Parliamentarians on Tuesday vociferously protested the killings of Hindu doctors in Sindh and demanded a judicial commission or a parliamentary committee to probe the killings of minorities.
As legislators from the treasury and opposition benches united in their demand, the government however did not announce a high-level body to investigate the incident in which three Hindu doctors were murdered in Sindh. The house nonetheless observed silence for one minute to express solidarity with the victims’ heirs.
Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, Kishan Chand Parvani demanded the formation of a parliamentary committee to probe the reasons behind the killings. He said Hindus were the indigenous inhabitants of the country, adding that the families of the murdered doctors had made a futile attempt to seek help from the local Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership. Manwer Lal of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) demanded a thorough inquiry to ascertain the causes of the murder. He said Hindus were the biggest business community and were providing billions of rupees in revenue to Pakistan.
Another Hindu legislator, Ramesh Lal, told that President Asif Ali Zardari had ordered immediate arrests of the accused and to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the culprits. He informed that seven people had already been arrested while four more accused were still at large. Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khurshid Shah condemned the murder and assured that the culprits would be award exemplary punishment. Khatu Mal Jeewan, while condemning the incident, blamed former president General Zia-ul-Haq for starting the conspiracies against the minorities and killing four Hindus in a temple.
Sherry Rehman urged the House to take practical steps to ensure protection for the minorities and women. She also urged the National Commission of Minorities to probe the incident.