A passenger train from Pakistan’s economic hub Karachi to Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta was stopped at Jacobabad and refused entry into Balochistan province after threats of a targetted attack and hijacking prompted security concerns.

The Bolan Mail train carrying about 150 passengers was stopped in Sindh province’s Jacobabad city, where passengers were offloaded and the train refused entry into Balochistan during early hours of Monday.

As per details, the passenger train departed from Karachi and reached Jacobabad post midnight. The train was stopped at the railway station where Pakistan Railway authorities were informed that further movement would not be allowed until security clearance was given. The train was carrying many government officials, security personnel along with their families.

Security sources stated that the intelligence agencies issued a threat alert of a planned hijacking attempt and attack on the train, similar to the Jaffar Express train hijacking that took place on March 11.

This resulted in refusal to allow the train to enter into Balochistan and offloading of passengers in Jacobabad. Majority of the passengers were moved to Sibbi, from where they used local transport services to return to Karachi. Pakistan Railway authorities charged passengers the fare from Karachi to Jacobabad and refunded the extra amount that was charged for the journey till Quetta.

The sudden decision to offload passengers at Jacobabad left many passengers stranded at the railway station with no water or electricity. Reportedly, some children also fainted due to the scorching heat and non-availability of water at the station.

“The hours-long stoppage of the Quetta-bound Bolan Mail was due to security reasons as train operations were not allowed in Balochistan during night-time. The train was carrying about 150 passengers,” said Pakistan Railway Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amir Ali Baloch. “The train’s onward journey was suspended, and passengers were sent to Quetta and other destinations via buses under strict security measures,” he added.

Train routes to Balochistan have been suspended since March 11 when militants of the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacked and hijacked Jaffar Express passenger train at the Bolan pass in Balochistan, taking about 400 passengers as hostages. This resulted in a 48-hour standoff between the militants and the security forces. As many as 346 passengers were rescued, 21 lost their lives and 33 BLA militants were killed during the counteroffensive operation.

–IANS

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In a heartbreaking incident in Pakistan’s Islamkot area, two Hindu girls, Hema (15) and Venti (17), were found hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Babuhar Hingorja village in Tharparkar. The incident has caused widespread outrage and fear among the local Hindu community, who continue to face persecution and threats.

According to the victims’ family, the sisters had gone to work in the fields while others were occupied with household tasks. Shortly afterward, news emerged of their deaths. The parents informed police that both girls suffered from mental health issues, and another sister had died by suicide four years ago. Villagers described the family as isolated and noted the girls were reportedly engaged two years ago, with no known disputes involving the family.

The tragedy has reignited concerns over the dire conditions faced by Pakistan’s minorities, with many calling for stronger global action. 

AP Dy CM Pawan Kalyan Condemns Incident

Responding to the incident, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan expressed grief on social media, saying, “It pains a lot to see our Hindu sisters in Pakistan going through such atrocities and losing their lives. Every time I see such news about the plight of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh, it pains me deeply. I pray for Hema and Venti’s departed souls with tears.”

His comments followed a post by Insight UK, which criticized international bodies like the UNHRC for failing to address the safety and rights of minorities in Pakistan.

It pains a lot to see,our Hindu sisters in Pakistan going through such atrocities and losing their lives.

Every time I see such news about the plight of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh, it pains me deeply. I pray for Hema and Venti’s departed souls with tears. https://t.co/0Py2VYuGJ1

— Pawan Kalyan (@PawanKalyan) November 17, 2024

Hindus In Pakistan In Grave Danger

Hindus living in Pakistan face danger from their Islamist countrymen who are said to force them to convert through forced marriages of underage girls or just pressurizing them every single day. These suicides are a daily occurrence in the country where the number of Hindus is dwindling by the day.

In 2023, Reeta Kohli also reported as Reeta Meghwar, was abducted in Sindh two months ago by Ashiq Ahmadani. She was coerced into converting to Islam and forced to marry a much older Muslim man. After escaping and seeking refuge at a police station, Reeta pleaded in court to reunite with her parents. However, the court placed her in a shelter home against her will, prompting criticism from activists who called the decision unconstitutional and demanded her release.

