Though the Pakistani authorities deny any discrimination on religious grounds, Hindus continue to migrate to India with valid documents. “We can say that two dozen more Pakistani Hindus came to India on the Thar Express this week,” said Hindu Singh Sodha, president of the Seemant Lok Sangthan (SLS). Sources said that over the last five years, 4,000 such Pakistani Hindus requested the government to extend their visa limit.
According to sources, 4,273 Pakistani-Hindus formally made requests to extend the visa period and they refused to return back. In the year 2007, 1,173 Pakistani Hindus applied for visa extension while the number increased in the year 2008, when 1,216 Hindus refused to return back to their country.
“As per our information, there are over 5,000 Pakistani-Hindus living in Western Rajasthan, who are in the line to seek Indian citizenship,” says Mr Sodha, who has been campaigning for such Pakistani Hindus. India had granted citizenship to 13,000 Pakistani-Hindus in 2005 when the SLS launched an agitation.
“The migration from Pakistan by the Hindu community is a process that has never stopped, so it is obvious they come here to take refuge, because they have been consistently persecuted or prosecuted on religious ground,” Mr Sodha said.
“With rise of hardline Islam and the Taliban, it is difficult for a Hindu to protect his family, specially women. You cannot imagine the quantum and harshness of discrimination,” said Dilip Meghwal, a dalit Hindu from Pakistan.