By IANS,
Islamabad/New Delhi: With concerns rising in India over reported persecution of Hindus in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has formed a three-MPs’ panel to meet and reassure Hindus in Sindh of their security after their families decided to flee their homes.
Zardari has taken serious notice of reports of the sense of insecurity among Hindu families in Sindh and directed the authorities to address their grievances and to submit a report to him, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.
Farhatullah Babar, spokesperson to the president, said Zardari constituted a three-member committee of members of parliament to visit different parts of Sindh to express solidarity with the Hindus on behlf of the government and to reassure them about their security and well-being.
The committee comprises Senator Hari Ram, National Assembly member Lal Chand and Federal Minister Moula Bakhsh Chandio.
About 250 Pakistani Hindus have moved to India after promising authorities here that they will return after completing their pilgrimage.
The plight of Hindus in Pakistan has sparked concern and outrage in India.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protested the attitude of Pakistan towards Hindus living in that country.
“The government should see if they want to stay here or go back. We demand that government should take action, and tell the whole nation what is Pakistan’s attitude towards Hindus,” BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters here.
The movement of 250 Hindus to India has coincided with the ‘Minorities Day’ in Pakistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf Saturday underlined that “the government of Pakistan stands committed to the preservation of rights of minorities in Pakistan and has taken a number of concrete steps for their welfare”.
“One of the top priorities of the present democratic government is to protect the rights of the minorities and further empower them,” he said.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik went public Thursday night alleging a “conspiracy” against Pakistan and demanded to know why the Indian high commission in the Pakistani capital had issued so many visas to Hindus.
He refused to let the Hindus proceed beyond Jacobabad, Sindh, unless he was satisfied they would not take asylum in India citing religious persecution — as some Pakistani Hindus had done in the past.
Eventually, after some hours, the Hindus were allowed to go to the Wagah border check post after their representatives pledged to return to Pakistan.