Reeta Kohli expressed her desire to go with her parents, but the court, despite her statement, decided to send her to safe house.
She was in tears and protested in court, adamantly stating that she didn't want to go to safe house but rather wanted to live with her parents. 1/2 https://t.co/lRsMHT3RwJ pic.twitter.com/kXsbnISYMg

— The Rise News (@Therisenews_) October 17, 2023

Around the same time, an 11-year-old Hindu girl from Sindh’s Umerkot district was abducted by 28-year-old Azim Ghumrani. This region is infamous for the abduction, rape, and forced conversion of minority Hindu girls, further illustrating the dire conditions faced by non-Muslims in Pakistan.

In 2021, in Sindh, Pakistan, 60 impoverished Dalit Hindus reportedly converted to Islam under pressure, seeking freedom from bonded labor, debt, and fear of molestation. A viral video shows a cleric leading the conversion. While some allege coercion, Pakistani Hindu MNA Ramesh Kumar Vankwani denied it, attributing motives to religious interest or financial gain.

In 2021 in Sindh, a 12-year-old girl Rekha Kohli was abducted by 60-year-old Muhammad Hanif Bozdar who already had a family. After the abduction, Rekha was forcibly converted to Islam and married to the abductor.

In 2020, a Hindu temple was vandalized in the Kario Bhanwar region of Sindh in Imran Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan’. The temple which is dedicated to Lord Ram was razed down by local Islamists.

In a similar incident that happened the same year, an entire village of Hindus in Bhawalpur had been mindlessly demolished under the watch of Pakistan’s Housing Minister Tariq Basheer Cheema who belongs to the Imran Khan-led government.

(With inputs from ABP News)

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I wholeheartedly endorse BCCI’s refusal to tour Pakistan for the upcoming Champion’s Trophy, which will be held there in 2025. I will go a step further and urge a complete boycott of Pakistan Cricket.

Let me break it down for those still wondering what is wrong with India going to Pakistan to play in the Champion’s Trophy. It is no longer a secret that cricket stopped being a gentleman’s game in Pakistan, especially in the last two decades. Under the influence of the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ), the game has become a medium to promote radical religious ideologies. Pakistan Cricket team players see the sport as a way to influence non-Muslims to convert to Islam and establish the nation’s image as an Islamic power. 

Most importantly, Pakistan Cricket players see the game as a way of waging “Jihad” against India and establishing the “victory of Muslims all over the world over Hindus”.

The Jamaat’s grip on the “Shaheens” has been well-known for some time. They made mandatory the display of Islamic symbols in the dressing rooms, namaz for players, and starting every response in front of cameras with “Thanks to Allah almighty”. Cricketers like Danish Kaneria, who didn’t follow the mandate, were conveniently sidelined, and those who bent to the diktat, like Yousuf Yohanna, were allowed to keep their place. 

How did this radicalisation begin in Pakistan Cricket?

It isn’t as if religious bigotry among Pakistani cricket players was uncommon before the 2000s.

In a 2009 article titled ‘Of Cricket and Other Demons’ in the Pakistani daily Dawn, Nadeem F. Paracha writes that the indoctrination process was set relatively early in society. He argues that the sixth president of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq, decided to radicalise the society so that he could efficiently recruit cheap cannon fodder for the ‘jihad’ in Afghanistan. Paracha writes:

“With the ‘Afghan jihad’ raging against the former Soviet Union, Zia (ul-Haq), his intelligence agencies, and parties like Jamat-i-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam started embracing a narrow and highly political version of Islam… Most Pakistanis were historically related to the mazaar and Sufi traditions of the subcontinent and, thus, were least suitable to fight a ‘jihad’ that Zia was planning to peddle in Afghanistan. 

Their beliefs were incompatible with Zia or, for that matter, with the late Abul Ala Maududi and Syed Qutb’s versions of Political Islam. To compensate for this ideological ‘deficiency’, the Zia regime sprang up indoctrination centres in the shape of thousands of madrassas. Almost all of them were handed over to radical puritans. These were preachers and ‘scholars’ who had become critical of the strains of faith most Pakistanis adhered to. Accusing these strains of being ‘adulterated’, they fell instead for the assertive charms of the Political Islam.”  

Even though the stars of Pakistani cricket back then didn’t display their religion publicly, they were the generation bred on Zia’s radical notions. They were just as zealous in their views about ‘jihad’ for Kashmir or the indoctrination of non-muslims.

The former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy, recalled meeting Imran Khan when he was the captain of the Pakistan cricket team.

