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Protests in Sindh continue against burning of couple

By Our Correspondent 2014-11-11
LARKANA: The Civil Society Support Programme (CSSP) in collaboration with the Christian community and the Hindu Panchayat staged a protest here on Monday against burning of a couple in Kot Radha Kishan and urged the government to punish the culprits.

The protesters took out processions from various parts of the city and gathered at the press club of Larkana where they chanted slogans against the incident and also condemned the alleged abduction and forced conversion of Hindu girls in Sindh.

The participants included Father Qaiser and Sadiq Joseph of the Christian community, Vijay Kumar and Murli Gul of the Hindu Panchayat, Civil Society activists Khalid Chandio, Javed Shah, Qadir Bakhsh Qamangar, Shamsuddin Chandio and CSSP manager Afzal Shaikh and Umar Buriro.

Speaking on the occasion, Father Qaiser said the government should enforce the provisions of the blasphemy law in true form as it was being misused by some quarters.

He said the culprits responsible for the Kot Radha Kishan incident should be awarded an exemplarypunishment so that nobody could take the law into their hands in the name of religion.

Demanding protection for minorities, he said they were feeling insecure due to such incidents.

He said the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its recent landmark verdict in a suo motu case had directed the government to form a National Council for minorities` rights with the mandate to tailor policy recommendations for safeguarding and protecting minorities` rights.

The National Assembly had agreed to form a fact-finding committee on attacks against minorities, but any progress on both the mentioned reports never appeared anywhere, he said.

Sadiq Joseph said atrocities against Christians continued in Punjab, but no authority had taken notice of it. Such incidents which continued unabated had made Christians insecure.

He said minorities were loyal citizens of the country and deserved equal rights including security of life,property andhonour.

Khalid Chandio said the incidents of forced conversion, murder and threats to religious minorities had become the order of the day.

Mere condemnation and expression of grief and sorrow over the incidentwas not enough. The government must take practical measures to ensure their protection, he said.

Afzal Shaikh said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure the rights of minorities.

Condemning the alleged abduction and forced conversion of a 12-year-old Hindu girl Anjali Kumari Meghwar in Daharki, Ghokti district, he demanded arrest of the clerics who had facilitated her marriage.

Expressing resentment, he said the irony was that Anjali was just 12 years old and could not legally decide to get married or change her religion.

He recalled that on Oct 24, another young girl Kajal Bheel, daughter of Mohan Laal Bheel, had also been abducted from her home in Udero Laal town, Matiari district.

The participants said that according to Anjali`s birth certificate, she was born in 2002 which made her alleged marriage illegal under the recently passed Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act.

They demanded that a criminal case be lodged against the religious clerics who had performed her Nikah.

MIRPURKHAS: Scores of students of Sindh University Jamshoro held a demonstration in front of the local press club in protest againstthe incident of Kot Radha Kishan.

They were carrying banners and placards demanding that the government control such incidents in the country by taking drastic measures.

They demanded that the government provide safety to the minority people, including women and children, and stop such incidents through a law.

HYDERABAD: All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union president Abdul Latif Nizamani has said the incidents of Kot Radha Kishan and Daharki from where the case of forced conversion of a Hindu girl was reported are enough to tarnish image the not only of Pakistan but also of Muslims the world over.

He was talking to employees of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company belonging to different minorities in labour hall on Monday.

Condemning the two incidents, he said such kind of incidents gave excuse to anti-Islam forces to attack Islam.

He urged people to show tolerance and not to become part of any action without verifying its details.

He said Islam promoted brotherhood and peace and that was why it spread from east to west and south to north.