Balochistan meeting expresses anguish over kidnapping of Hindu high priest, Pakistan

By Ahmar Mustikhan (Baltimore Foreign Policy Examiner in USA)
Friday, January 07, 2011

(Photo : Hindu Priests in Balochistan during Hinglaj Mela at 2008, Pakistan)

KALAT : A meeting of Balochistan tribal notables called at the Shahi Darbar, or royal court, in Kalat expressed anguish over the kidnapping of Hindu high priest Maharaja Luckmi Chand Garji, 82, Daily Tawar newspaper reported.

Prince Musa Jan Ahmedzai, a member of the central committee of the Balochistan National Party, convened and presided over the meeting that was attended by tribal leaders from different background.

According to Gopinath Kumar Rajput,editor of Pakistan Hindu Post, Maharaja Garji is the holy priest at the Kali Mata Mandir, which is also called the Hinglaj Mata Mandir.

"Hindus believe that the head of Sati fell in the area of Hinglaj Mata in Baluchistan, present-day Pakistan. Thus, this area is a very significant region in the Hindu region and a revered pilgrimage site," Rajput said.

A festival is held at the temple each each year, that brings devotees from far off towns in India and Pakistan.

Former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal, addressing the gathering through telephone, said the government in Balochistan is run by the intelligence agencies who are kidnapping people for ransom and giving dead bodies to the Baloch on a daily basis.

He called upon the victim families of the dead and those abducted to publicly arrest officials until such time the culprits are handed over to them for justice.

Mengal said that the government was pushing his party to join the ranks of the Baloch resistance.

On Sunday evening, another leader of the B.N.P. Abdul Latif Shahwani was gunned down in Khuzdar. A number of leading members of the B.N.P. have been killed in recent months, including former Senator Habib Jalib Baloch, Liaquat Mengal and Noordin Mengal.

Political analysts fear killing of secualr political activists was meant to open up Balochistan to Talibanization.

Separately, a former member of the National National Assembly, Rauf Mengal, condemned the kidnapping of the Hindu high priest Garji and called it a shameful act. He said Baloch and Hindus have maintained historic ties throughout the ages.

The area from where Garji was kidnapped is the zone of activities of the infamous Baloch Musalla Diffa Tanzim, a death squad of the Inter Services Intelligence agency. The organization is allegedly run by Shafiqur Rehman Mengal, son of former petroleum minister Mir Naseer Mengal.

According to BBC English, before the partition of India in 1947, more than 20% of the population of today's Pakistan was Hindu. But many left the country at the time of partition in 1947. Today many Hindus say they are still discriminated against or forced to convert to other religions.