Meet Gyan Chand, the Hindu diplomat of Pakistan

A Hindu diplomat wants to stand out as the “proof of equality” in Pakistan, the “tolerant country”. Gyan Chand, who hails from Tharparkar in Sindh province, has made it to the elite foreign service of Pakistan.  Chand says he “always” believed in the “equality philosophy of Pakistan”. He said his appointment to the foreign office “is proof of the equal opportunity the government and people of Pakistan offer to the rest of the minorities”. “I am a living symbol for all those minority youth who have dreams to make it big some day and to serve their country,” Chand said, adding that if one has the mettle, being Hindu or Muslim does not matter. “I have shown my mettle,” he smiles.

Chand, who cleared the central superior services examination, has raised some eyebrows after being appointed to the sensitive foreign office earlier this month after undergoing a special training. Hindu and Sikh citizens have been appointed to major posts in the army and police in Pakistan, not to forget justice Rana Bhagwandaas, the former acting chief justice of the supreme court.

However, Chand has made it to the bureaucracy, which is all-powerful in Pakistan. There are around 2,44,3614 Hindus in Pakistan, which account for almost 2% of the country’s population. Besides Hindus, Sikhs and Christians are other prominent minority communities in Pakistan.