Sindh CM orders inquiry on news of mass Hindu migration to India

Islamabad, Aug. 10 (ANI): The chief minister of Pakistan's Sindh province, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has ordered an inquiry into the widely publicised report of mass migration of Hindus to India, made more complicated by conflicting reports in the media.

The former head of the Hindu Panchayat of Jacobabad, Lal Chand Setlani, said a renowned Maharaj of Jacobabad, Santosh Puri, along with his followers had left for a religious pilgrimage to India.

A large number of people from Balochistan, Jacobabad and Kashmore had gone to the railway station to see him off.

The Express Tribune quoted Setlani, as saying that only 11 of the followers accompanied the Maharaj.

Ramesh Lal, president of Hindu Panchayat Thull, was recently kidnapped by armed men near Khairpur and was kept hostage for 11 days.

He said migrants usually go to Indore in India, where a large number of Sindhi Hindus are settled.

They help them with accommodation and jobs. While most people go to India for religious pilgrimage, about 15 percent stay back.

The president of the Hindu Panchayat of Karachi Division, Amarnath Motumal, said the issue was being politicised.

"Which community or sect is safe in Pakistan? Hindus are not migrating but they go on visit visas and come back. The issue is being exploited," he said.

"First, we are Pakistan is and then Hindus. No one shares facts and figures of migrating families. One can't cry that all Hindus are migrating when a few are moving for certain reasons. People want to live here. They are more secure here than in India. I know they come back after spending a couple of months there," he said.

Earlier, media reports claimed that sixty Hindu families from Balochistan and Sindh migrated to India due to increasing cases of violence and lack of security against the community. (ANI)