Hindu | Pakistan

Hindus began a vast month-long pilgrimage in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) on Thursday, with many of the faithful starting from near the site where a deadly April attack triggered conflict with Pakistan. Last year, half a million devotees took part in the Amarnath pilgrimage to a sacred ice pillar located in a cave in the forested Himalayan hills above the town of Pahalgam. India has ramped up security for the event, deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the gruelling trek to reach the high-altitude cave, dedicated to the Hindu deity of destruction Shiva. “We have multi-layered and in-depth security arrangements so that we can make the pilgrimage safe and smooth for the devotees,” said VK Birdi, police chief for the Muslim-majority territory. Pahalgam is the site where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation, triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplo...

HYDERABAD/ KARACHI: The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has taken a notice of a case involving the alleged abduction, child marriage, and forced conversion of a 15-year-old Hindu girl in Matli in the Badin district. According to reports circulating on social media, a ninth-grade student was allegedly abducted at gunpoint near Notkani Chowk in Matli. A complaint filed by her uncle, Majno Maharaj, at the Matli police station alleges that two armed men — Maqsood Dars and Manzoor Dars — forcibly entered the family’s home and abducted the girl, Shahneela, while two unidentified men waited outside in a white vehicle used for the abduction. The victim’s family has expressed the fear that the girl is at imminent risk of being forcibly married to someone and converted — both of which are violations of the country’s law. The suspect’s family has allegedly refused to return the girl despite the family’s appeals, it was stated. SHRC urges law enforcers to ensure safety and recovery of 15-year-old The SHRC has cited ...