“I first met Imran Khan in 1982 during the tour of the Indian team led by Sunil Gavaskar to Pakistan. We lost the series badly. A Pakistani journalist told me that when he asked Imran how he bowls such fire against India, he said, ‘Whenever I play against India, I don’t treat it as a game. I think of Kashmir and treat it as a jihad’,” he wrote.

In 1978, after his team’s victory against India in a test series, the then Pakistani captain Mushtaq Mohammed went on record saying it was the “victory of Muslims all over the world over Hindus.”

Things took a real turn for the worse in 2001 when the Pakistan Cricket team’s opening batsman, Saeed Anwar, lost his three-year-old daughter, Bismah, after a prolonged illness. He sought solace in religion.

“That is when the volunteers of the Tablighi Jamaat took his hand. They consoled him, guiding him towards the Quran to seek solace in its verses and read up on the companions of the Prophet who had to endure untold hardships. Over time, Anwar came to terms with his grief, finding succour in Surah Al-Imran’s verse 185: ‘He who has taken a breath shall taste death too.’ He was a changed man. Gone was the swagger and worldly attitude. He grew a beard, began to pray five times a day and took it upon himself to explain life’s larger purpose to his teammates. He became a regular at Tablighi Jamaat gatherings, becoming a powerful speaker. When he spoke, people listened in rapt attention. Soon, he came to be seen as the Tabligh’s most important ‘face’ in the country.”

These are excerpts from ‘Inside the Tablighi Jamaat’ by Ziya Us Salam as he provides an inside view of the organisation and its various aspects, especially in the sub-continent.

What is Tablighi Jamaat?

Tablighi Jamaat (The Society of Preachers) is a supremacist Deobandi Islamic missionary group with footprints in over 150 countries. It shares the same goals as the Salafis, Wahhabis and other Islamist movements, i.e., Dar al Islam and establishing a global Caliphate.

TJ focuses on encouraging Muslims to return to practising their religion as it was during the time of their Prophet and give dawah (invitation to convert) to non-Muslims. Members consider music haram, and women observe strict purdah. 

Not too long ago, Aamir Khan posed happily with Tariq Jameel, easily the most recognisable face of the organisation headquartered in New Delhi. The organisation takes converts as far as possible from their native non-Muslim roots in the name of “Islamic revivalism.” Even the most elite members of the community in India support it.

They like to work quietly and were primarily unheard of by many Indians until 2020, when a TJ congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz Mosque became a COVID-19 super-spreader event. There were more than 4,000 confirmed cases and at least 27 deaths linked to the event reported across the country.

Consequences of Tablighi Jamaat Influence

Once Anwar began preaching, he became a mouthpiece of Tablighi Jamaat’s ideals. Once, he even said, “All 6 Billion non-Muslims will burn in hell. Let’s save them by converting them to Islam.”

He could significantly influence other players, especially Inzamam-ul-Haq, who admired his captain’s batting skills. Haq, otherwise known to be a mild-mannered and pleasant person, used to get agitated if anyone criticised Tablighi Jamaat. His ideas trickled down to other members when he took over the captaincy in 2004. 

Soon enough, bowlers Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq were seen sporting Tablighi Jamaat-mandated beards and started sharing things of faith with others. Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar followed in their footsteps and joined the organisation. He was even seen sermonising, though, without the mandatory beard.

The Islamization of the ‘Men in Green’ became apparent on the field and off-the-field media interactions, too. Haq started using “Bismillah (In the name of Allah)” before all his soundbites and speeches. Players would often pray on the ground before the match. There would be reports of batsmen cramping up because of Ramzan fasting during games.

The dressing room soon became a hub for a conversion racket led by Haq. Check out posts by ‘Pakistan Untold’, where he brags about his attempts at converting other professional players.

While touring in a plane between cities during the 2007 World Cup, Haq reportedly ordered all the players to stand up and say their prayers in the jet’s aisle, even when asked by the cabin crew to remain seated.

In an interview, he proudly shared that batsman Yusuf had even tried to convert Brian Lara to Islam during the Karachi Test match after inviting him for a ‘da’wa’.

Being a Non-Muslim in Pakistan Cricket

This muggy control wielded by Tablighi Jamaat had crushing effects on the non-Muslim team members. 

