Another Hindu businessman shot dead: A look at persecution of minorities in Pakistan

Only a day after a Christian priest was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Peshawar city of Pakistan, a Hindu businessman Satan Lal was shot dead in Ghotki district of Pakistan’s Sindh province on Monday. With attacks on minorities continuing unabetted in Pakistan as authorities look the other way, here’s a timeline showing why India’s neighbour is increasingly becoming no country for minorties : January 2022 31 January: Hindu businessman Satan Lal shot dead in Ghotki district of Pakistan’s Sindh province. 30 January: Gunmen kill Christian priest, wounds another in northwestern city of Peshawar 4 January: Hindu businessman Sunil Kumar shot dead by unidentified individuals in Anaj Mandi, Sindh province 2 January: A Hindu trader, Ramesh Lal Nand Lal was murdered by unknown persons in Lasbila town in Baluchistan province. 2021 March Five members of a Hindu family were found dead with their throats slit with some sharp-edged weapon in Abu Dhabi Colony, 15-kilometre away from Rahim Yar Khan city. Ajay Lalwani, journalist, dies of three gunshot wounds suffered in Sukkur, northern Sindh Province. August Muslim mob storms and vandalises a Hindu temple in Rahim Yar Khan, Pubjab, damaging and burning down the Hindu idols at the Siddhi Vinayak Temple. November 11-year-old Hindu boy sexually assaulted and brutally murdered in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Besides, every years hundreds of young girls are abducted and forcibly converted to Islam. According to a report by Economic Times, a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Pakistani Minorities found that around 1,000 girls between the ages of 12-25 from minorities are forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan every year and married to their abductors, which described the situation as a “humanrights catastrophe”. While governments have come and gone, religious freedom continue to remain under threat in Pakistan. The current ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, under the leadership of Imran Khan, vowed in their 2018 election manifesto that “PTI will protect the civil, social and religious rights of minorities; their places of worship, property and institutions as laid down in the Constitution.” Among the list of promises for a “Naya Pakistan,” there were two important vows that still require the government’s attention: ensuring equal justice and protecting minorities from violence, hate speech, and discrimination, according to The Diplomat. Yet when it comes to real action, little has been done more than lip-service and grandstanding:

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