- PTI MNA Lal Chand says incidents of targeted killings, kidnappings and forced marriages of Hindu girls continuing unabated in Sindh
- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif says it’s the responsibility of both the federal and provincial govts to provide security to minorities
The members of the opposition and the treasury benches in the National Assembly on Wednesday agreed to constitute a fact-finding committee to probe the incidents of violence against religious minorities across the country.
Commenting on a point of order, parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the Lower House, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said it was unfortunate that the kidnapping and killings of businessmen from the Hindu community continues in Sindh province.
Qureshi said unknown attackers killed two men related to PTI Member of National Assembly Lal Chand in Sindh’s Umerkot district. The PTI leader said under prevailing circumstances, members of the Hindu community were feeling compelled to migrate from rural Sindh. He said the government should acknowledge the violence being suffered by members of religious minority communities and should provide them protection as a matter of priority.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said it was the responsibility of both the federal and the provincial governments to provide security to minorities and both should work together in resolving the issues of minorities.
“It is shameful that the sufferings of minorities are increasing day by…. these incidents create a bad image of Pakistan in the world,” the minister said, adding that the government will discuss the issues of minority communities with provincial governments.
Asif said a committee of MNAs should be constituted to probe the circumstances behind such incidents to effectively resolve the matter.
PTI MNA Lal Chand alleged that the incidents of targeted killings, kidnappings and forced marriages of Hindu girls were continuing in Sindh and the government had failed to protect the rights of religious minorities. He demanded that the government take serious steps to counter such violence against religious minorities.
PPP MNA Nawab Yousuf Talpur said it was difficult to understand why the minorities were under attack across the country, especially in Sindh province.
Later, National Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Murtaza Abbasi asked Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid and PPP MNA Nawab Yousuf Talpur to discuss the terms of reference (TORs) and the names of the members to finalise the committee in this regard.