Anwar’s ideas prompted Yousuf Youhana, the only Christian member of the team, to convert to Islam in 2005 and be known as Mohammad Yousuf. Much like other neo-converts, Yousuf was staunch in his beliefs. He reportedly talked about the genocide of non-muslims in Pakistan. 

Yousuf said, “If Pakistani Muslims start living as per Islam, there will be no non-Muslims left in Pakistan.” 

He had also said, “No non-Muslim can enter Jannat ever. But Allah will send even the worst criminal Muslim to Jannat.”

Instead of calling out his bigotry, his team members encouraged him further. Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq claimed that Yousuf’s average doubled because he started following Islam.

On the other hand, Danish Kaneria, the only Hindu player in the team, resisted these ideas and faced the consequences. In a candid admission of Hinduphobia within the team, Shoaib Akhtar spoke about how his teammates maltreated Kaneria over religion.

Without naming the captain, Akhtar also said that Kaneria wasn’t even allowed to pick up food from the same table as others because of his faith.

“Captain would raise eyebrows about him eating with us or taking the food from the same table. I told him you could be the captain, but your conduct is despicable. This guy (Kaneria) is chalking up so many wickets to win matches for us, and you’re treating him like this,” Shoaib Akhtar spoke on a cricket show titled ‘Game on Hai’ on PTV.

The treatment of minorities in the Pakistan team wasn’t a widely reported issue in the local or international press. However, one tragic incident in 2007 opened many cans of worms over TJ’s influence over the team. 

Many eyebrows were raised when the team’s coach, Bob Woolmer, was found dead in his room after Pakistan’s embarrassing performance in the 2007 World Cup. The India-born Woolmer was worried about the players’ decline in performance. He attributed this descent to TJ’s growing influence on some cricketers and their consequent indifference to training.

By then, Woolmer and Haq had professional differences in coaching and training methods. Haq led his team to believe that they could win simply by praying. TJ preachers would be allowed to meet players in the hotels during tours, and during such visits, Haq and his men would entirely ignore Woolmer and his instructions.

More than the team’s show of religious affinity, what bothered Woolmer was how Haq gained discipline and submission from the players. This obedience was not on adherence to a professional order but on a follow-or-perish-in-hell code of conduct based on TJ ideals.

On 18 March 2007, Woolmer died suddenly in Jamaica, just a few hours after the Pakistan team’s unexpected elimination at the hands of Ireland in the World Cup. Shortly afterwards, Jamaican police announced that they opened a murder investigation into the case. In November, a jury in Jamaica recorded an open verdict on his death.

The Aftermath

Pakistan Cricket team continues to be a highly radicalised organisation using a radicalised version of the faith to indoctrinate others. 

Sporting wins against Team India are now seen as a form of jihad by not just the team but also by Pakistani media and political leaders.

After the team won a T20I match by ten wickets for the first time, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed claimed that all Muslims worldwide, including Indian Muslims, had supported Pakistan during the match. “Pakistan’s triumph against India is a victory of Islam. All Muslims worldwide are rejoicing,” he said in a video on Twitter.

He refused to make such boisterous claims when the New Zealand cricket team called off its Pakistan tour minutes before the first match was due to begin in Rawalpindi, citing security concerns.

Spewing rabid hatred against the Hindus continues to be applauded in the Pakistani media. Former captain and pacer Waqar Younis even said his favourite moment of the match was when Mohammed Rizwan offered namaz on the ground in front of Hindus.

Shahid Afridi boasted about breaking a TV set at home after he saw his young daughter imitate aarti after watching a Star Plus soap. The audience clapped for Afridi’s parenting choices. 

In another interview, he said, “They (Hindus in India) can never have large or pure hearts like what Allah has given to us Muslims”.

In an interview, Shoaib Akhtar casually talked about Ghazwa-e-Hind, attacking Kashmir and the rest of India to establish an empire from Attock to Cuttack. The interviewer kept smiling at those comments.

Pakistani cricketers weren’t allowed to participate in the 2010 IPL auction over their government’s inaction over the 26/11 Mumbai terror accused. On a TV show discussion on this BCCI decision, batsman Sohail Tanvir announced, “Hinduon ki zahaniyat hi aisi hai” (Hindus have such nature (back stabbers)’ The hostess responded with “muh mein Ram, bagal mein churi” (Hindus will stab anyone’s back with a knife while chanting the name of Ram). They received good applause from the audience.

