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Letter
to Gen. Musharraf, President of Pakistan
General
Pervez Musharraf
President,
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Islamabad,
Pakistan
Subject:
a) Desecration, occupation
and Vandalism of Hindu Temples in Pakistan must stop and they be restored
to August 1947 status; b) Such blatant attacks against Hindus & their
faith, aimed at their extermination must not be allowed ; and c) A Waqf
like Hindu Board is essential for temples protection & governance.
Hon'ble President
Musharraf,
It is deeply shocking and
distressing to a billion Hindus worldwide to learn of blatant acts of
desecration of another Hindu Temple - this one in the Baghdadi area of
Lyari Town, Karachi,
which
has been turned into a slaughter house.
The total indifference demonstrated by the local authorities towards this
“hate crime” and their outright failure to uphold the law has been taken
to mean as tacit approval and encouragement by the Pak-Govt. of such acts
against the minority Hindus. (Attachments A & B). Based on the past
history of the Islamic Republic, the national & international Hindu
communities do not consider this crime as an isolated act of a few
misguided fundamentalists, but a part of the deliberate long term Islamic
plan for erasing all signs of the ancient Indian culture in this region,
like the crimes committed by the Taliban in their Sinistrous scheme of
demolishing the famous ancient Bamian Buddha monuments in Afghanistan.
Regrettably, without caring about the serious consequences of this
lawlessness by the miscreants the administration, media and majority
public in Pakistan mostly remain unconcerned and silently approved the
cleansing of Hindus from the Islamic Republic.
In violation of every
international and Pakistani law the Baghdadi police in Karachi are
believed to have gotten involved in helping the fundamentalist land
grabbers
in committing this crime. Additionally they used their official position
in forcing the Hindu residents to sign under duress on the residential
documents in exchange for a nominal amount, supposedly to lawfully gain
the right of using the land by the land grabbers. To add insult to the
injury they also "allowed the culprits to slaughter the cows inside the
temple compound with intent to malign and insult Hindu religion." and
ultimately to convert" the Shiv Mandir into a place of Muslim worship.”
Further, the Baghdadi
police force collaborated with the perpetrators in a series of attacks on
over 100 Hindu families living in the century old residential compound in
Lyari town of Karachi; and the land grabbers have been forcibly evicting
residents in this compound with the help of police in Kakri ground, Lyari
town, thus reducing the number of families to 35 (attachment A).
To further
elaborate the issue we must point out some statistics, though
unpleasant, on the ill treatment meted out by various national regimes of
Pakistan to its minority Hindu Population.
At the time of the creation of Pakistan the Hindu population of the new
country was
roughly 30% but today according to the US sources it has been
reduced to just one percent of the total population of Pakistan.
Hindus of Pakistan were subjected to the three headed
fundamentalist cleansing formula of "convert, migrate or be slaughtered".
Immediately after the Babri mosque incident at Ayodhya in India in 1992,
some 240 temples were destroyed or damaged in Pakistan. But the Islamic
regime, its media and leaders seem to consider the destruction of Hindu
places of worship a fair game.
The continuation of such
religious based hate crimes fortified by willful official neglect
against a particular group, in this case the Hindus, can be interpreted as
a design aimed at persecuting and exterminating the minority Hindus in the
country. The lack of concern and/or action by the authorities to correct
these utterly wrong and unjustifiable situations speaks volumes about the
Govt. policy on this issue.
Surely your government must care about the reputation and credibility of
Pakistan in the arena of the “human rights violations” of Pak-minorities
particularly if and when the issue comes before the international
community and the UN Human Rights Commission. It might even have a
negative impact upon Pakistan's economic and technical support in
cooperative ventures with other countries not to speak of a strong global
backlash against Pakistan.
To rectify these serious
lapses in equitable treatment of various religious formations, may we
suggest formation of a statutory Hindu Board
in Pakistan on the lines of the Waqf Board for Muslims in your neighboring
country of India to govern, oversee and manage all Hindu temples and their
endowment properties. Such a Board would investigate and help restore
temples to their status as it existed in 1947. It will also, with
official support, free them from any encroachments and usurpations.
A statute
for safety and restoration of places of worship to this community
is urgently needed in Pakistan.
As an example, we may point out that the Indian Parliament enacted a law
in 1991 specifically requiring that”the status of religious places of
worship, as on August 15, 1947 shall be retained”.
Adopting a similar
enactment by Pakistan could be a bold step by your Govt. assuring the
international community of Pakistan’s neutral policy towards all
religions.
