Parliamentary Committee on Minorities presents report to President
Zardari

    KARACHI, Sept. 04 (APP): The Parliamentary Committee on
Minorities appointed by the President to look into the grievances of
Hindu community on Tuesday called on President Asif Ali Zardari here at Bilawal House.
    Those, who called on the President included Senator Maula Bux
Chandio, MNA Lal Chand and Senator Hari Ram Kishori Lal.
    The Committee presented a preliminary report to the President on
the grievances of the Hindu community in the country.
    Sindh Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah was also present on the
occasion of report presentation.
    Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar said
that it may be recalled the President had appointed a four-member Committee
comprising Senator Maula Bux Chandio, MNA Lal Chand, Senator Hari
Ram Kishori Lal and Dr. Khatumal Jeewan onAugust 10 to visit various
districts of Sindh and meet the people from Hindu community and
report on their grievances.
    The Committee informed the President about its visits and the
meetings held with members of Hindu community thus far.
    Senator Maula Bux Chandio informed the President that some
Hindus have complained about abduction of their girls and their forcible
conversion to Islam which had caused resentment and sense of
insecurity among them.
     The Committee proposed that a case of abduction should be
registered against the culprits in the future and it should be treated as
abduction until the girl makes a confessional statement before a
court of competent jurisdiction and the court decides otherwise.
     The Committee also briefed the President about some the recent
incidents involving members of the Hindu community. According to its
findings the Immigration Authorities at Lahore stopped the 222
Hindus who were Pakistani citizens from entering India on  August 10, 2012
even though they had valid visit visas for India. However, later on,
after necessary enquiry by FIA and the fact that they all possessed
valid visas, the Hindus pilgrims were allowed to visit India for
Terath Yatra.
     It said that since the Hindus were regularly visiting India for
religious purpose, they protested against the  authorities concerned
for the unusual act of stopping them. The report said that the
incident of Manisha Kumari's conversion to Islam led to protests by
members of the Hindu community and subsequent registration of cases
against 28 Hindus for violation of 144 Cr. PC by the local police in
Jacobabad also added to their grievances. The Committee informed the
President that the two incidents were mixed up and led to misleading
reports about Hindus.
    The President appreciated the Committee for visiting different
areas and preparing a preliminary report on the issues facing the Hindus.
He reiterated the commitment of the Government to provide every
protection to the minorities and to safeguarding their
constitutional rights. He said that no one would be allowed to impose its agenda upon the minorities as it goes against the teachings of Islam and the
fundamental principles of our constitution. The minorities will not
be allowed to be discriminated against and they would be provided full
protection of law, he said.
    The President said that the minorities have every right to
practice their faith freely and it was the responsibility of the Government
to create an enabling environment for them to contribute their share in
the nation-building process.
    On this occasion, the President also recounted various measures
taken for the minorities in the country and said that PPP government is
committed to protecting the rights of the minorities as equal
citizens of the state.
    He advised the Committee to continue working and looking into
the grievances of the minorities and reports of violation of their
rights.
    The President also directed that in case of any untoward
incident impacting the members of minority communities, PPP MNAs and MPAs
should visit the area and seek to redress their grievances.
    The President said that the Government was conscious of the
concern of the minority communities about misuse of certain laws against them. He expressed the hope that the religious leaders, parliamentarians and
members of civil society would deliberate on the issue and recommend
measures to prevent misuse of laws against the minorities.