Derisively labelling anyone practising Sanatan Dharma as “Hindu Banya” is a common practice in Pakistan. To them, the Hindu is a cunning businessman, unlike the Pakistani Muslim. How this stereotype percolated across the border into Bollywood is, perhaps, a subject for another day.

Pakistani cricketers are so obsessed with spreading Islam that they even support the Taliban and ISIS. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they slaughtered many Afghans. To this barbaric act, Afridi took a proud stand, saying, “Taliban love cricket. The Taliban has brought positivity to the world. Taliban are women rights champions.”

Perhaps the Pakistan team will always walk into the ground to wage ‘cricket jihad’ instead of playing professional cricket. In that case, it may be high time for the ICC and BCCI to decide if the team should be allowed to play any future games with other professional bodies.

In Conclusion

Lastly, I am not naive enough to believe that this plague of radicalisation is limited to the Pakistan cricket team alone.

We would be wise to remember that Pakistani cricket’s radicalisation is just a microcosm of its wider society. There is no reason to believe that its tennis, kabaddi, athletic, or hockey teams do not breed such radical elements. In the best interest of all national sporting talents, the government should boycott all interactions with any Pakistani sports body. 

Jayasri Viswanathan is a journalist and columnist. 

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While the world observed Children’s Day yesterday, a 11-yr-old Hindu boy was sexually assaulted and murdered in Pakistan’s Sindh, reports the Express Tribune.

According to his family members, Kaana Sachdev’s body was found in an abandoned house in Babarloi in the Khairpur Mir area, after he went missing on Friday evening.

“The entire family was busy in Guru Nanak’s birthday events. We do not know how the child went missing. He was found dead in the house at 11 pm. He was a grade five student and was born in 2011,” Raj Kumar, a relative of the child was quoted saying in the Express Tribune.

“We have arrested two men, one of whom has confessed to the crime,” said the SHO of the Babarloi police station who also added that the boy was strangled to death before the culprits sexually assaulted him.

Soon after the incident, the body was shifted to Civil Hospital, Sukkur for postmortem examination, by the Police and the local representatives of the Child Protection authority.

Zubair Mahar of Child Protection Authority, Sukkur said that the minor’s body also had torture marks. He added that this was the second such incident in the last two weeks.

“A short while ago, a minor girl from the Hindu community in Saleh Pat, Sukkur district, went missing. The police have also announced Rs 2.5 million reward for her recovery, but it has all been in vain,” he said.

Such cases of sexual violence against children have gone up in Pakistan. Earlier this week Rawalpindi police arrested a school teacher suspected of sexually abusing a 7-yr-old girl at school.

(With inputs from Deccan Herald)

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After the Pakistani Army supported the Taliban to take over Afghanistan to fulfill its long-held desire for strategic depth, a major power struggle has developed between Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Faiz Hameed.

As per news reports, Gen Bajwa – who had appointed Hameed as the head of the ISI – is now trying to remove him from his post. But Gen Bajwa has not been successful due to the strong influence of the Pakistani spy agency, which practically nourished the Taliban.

“Over the years, ISI have nurtured and taken care of Taliban leaders and used them to run their interest and operations inside Afghanistan. Now, when the Taliban are in government, the Pakistan Army also wants to influence the decisions there, which is being resisted by the ISI,” sources told India Today.

The ISI has strong links with Haqqani Network, which even the Taliban leaders like Mullah Baradar consider more radical as they do not want an inclusive government and now occupy strong positions in the new Afghanistan government.

When the Afghan government fell and Ashraf Ghani fled the country, to help the Taliban form the new government and ensure various factions and their leaders who lived in the ISI safe houses in Peshawar and Quetta got along, Faiz Hameed travelled to Kabul to take charge.

However, this action was not well received by the Pakistan Army chief Gen Bajwa, who considered it as an act of insubordination. But the fact of the matter is, Bajwa was also interested in trying to push his agenda there, and Faiz Hameed has not allowed it to happen.

Now the constant interference by the Pakistan army to help form the new Afghanistan government has also resulted in fissures inside the Taliban, particularly among supporters of Mullah Baradar because they feel Baradar and Baitullah Akhunzada have been sidelined.