Hon'ble President, religious
intolerance to the extent of cleansing Hindus out of the society, is a
blot not only on those who commit the acts of intolerance, but also a scar
on the face of government and society that allows it. May
we request you to exercise your authority in resolving these important and
serious issues on a priority basis and issue necessary instructions:
a) to get the afore
mentioned temple in Karachi freed from unauthorized encroachment that has
turned it into a slaughter house and have it restored as the original Shiv
temple;
b) to have those families
rehabilitated in their ancient homes, who were fraudulently and forcibly
moved out of the Lyari Town by land grabbers;
c) to direct the
provincial authorities for bringing the culprits to book so that
lawbreakers are warned of the consequences of their illegal activities;
and,
d) to appoint an advisory
committee consisting of the representatives of the Hindu community of
Pakistan for overseeing temples and endowments, pending formation of a
Waqf like Board for Hindu places of worship in the Islamic Republic.
Thank you Mr. President
for your time and consideration.
A prompt action and an
early response to us would be appreciated.
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
November 14, 2006
Encl: attachments A & B
Attachment
A
Editor-in-Chief: Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman
Temple turns into slaughterhouse
By our correspondent
November 10, 2006
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=27636
KARACHI: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan strongly condemned the
encroachment of the premises of the Hindu temple located at Pawaldass
Compound in Lyari that has been turned into a slaughter area by local
butchers.
Residents of the area have brought to the attention of HRCP the fact that
butchers are turning the compound on which a temple is situated into a
slaughter area, says a statement released by the organisation on Monday.
Confirming the veracity of the complaint made by the Hindu community, the
HRCP says that this action is not only illegal, but has provoked the
sensitivities of Hindus. They have demanded the Sindh government and the
City Nazim take immediate action against this encroachment to protect the
rights of the Hindus and in the larger interest of communal harmony.
In a letter addressed to the provincial government, HRCP draws immediate
attention regarding the Baghdadi police’s alleged collaboration with the
alleged perpetrators in a series of attacks on over 100 Hindu families
living in the century old residential compound in Lyari town of Karachi.
According to the information received by Muhammad Ejaz Ahsan, Program
Coordinator HRCP, the concerned compound is exclusively earmarked for
Hindu families by the Sindh provincial government under the Evacuee
Property Act 1957 but land grabbers have been forcibly evicting residents
in this compound with the help of Baghdadi police in Kakri ground, Lyari
town. As a result of this the number of families have decreased to 35.
Mr. Ahsan was also informed that Baghdadi police were themselves involved
in helping the Muslim land grabbers by allegedly forcing the Hindu
residents to sign on the residential document in exchange for a very small
amount, which subsequently gives the right of using the land to the land
grabbers.
“It is shocking to learn that the Baghdadi police reportedly allowed the
Muslims to slaughter the cows inside the compoundís walls that is an
insult Hindu religion and also took over the Shiv Mander temple and
transformed it into a place for Muslim worship,” said Mr. Ahsan
On behalf of HRCP, he urged the Government of Pakistan to strictly enforce
the laws to protect rights of religious minorities and take strong
measures against law enforcement officials who collaborate with the
alleged perpetrators and fail to take proper action into the concerned
cases.
Attachment B
Desecration of Hindu Temple in Karachi: Stop It.
NOW!
Published by
Adil Najam
October 11th, 2006
in
Religion,
Law and Justice,
Minorities
Religious intolerance
must never be tolerated. To be silent in the face of intolerance is
intolerance itself. It is a blot not only on those who commit the acts of
intolerance, it is a scar on the face of societies that allow it.
One of the very first
posts we had done here on ATP
(All Things Pakistan -
http://pakistaniat.com) was about the
alleged demolition of a Hindu temple in
Rangmahal Lahore . We followed it up with a second post
demonstrating that by design and
by default key forces in the media and amongst politicians tend to distort
issues for their own myopic gains , even at the cost of
the larger issues at stake. A third post on this issue from
ATP followed up the story
further and tried, as best as we could, to separate the facts from the
rhetoric.
Vigilance must,
however, be ongoing.
Now one hears from a
hard-hitting editorial in
The News of a
more blatant act of desecration of another
Hindu Temple - this
one in the Baghdadi area of Lyari Town, Karachi.
Once again, it is greedy land grabbers playing on the religious
insensitity of society to gain a little personal benefit without paying
any heed to the massive costs and deep wounds they inflict upon an already
maligned social fabric through their nefarious actions.
The
News
editorial (11 October, 2006)
gets it exactly right;
so let me quote from it in full:
Stop the desecration
In an ultimate insult to any place of worship,
a Hindu temple in
Karachi has
reportedly been encroached upon by local butchers and parts of its
compound have been converted into a slaughterhouse
. This is most
insensitive to the religious feelings of Hindus since cows are considered
sacred by them. The actual culprits behind the steady encroachment in the
compound where the temple is situated are not the butchers — who are
plying their trade there with impunity — but the land grabbers allegedly
operating with the collaboration of the local police.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
has rightly demanded that the Sindh government and the city nazim take
immediate action to stop this encroachment, not least
because it offends the religious sensibilities of a minority community.
Catch more on the
following link :-
http://pakistaniat.com/2006/10/11/pakistan-hindu-temple-karachi/
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