Pak parliamentarians deny persecution of Hindus

Hindus are not leaving Pakistan,but are on a pilgrimage to India and will return. The issue of exodus of Hindus I think has been blown out of proportion and presented in an exaggerated manner,” said Deputy Chairman Senate Sabir Ali Baloch. He also added that reports of forced religious conversions were also not true.

Member of the National Assembly from Sindh,from where most Hindu families are coming to India,Nafisa Shah,while admitting that there were certain “legitimate concerns” of the Hindu community in Pakistan,also trashed the reports of mass exodus of Hindus to India. She,however,added that the social and cultural environment in Pakistan made Hindus feel that they have limited choices. “This needs to be changed. Otherwise,there are no forced conversions. Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken note of alleged conversions in a few cases,but the Hindu girls said they entered into the matrimonial alliance on their own will,” Nafisa said. She also denied that Hindu students were being made to attend classes in separate classrooms.

The 19-member delegation also included officials of SAARC who are here to discuss trade related issues with India to promote the trade between the two countries. This is the fourth round of deliberations between the parliamentarians of the two countries.