Due to the constant interference by Pakistan, there is now a strong possibility of a civil war in Afghanistan as it happened after the Soviet Union left in 1989. Now the situation is such that there is disagreement on every decision that is being made, leading to governance paralysis.

There are also reports that the ISI wants a share of the money or aid that Afghans may receive from western nations.

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During a news broadcast, one of the leaders of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has admitted to the Pakistan military’s close ties with the Taliban and how the Taliban will get in Kashmir.

During an on-air television show, Neelam Irshad Sheikh, a senior leader of the Imran Khan-led PTI government, openly admitted the Pakistan military’s close ties with the Taliban. He added that the Taliban will win Kashmir and hand it over to Pakistan.

“The Taliban are saying that they are with us and they will help us in Kashmir,” Sheikh said during the show.

Pak PM Imran Khan’s close aide & his party spokeswoman Neelam Irshad Sheikh saying-“Taliban has agreed to support Pak Army to liberate Kashmir” @ImranKhanPTI Kashmir is little far ..before that Taliban will break Pakistan.@OfficialDGISPR Why don’t you try to liberate Kashmir pic.twitter.com/ojVrMAtkvr

— Major Surendra Poonia (@MajorPoonia) August 24, 2021

The news host, alarmed by the PTI leader’s statement, said, “Do you realise what you’ve said, Madam? You are completely unaware of what you have said. For God’s sake ma’am, this show will be broadcast all over the world. In India, this will be seen.”

However, Sheikh was unconcerned of any blowback and continued, “Taliban will help us because they have been mistreated.”

The elected Afghan government has always maintained that Pakistan and its intelligence arm have supported the Taliban by providing them with sanctuary, training, and logistics support.

It must also be noted that Imran Khan – popularly known as ‘Taliban’ Khan – said that the Taliban have broken the “shackles of slavery” when it captured Kabul last week. 

When the Taliban took power in 1996, Pakistan along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recognised this puritanical Islamic regime and gave aid and support. However, a lot has changed in the last twenty years and it remains to be seen how the oil-rich Arab kingdom and the Emirates deal with the new regime in Afghanistan.

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In an unprecedented event, the Lahore High Court came down heavily on the Pakistan army by calling it the “biggest land grabber”. It said that the job of the Pakistan army is to serve the nation and not to “rule as a king”, reports The Times of India.

This observation was made by Lahore High Court’s Chief Justice Mohammad Qasim Khan. However, Khan also said that he does not want to say anything wrong about the Pakistan Army but its method of forcefully occupying properties of the people is nothing but land grabbing.

The Lahore High Court made strong observations after hearing petitions of three Pakistani nationals seeking an order against the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) to not disturb their lawful possession of the land.

The DHA functions under the army along with several other business ventures under the Fauji Foundation, which is a business conglomerate.

What is even more shocking is that the Pakistan Army had the gall to grab a piece of land owned by the Lahore High Court and Justice Khan instructed the court’s registrar to write a letter to the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa in this regard.

Such judgements from any Pakistani courts against the army is practically unheard of because the de facto ruler of Pakistan is the army and the civilian government of Prime Minister Imran Khan are just for show.

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In yet another instance of the brutal persecution of Hindus in Pakistan, a minor Hindu girl was abducted and raped by a 60-year-old Muslim man.

The victim has been identified as 12-year old Rekha, daughter of Roopo Kolhi of Khipro, Sanghar in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Her abductor is allegedly Muhammad Hanif Bozdar, a 60-year old who is already married and has three children.

According to reports, Rekha has already been forcefully been converted to Islam and has married her abductor. Rekha, born in 2009, was studying in class 6 before her abduction.

Pakistani human rights activist Rahat Austin, who is currently on a self-imposed exile in South Korea, points out that the rape of non-Muslim women is “considered a religious obligation” in Pakistan’s society and is carried out with impunity, with no fear of punishment and backlash.

https://twitter.com/johnaustin47/status/1385536417896419332

The abduction, rape, forced conversion and marriage of minor Hindu girls is a frequent occurrence in Muslim-majority Pakistan. Reports show that on average, three non-Muslim girls are abducted in the country everyday. Only a tiny fraction of such cases even get reported. As victims’ families are typically poor and exploited, they often lack the wherewithal and the resources to file a police complaint in Pakistan’s deeply feudal and fanatical society.

