The Hindu community in Kashmore district of Pakistan's Sindh province has had enough of the continuous lawlessness, kidnappings for ransom and failure of authorities to recover the victims.
The continued kidnappings targeted on Hindu traders and community members in Kashmor has sparked a wave of protests across the province.
Kashmore’s Hindu community staged a strong protest, blocking the main Indus Highway for at least 34 hours, disconnecting the road route of Sindh province from Balochistan and Punjab.
The protesters chanted slogans for freedom and justice, demanding immediate action against the ongoing abductions of their loved ones from the community and others in and around the Kashmor district, who they said have been kidnapped for ransom by miscreants.
“Hindu traders and their families have been kidnapped and the authorities have not moved an inch to take any action to recover them. One of our Hindu trader from Kashmor, his son Sagar Kumar has been kidnapped. It has been 20 days now. We have received video of Sagar being tortured and assaulted by the kidnappers. They are demanding billions on ransom. Where do we go to seek justice?” asked social worker Narain Das Bheel.
“At least 40 people from the Hindu community have been kidnapped within the past two months. We have been running after police authorities to take action but they seem ignorant towards the matter. We, the Hindu community has been living in the Kashmor district for decades. We have our businesses here and we have good relations with everyone. But since our people have started getting kidnapped for ransom, we have failed to find anyone who would hear us out and rescue or loved ones”, said Ashish, a Hindu trader in Kashmore,
The protests in Kashmore have also been supported in the main centre of the Sindh province Karachi, where hundreds of protestors from the Hindu community, the civil society and others gathered at the “teen talwar” roundabout in Clifton, to record their strong protest against the ongoing abduction and provincial government’s failure.
“We demand justice. Justice for Sagar Kumar, for Mukhee Jagdesh, for Priya Kumari, Dr. Muneer and for a seven-year-old little boy. We want an end to this injustice, this brutality, this targeted kidnappings of the Hindu community”, said renown human rights activist Sheema Kirmani.
“Kidnapping for ransom, highway robberies, shop looting, motorcycle stealing and house robberies in Kashmir and Kandhkot have spread panic and fear among the Hindu community, which has been living there for decades. It as become negligible to carry out trading and other business activities after the rising lawlessness”, said Jitesh Kumar, a local resident and businessperson in Kashmore.
Speaking to IANS, another local trader in Kashmore said that the security situation and fear among the Hindu community has become so high that many families started migrating to others parts of the province, while many were migrating from Sindh to India.
“Migration of Hindu families from Thulh, Kashmore is due to the failure of Sindh police in maintaining law and order. Hindu families have also started migrating from Sindh to India because of increased cases of kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls,” said Sumeet Rathore.
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