. He stated that Pakistani Hindus are coming with every train. This is because of the treatment that is being meted out to the Hindus in Pakistan. There is an increasing trend of religious fundamentalism and terrorism in Pakistan and in this, the religious minorities have become a soft target. There are incidents of forceful conversions, kidnapping, rapes and killings of Hindus in Pakistan. There is no protecting legislative mechanism in Pakistan so they are forced to migrate.

But even in India, there is no relief for them. Mr. Sodha claimed that unlike in the case of Bangladesh, the migrants are coming with legal documents. They come here on visa but are refusing to go back. But still, there is no support from the Indian Government. There is no refugee policy to enable them a better life in India. He aslo argued that the Foreigners Act is also not applicable to Pakistani nationals due to national security concerns which makes them even more vulnerable. They have several demands from the Indian Government to enable them to live a life of dignity in India.

But what is also equally sad is that there is a tendency amongst the peace activists in India to negate this tragic fact. It is often argued that this is a media fabrication and exggeration. When one talks about the plight of Pakistani Hindus, the counter is to talk about the treatment meted out to religious minorities in India. While there is no denial to the dismal reality of India, this tendency needs to go because this is not helping anyone. Infact, it is only doing much more damage.

There is a need to rise above these barriers of religion, caste and nationality and see each other as human beings. This issue of Pakistani Hindus needs to be taken up not on nationalist or religious grounds but on humanitarian grounds. In this scenario, not just the Pakistan Government but even the Indian Government needs to be criticised for their actions which are opposed to humanity. They need to be criticized not because this is the case of Pakistani Hindus but of human beings.

Devika Mittal is pursuing her M.Phil in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics. She is the convenor of Aaghaz-e-Dosti, an Indo-Pak friendship initiative.

 



 

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