Less than two months ago, a tragic incident happened in Jodhpur, India. The incident, that I will shed light on later in the article, was published in several national newspapers. I even tweeted on it that exact day i.e., August 9th, 2020, but for reasons unknown to me, it was largely ignored by the electronic media. It’s only now – two months later – that the Pakistani media has resuscitated the issue. As we speak, the issue is being discussed widely and the media is demanding that the Indian government probe the incident and furnish answers.
Great step but shouldn’t these forceful demands made one and a half months ago when the gruesome incident actually took place in India?
The gruesome incident that I am talking about was the killing of eleven Pakistanis Hindus in Jodhpur, India. These people were farmers who died under mysterious condtions as described by their own family members. One of the female members of the family, Shrimati Mukhi, has made quite concerning statements, the possibility of the involvement of Indian Intelligence in all of this.
The backstory seems to be that Indian agencies tried to recruit some family members to groom them into fueling anti-Pakistan rhetoric, and the family rightly refused. Since this incident, I made efforts on a personal basis but unfortunately, could not find out much from across the border. But the details that I had read at that time were: the first news coming out said that the family members had committed suicide. The next day it came out that they had some personal enmity and were murdered. And then it finally came out that the Indian Intelligence Agency, RAW is behind this gruesome incident..
We in Paksitan really don’t know what the details are but whatever they are, the Indian government owes it to the Pakistani government, as part of the international community, to tell us the truth about this tragedy since these were Pakistanis who were living there. Yes, they had probably applied for asylum – again these are the details for which we have no verifcuation yet.. Had the Pakistani government, being a PTI legislator from Sindh myself I own the responsibility as much, taken this issue much seriously in the second week of August 2020 when it actually happened, we would have had some significant details by now.
My fellow Pakistani Hindu politicians, Mr. Ramesh Singh Arora and the patron-in-chief of Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, have also condemned this as a tragic incident happening in India with Pakistani Hindus. Last week, Dr. Ramesh called on our Foreign Minister, Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi to discuss the Jodhpur incident and informed him of the surviving member’s suspicions on BJP and RSS goons, with possible involvement of the Indian Intelligence Agency, RAW. To this, the FM Qureshi committed his utmost concern and duty to the Pakistani nationals living anywhere in the world and fully assured that the matter will be taken up with the Modi government most urgently and responsibly.
According to Mr. Arora, these eleven Pakistani Hindus were allegedly assassinated by the RSS people, who are particularly instigating anti-Pakistan sentiments and from whom the minorities are not safe in India. He feels that right now the whole Pakistani nation is standing with their Hindu community living in Pakistan and are part of their sorrow. India, that has always claimed at every platform that it is a secular state and blamed Pakistan that the minorities living in Pakistan are not safe and their worship places not safeguarded, ignores that in reality, their own minds are poisonously anti-Pakistan, which means that they are anti-Muslims, anti-Sikhs, anti-Hindus living in Pakistan.
In my opinion, I think the only surviving family member, a 37-year-old male, should be given access to the Pakistan Consulate and should be called by the Pakistani Embassy in Delhi because he is a Pakistani after all. Then maybe our foreign minister can, along with the media channels, have a chat with him to find out the details, since he was the only surviving person at the crime scene. All the more reason to believe him, being a Pakistani amongst all other investigating bodies thus far; that person must be called to the Pakistani Embassy in Delhi, if not back to Pakistan, and maybe then we can find out the details.
To condemn this heinous act, Pakistani Hindus staged a sit-in rally infront of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad under the auspices of the PHC last Friday (25th September 2020). A letter has also been posted at the Indian High Commission demanding that India answers specifically what has happened to these eleven Pakistani Hindus in India. My personal comment, as a Hindu, on any such rally is: too little, too late. Specifically after the lapse of almost two months without any expressed concern over the tragedy triggers an alarm in my mind. Pakistan-India’s political relationship is rife with conspiracies of diabolical kind and I fear there is a shade of malevolence in both the silence and then sudden fanning of protests. Some very pertinent questions need to be asked of India’s intelligence agencies.
My specific point of condemning is a transparent investigation with a comprehensive report to be undertaken by impartial internation body which could be United Nations Committee on Human Rights and or Amnesty International. This report should be shared with Pakistan so that we know what has happened. Obviously, if the Indian agencies have murdered this family, then they would not tell us the truth, but let’s see what they tell us first. No one is willing to believe in the suicide story because eight members of a family with kids don’t commit suicide. Was it a personal revenge murder? We don’t know. Was it an accidental death due to a poisonous gas leak in the house? Nobody knows. Or was it actual murder? In any of these cases, an international and impartial investigation must be conducted.
A lot of people are speculating because the Indian government has not spoken clearly about what has happened. This incident happened back on August 9th, 2020, so a significant amount of time has passed since then and you would think that by now there should be some clarity regarding what has occurred. Therefore the Hindu community in Pakistan is concerned and awaits a compassionate response from the Indian government for a transparent international investigation into this tragic and mysterious matter.
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