While secularists in India try to convince people that Jinnah's insistence in demanding Pakistan does not necessarily divest him of his greatness, the implications of partition are still reprehensibly evident. While Hindus and Buddhists continue to face religious brutality in Bangladesh with the incidents of murder, rape, loot and arson, reports of Hindus and Sikhs fleeing Pakistan under Taliban's threat is reminder of the fact that these Islamic societies have become extremely intolerant to minorities and their right to life and livelihood. Not far back, the fatwa imposing Jazia on non-Muslims in Pakistan speaks volumes of the atrocities being committed on Hindus and Sikhs by the Islamic fanatics to which the government of Pakistan remains a mute spectator. Pakistan which has Hindu population at around meager 1.8% (pre-partition Hindu population: around 25%) appears bent upon uprooting this minuscule minority from its soil forcing them to either flee or convert. In Bangladesh too, the situation is not too different, the Hindu population has declined from around 30% in 1947 to around 9% now and the entire process of this demographic decline may be attributed to forced conversion under inhuman atrocities and threat of life, dignity and livelihood.
Continuing from last four years, around 5,000 Hindus have been reported to have come to India seeking refuge. In 2006, 392, in 2007, 880, in 2008, 1,240 and so far in 2009, 1000 Hindus have crossed border to India from Pakistan. According to Times of India report, Hetudan Charan, immigration officer at Munabao railway station, said the arrival of migrants had suddenly increased - 15 to 16 families are reaching India every week. ‘‘None of them admits they have come to settle here but seeing their baggage, we understand,'' he said. The report further narrates the harrowing tales of the immigrants. As per Times of India report, Ranaram, who used to live in the Rahimyar district of Pakistan's Punjab, says he fell prey to the Taliban. His wife was kidnapped, raped, and forcibly converted to Islam. His two daughters were also forcibly converted. Ranaram, too, had to accept Islam for fear of his life. He thought it best to flee with his two daughters; his wife was untraceable. Dungaram, another migrant, says the atrocity against Hindus in Pakistan has increased in the past two years since the ouster of Pervez Musharraf. ‘‘Fanatics have become active... We were not entitled to permanent jobs unless we converted to Islam.'' Hindu Singh Sodha, president of Seemant Lok Sangathan - a group working for the refugees in Barmer and Jaisalmer - says there's no refugee policy in India though people from Pakistan come in large numbers. ‘‘The government of India has rarely raised the issue of atrocity against Hindus during talks with Pakistan,'' said Sodha. He said in 2004-05, more than 135 families were given Indian citizenship but the rest continue to live illegally and are tortured by police. ‘‘In December 2008, over 200 Hindus were converted to Islam in Mirpur Khas town of Pakistan. There are several who want to stick to their religion but there's no safety for them," Sodha added.
While secularists continue to sing paeans for Jinnah urging people to understand him ‘academically', they show least interest in understanding the pains and sufferings that this man had brought to the millions of people. And to ask them to attempt to understand Islam and its radical strands which continue to haunt humanity with same kind of medieval barbarity is nothing less than expecting the secularists to commit blasphemy.
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Ram Kumar Ohri
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