Houses must debate Pak Hindu women plight : BJP

New Delhi : The BJP has sought a structured debate in both the Houses of Parliament on the plight of Hindu women in the Sindh province of neighbouring Pakistan. A day after senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi raised the matter in the Lok Sabha, the BJP parliamentary party took serious note of the violation of human rights of Hindu women in the Islamic country and cases of forced conversion.

Bhagalpur MP Syed Shahnawaz Hussain raised the issue in the BJP’s parliamentary party meeting here on Thursday and also expressed concern over the plight of the minority Muslims in Pakistan.

BJP leaders were concerned that there has been a sharp decline in the population of Hindus in Pakistan. “Hindus living in Pakistan are not only facing undue harassment, their cultural, religious and human rights are also being openly violated,” Hussain said.

Chairman of BJP Parliamentary Party LK Advani expressed concern over the matter and said that the issue needs to be debated in Parliament.

The BJP argued if a parliamentary delegation could visit Sri Lanka to address the issues faced by Tamil, why both the Houses can’t discuss the problems faced by Hindus in Pakistan.

Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Joshi had said that at the time of Independence Hindus formed 15 per cent of the population in Pakistan but this has been reduced to 2 per cent today.

The BJP had lent support to a group of Hindus, who fled from Pakistan around a month ago and are staying at Jantar Mantar. They want the Indian government to provide them refuge and citizenship as they do not want to go back fearing more persecution.

Source : Daily Pioneer