Resignation of Ram Singh Sodho a Hindu lawmaker is 'alarming', says Pakistani daily

By Mohammad S.Solanki (Executive Editor)
Wednesday, February 02, 2011

(Photo : 2009 Hindu MPA Ram Singh Sodho debating on how thousands of acres of land were lying un-allotted in Tharparkar district in Pakistan)

Islamabad : The resignation of a Hindu lawmaker who had received threats is 'alarming', said a Pakistani daily, adding that 'no minority, irrespective of caste, creed or religious beliefs, is safe' in the country. 

An editorial in the Daily Times Wednesday said: 'On Saturday the resignation of a Hindu member of the Sindh Assembly, Ram Singh Sodho, after reportedly receiving threats is alarming.'

Sodho was elected in 2008 on a Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) reserved seat for minorities.

Fearing for his life, he sent in his resignation from India to the speaker of the Sindh assembly, Nisar Ahmad Khoro.

'Historically, minorities - especially Hindus - in Sindh and Balochistan have been an integral part of society.

Even during the time of partition when Punjab was witnessing some of the worst communal riots in the history of the subcontinent, Sindh and Balochistan were comparatively peaceful.

'Interior Sindh is abundant with prominent Hindu families that thrive economically and have been central to the province's development. These families are also steeped in and maintain the indigenous heritage and culture of Sindh,' the editorial said.

Noting that religious intolerance has been 'in the forefront ever since the Lal Masjid operation in 2007', it said: 'No minority, irrespective of caste, creed or religious beliefs, is safe.'

Citing media reports that 400 to 500 Pakistani Hindu families, who have received threats, are trying to obtain Indian citizenship, the editorial pointed out that with attacks on 'Shias, Ahmedis, Christians and now Hindus becoming a daily occurrence, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government, which champions itself as the defender of minority rights, must deliver'.

It bluntly said that successive governments have 'failed to legislate and provide sufficient mechanisms for protecting minorities'.

'The blame is even greater on the governments during the 1970s and 80s for promulgating laws that ostracised minorities. Minority groups rightly raise questions as to the fulfilment of the promise made before partition for the integration as full and equal citizens of minorities in Pakistani society.'

The editorial said that due to the 'extremism that has crept into society, we have become increasingly intolerant. The greatest example of this is the assassination of (Punjab governor) Shaheed Salman Taseer for his stance on the right of a Christian woman to justice'.

Receiving threats in Pakistan, Hindu lawmaker resigns, moves to India

By Mohammad S.Solanki
Wednesday, February 02, 2011

(Photo : Ram Singh Sodho a Hindu law maker from Sindh Assembly of Pakistan)

Islamabad : Amid rising incidents of abduction of Hindu nationals in Pakistan, the speaker of the Sindh assembly has accepted the resignation of a Hindu law maker who had resigned from his provincial assembly seat recently after receiving threats and left Pakistan for India. 

The development came hardly a month after the abduction of the 85-year-old Hindu priest Maharaj Sain Lakmee Geer, who had been holding this religious office since 1946 in Balochistan.

Ram Singh Sodho was a member of the current Sindh assembly on a reserved seat for minorities on a ticket of the Pakistan Muslim League, (Likeminded Group).

The Election Commission of Pakistan has acted immediately and notified the election of Chettan Mal, the next candidate on the party’s list of non-Muslim candidates on reserved seats.

Sodho, who belongs to Mithi, in Tharparkar district, had been receiving threats for the last two years, family members said. “I cannot say who had issued him threats, but his party leaders and family members were aware of it,” Paret Lal, a cousin of Sodho, has been reported by the Pakistani media as saying here on Sunday.

However, his party colleagues have denied there were any threats to Ram Singh Sodho’s life. “It’s baseless. There were no threats to his life,” said Razzaque Ramho, the deputy parliamentary leader of the PML-Q Likeminded Group in the Sindh assembly.

“His eldest son had died in the earthquake and another son lives in India. He has shifted to India only because he cannot move properly due to a problem in his spinal cord,” Ramho added. In his resignation, too, Sodho cited failing health as the reason for his
decision.