In the odd instance when the police and authorities do acknowledge the crime, a set template follows: girls are quickly whisked away to Islamic seminaries like the Sufi Bharchundi dargah run by the notorious Mian Mithoo or to Punjab province (where age of marriage is 16); the terrified girl is made to sign conversion and marriage papers and a court affidavit stating she is acting of her own will; sometimes courts may send the girl to a shelter home, but even there she is not allowed to meet her family and is threatened with dire consequences for herself and her family by abductors; on the day of recording her statement in front of the judge, she is accompanied by gun-toting militias while her parents are kept away.

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Two Christian nurses have been charged with blasphemy in the Punjab province of Pakistan, following a complaint by hospital authorities, police said. Locals and employees of the hospital where the nurses work also staged demonstrations against the duo demanding strict action against them.

According to the police, an FIR has been registered against the two nurses, Mariyum Lal and Newish Arooj, working in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Faisalabad, on Friday, based on a complaint filed by Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr. Mohammad Ali.

In Pakistan, false accusations of blasphemy are widespread and often motivated by personal vendettas or religious hatred of minorities like Hindus or Christians. Accusations are highly inflammatory and have the potential to spark mob lynching.

The nurses are accused of removing the stickers inscribed with Islamic verses from the wall of a hospital ward where psychiatric patients are being treated.

Deputy Medical Superintendent Ali claimed that blasphemy charges have been proved against the two nurses by the hospital committee which probed the matter. He said that the stickers inscribed with Islamic verses that were removed by the two nurses is in the possession of the head nurse of the hospital.

Hospital employees staged a demonstration against the two nurses and demanded strict action against them. Local Muslim clerics also joined the protesters.

Some of the protesters also attacked the police van parked inside the hospital to get the custody of one of the nurses but the police locked her inside the vehicle to keep her safe from the mob. According to a police official, anti-riot police were called in to handle the situation.

“As the mob had surrounded the police van demanding handing over the nurse to them, more force was called in to push back the protesters. After managing to disperse the mob by using a water cannon, police succeeded in moving the nurse from the hospital premises,” the official said, adding that the other nurse had already managed to leave the hospital.

Head Nurse has a grudge against them, alleges Christian organisation

Reacting to the development, the International Christian Concern (ICC) said both the Christian nurses have falsely been accused of committing blasphemy.

It alleged that the head nurse, Rukhsana, had a grudge against Mariyum Lal and she provoked other Muslim staffers of the hospital, claiming she desecrated wall hangings and a sticker that contained Quranic verses.

“In response, a Muslim staffer, Waqas, attacked Ms. Lal with a knife as she was attending a patient in the hospital’s medical ward. She received several injuries to her arm but survived the attack,” it alleged.

Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws and their prescribed punishments are considered extremely severe. People accused of blasphemy are usually deprived of the right to a counsel of their choice as most lawyers refuse to take up such sensitive cases.

The blasphemy laws are colonial-era legislation but they were amended by former dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, increasing the severity of prescribed punishments.

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In yet another incident of abduction and forced conversion to Islam, a 22-year-old Hindu girl named Arti Bai was kidnapped on Saturday (3 April) in Larkana in the Sindh province of Pakistan and married off to a Muslim man.

Karachi based journalist Veengas posted a video on Twitter that showed the Hindu community of Sindh protesting and demanding justice in the case of the abduction of Arti Bai. It is also reported that the local court did not allow Arti’s parents to meet their daughter.

Just in: Hindu girl Aarti who was abducted from Larkana, got converted to Islam, and married off to man.

Local court kept girl’s parents from meeting with girl. In video seen Hindu community held protest and asked for justice. “Khapay Phapay Justice Khapay”

Video:local jour pic.twitter.com/SArRIMM54r

— Veengas (@VeengasJ) April 9, 2021

According to a report by ANI, Arti Bai’s father Dr. Namo Mal said that his daughter went missing after she left home for the beauty parlour where used to work.

Such instances of Hindu girls being kidnapped in Pakistan are routine, along with the attacks on Hindu temples. As per data available, only 30 Hindu temples in Pakistan are functional today, out of the 1,300 pre-Partition era temples that existed in the region.

In December 2020, Samuel Brownback, a top US diplomat highlighted the severity of the human rights violations and the lack of religious freedom in Pakistan. Brownback said that Pakistan is trafficking Hindu and Christian women to China as “concubines” and “forced brides”.

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