Islamabad: The Pakistani Hindu community is planning to protest outside the Indian Embassy in Islamabad over the deaths of 11 Pakistani Hindus in India, MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani announced on Tuesday.
Talking to the media, Patron-in-Chief Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) Dr Vankwani blamed Indian police for covering up facts about the Jodhpur incident in India in which 11 members of Pakistan’s Hindu community were mysteriously found dead in August.
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“We will rally outside Indian embassy on September 24 and hold a sit-in until justice is served,” Vankwani said. The protest would continue “until India shares a copy of FIR, primary investigation and post-mortem reports of the deceased with Pakistani officials and provide access to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to the only surviving member of the grieving family.”
Vankwani said he has come under tremendous pressure by the local community to take action over silence of Indian officials over the deaths. “The country’s Hindu community has run out of patience” and will register “strong protest against the highly condemnable incident and the continuing failure of the Indian Government to carry out a transparent and credible investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
PHC chief meets FM Qureshi
Vankwani on Tuesday held a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to apprise him about the anxiety within the Pakistan Hindu community over the incident. He said that the daughter of the deceased head of the family, Mukhi, had filed an FIR in Sanghar on the incident, alleging that the RSS and BJP were involved in the murder of her family members. Vankwani shared that Mukhi claims that “her father, mother and other family members were murdered after they refused to spy on Pakistan and issue anti-Pakistan statements at the behest of Indian intelligence Agency.”
Qureshi informed Vankwani that Pakistan had urgently taken up the issue with the Indian side and urged them to “carry out a comprehensive investigation and share its findings with Pakistan”. He added that “safety and security of all its nationals was the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan”.
Mysterious deaths
On Sept 14, Pakistan summoned the Indian chargé d’affaires to convey its serious concern over the deaths of Pakistani Hindus who were found dead inside a rented farmhouse in the northwestern Indian city of Jodhpur on August 9. Only one member of the family that belonged to the Bheel community has survived, according to reports. The deceased had moved to India from Pakistan around eight years ago.
