Hindu Community in NWFP or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa State, Demands Basic Human Rights, Pakistan

By Rajesh Kumar (PHP Islamabad)
Friday, June 18, 2010

(PHOTO : Map of Peshawar City as Capital of NWFP or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)

Peshawar City : The minority Hindu community in northwest Pakistan has demanded that it should be provided the same basic rights as Christians living in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Hindus in northwest Pakistan have no cremation grounds, scholarships for students or special schools in the entire tribal belt, community leader Pandit Jay Gopal said during a dialogue on the rights of minorities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The seminar held here yesterday was also addressed by the Bishop of the Orthodox Church of Pakistan, Ernest Jacob, and people from different walks of life.

They stressed that the rights of Christians must be protected.

Minority community leader Arshad Masih argued that minorities living in the tribal areas are not issued domicile certificates and this negates their basic human rights.

The children of minority communities are not admitted to schools and youths are not given jobs because they do not have domicile certificates, he contended.