Pak Hindus hide in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: Fearing persecution in Pakistan, more than 150 families of Pakistani Hindus have been hiding in Punjab and Haryana for the past two years without valid documents to support their stay in India.

Police in the two states have not initiated any legal action against them, though their stay has been termed “grossly illegal”. The police said about 5,000 to 6,000 Pakistani Hindus are living in the two states. “The refugees are refusing to go back to their country,” said a senior police officer.

Om Prakash, a Pakistani Hindu, said: “We lived in the Mianwali area of Pakistan. While many of our relatives crossed over to India in 1947, we failed to do so.”

“We were tortured in Pakistan. Daughters of poor Hindu families were abducted. There was no point in complaining to the police as they refused to help,” they said.

Om Parkash, who used to run a small shop near Peshawar, said in the past few years many Hindus had been killed by criminals for ransom or for not converting to Islam.

Many of the refugees are keen on taking Indian citizenship. Official sources said the problem had been brought to the notice of the Union home ministry. “If we give them Indian citizenship, our relation with Pakistan may be affected. That is why their cases have been pending for so long,” the sources said.