A Muslim mob assaulted Dr. Jeewan, a Hindu doctor in Jarwar, a town in Ghotki district of Sindh, Pakistan. He was assaulted last month after being falsely accused for the murder of Allah Dino, a small boy who died from a snake bite, say activists.
According to reports, little Allah Dino was poisoned by a snake and died despite receiving immediate medical attention. Even without proof, some locals blamed Dr. Jeewan for the boy’s death.
Dr. Jeewan denied wrongdoing and stated he treated Allah Dino properly after the snakebite. Yet, the mob refused to listen and abused and assaulted the doctor.
Dr. Jeewan’s supporters and local Hindus demanded a fair inquiry into the matter, and minority rights protection. They insisted that officials must protect Dr. Jeewan and other Jarwar Hindus as the situation unfolds.
In another attack reported last week from Ghotki district, this time from Jam mohalla in Ubauro, a brutal attack left a young Hindu man named Vinod Kumar badly injured. According to witnesses, Vinod Kumar was on his way home when people he didn’t know attacked him and stole his money and cell phone.
Vinod Kumar was taken to the hospital right away to get help. Later, the Hindu community in Ubauro held a protest in front of the press club to protest this crime. People held up signs and called for justice for Vinod Kumar. They want the people who did this to be found and punished.
At the protest, community leaders and activists spoke out against the attack and asked the authorities to look into the matter carefully, and not dismiss it as a one-off. They said that everyone, no matter what belief they follow, should be safe and treated with respect.
Such assaults and robberies targeting Pakistani Hindus are an everyday occurrence. But even brutal everyday crimes against this minority community, which constitutes ~ 2% of the total population..down from ~ 15% at time of partition, often go unheard.
Pakistani Hindus face systemic and institutionalized persecution and discrimination, such as abduction-rape-forced conversion-marriage of minor Hindu girls, frequent attacks on Hindu temples, demonization in education curriculum, bonded labor, untouchability, and antipathy of police and judiciary leading to denial of basic human rights. Thousands of Hindus and other minorities flees the country each year, most seeking refuge in Bharat.
Yet, Pakistan continues to enjoy a privileged position in the global ‘rules-based international order’, with powerful Western nations like USA according it Major Mon-NATO Ally status, and UK and other European nations too being sympathetic towards Pakistan despite its Nazi-like human rights record and known use of Islamic terror as a state instrument.
