Hindu | Pakistan

A powerful Hindu group from which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party emerged claimed on Tuesday it had organised foreign visits, including to the US, to counter perceptions that it is a paramilitary outfit involved in attacks on minority communities. The outreach by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or National Volunteer Organisation, came after the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a report in November that it “has been involved in acts of extreme violence and intolerance against members of minority groups for decades”. The commission is a bipartisan body of the US federal government that monitors religious freedom around the world and makes policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state and the US Congress. Modi joined the RSS in his youth, and the rise of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to near-national dominance is widely attributed to the RSS’ vast network of volunteers, during a period marked by a hardening Hindu-Muslim political divide in the offic...

KARACHI: The Sindh Education and Literacy Department is set to introduce religious textbooks for Hindu students to be taught in grades three to five across government schools in Sindh, it emerged on Thursday. In a letter dated April 29 to the chairman of the Sindh Textbook Board (STBB), the education department requested the distribution of “three religious books for grades III to V for the current academic year 2026–27”, referring to a decision taken at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Sindh Curriculum Council on April 20. Chief Executive Advisor Dr Fauzia Khan wrote in the letter that the cost of publication will be borne by a social welfare organisation, Prem Sagar Sanstha Karachi, for the current academic year. “The distribution of the books will be carried out through STBB,” the letter said. Khan also requested the board to “allocate/adjust budget for the publication of the religious books for the next academic year”. A similar move was made by the federal government in 2023, when the National...

The Government of Sindh has officially announced a two-day public holiday for Hindu employees across the province in observance of Holi.

LONDON: A demonstration outside the Bangladeshi High Commission in London on Saturday briefly turned tense when pro-Khalistan Sikh activists and a small group of Hindu protesters confronted each other, prompting police intervention. The Khalistan Movement wants an independent Sikh state carved out of India and dates back to India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947, when the idea was pushed forward in negotiations preceding the partition of the Punjab region between the two new countries. The protest was held in connection with reports of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. During the gathering, Paramjeet Singh Pamma, identified by organisers as a coordinator of the Khalistan Referendum campaign, was involved in a brief scuffle with an Indian Hindu protester. Metropolitan Police officers on duty intervened quickly, separating the individuals and dispersing the groups from close proximity to the mission building. No injuries were reported. Following the incident, pro-Khalistan Sikh protesters formed a cordo...

Once home to thriving temples & neighbourhoods, the city's Hindu population now declines

Pakistan has categorically rejected the unfounded and misleading allegations that members of the Hindu community were denied entry into its territory.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday extended warm greetings to the Hindu commu­nity in Pakistan and around the world on the joyous occasion of Diwali — the festival of lights, hope, and renewal.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif both extended greetings to the Hindu community in Pakistan to mark Diwali on Monday and reiterated their commitment to minority rights. Diwali is a colourful festival involving lighting candles, worship, celebrations and prayers. It is celebrated to mark the day when Lord Rama returned home after his 14-year exile. It is a five-day festival and during this time, houses are cleaned and windows are opened to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. According to Radio Pakistan, the president said that the festival of Diwali “reminds us of the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil”. He noted that the Constitution guaranteed equal rights and complete freedom of religion to all citizens. “Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah envisioned a Pakistan where minorities would enjoy equal rights and opportunities,” he added. Zardari also lauded the services of Hindu community in education, commerce, and public service. In his message, Prime Minister Shehba...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday extended warm greetings to the Hindu community in Pakistan and across the world on the occasion of Diwali, calling it a celebration of “the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

More than 400,000 Hindus took part in a month-long pilgrimage in Indian-held Kashmir, authorities said, shrugging off security worries weeks after a military conflict with Pakistan. The pilgrimage began on July 3 and closes officially on August 9, but organisers said that lashing rains had damaged narrow paths, forcing a premature end. Official Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said in a statement late on Saturday that 415,000 pilgrims had taken part. Many of the faithful began their trek to the Amarnath ice pillar from near Pahalgam, where an April 22 attack in Pahalgam killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists in the Muslim-majority region. New Delhi, without evidence, said the gunmen were backed by Pakistan, claims Islamabad rejected — triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict. It was the worst standoff by the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, before a May 10 ceasefire. New Delhi last week claim...

At least 18 people were killed in eastern India on Tuesday after a bus ferrying Hindu pilgrims collided with a truck loaded with cooking gas cylinders, officials said. Visuals from the site in Jharkhand state showed the mangled wreckage of the bus, with its rear portion almost entirely burnt. Local lawmaker Nishikant Dubey said the pilgrims were travelling to a Hindu shrine to celebrate the sacred month of Shravan, coinciding with the onset of the monsoons in the subcontinent. “Eighteen devotees lost their lives due to a bus and truck accident,” Dubey said on social media. The pilgrims were carrying holy water from the Ganges to offer to the Hindu god of destruction, Lord Shiva. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his “deepest condolences to the families of the devotees who lost their lives”. “The road accident in Jharkhand’s Deoghar is extremely tragic,” his office said on social media. Tens of thousands of people die in road accidents in India every year, according to official data. More than 172,000 die...

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 ...