Dalits In Pakistan : Between Hope and Despair

Hindus in Pakistan and especially Dalits are vanishing rapidly due to forced conversion and persecution. Krishna Kumari Kohli as Pakistan’s first Hindu Dalit senator hoists hope for the marginalised community, but history through the story of JN Mandal debunks it

Vivek Shukla

There is an uncanny resemblance between Krishna Kumari Kohli, a Dalit Hindu lady from Sindh recently elected to the senate of Pakistan, and Joginder Nath Mandal, the Dalit Hindu in the first cabinet of Pakistan that was headed by Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Krishna Kumari’s victory is being considered as a big leap for the rights of shrinking Hindu community there.  And if one scans through the pages of history, one would realise that almost same hype was generated when Mandal was given the Law and Labour Ministry by Jinnah in 1947.
Once Jinnah passed away in 1948, the sob and heart-breaking story of Mandal started. He was ignored on crucial issues related to Hindus by the then Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Further, the moments and activities of Mandal were closely watched by the bureaucracy as he was doing something against the interests of the country for which he sacrificed greatly as a Muslim League leader.
Unable to bear the insult, Mandal wrote a long letter of resignation to the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan on October 9, 1950. In his hard-hitting letter, Mandal cited a series of reasons for quitting the cabinet.
He angrily wrote, “To my utter regret it is to be stated that after the death of Mr. Jinnah, the Scheduled Castes Hindus have not received a fair deal in any matter. You will recollect that from time to time I brought the grievances of the Scheduled Castes to your notice. I made serious charges against the police administration of East Bengal.”
He continued, “I brought to your notice incidents of barbarous atrocities perpetrated by the police on frivolous grounds. I did not hesitate to bring to your notice the anti-Hindu policy pursued by the government, especially the police administration and a section of Muslim League leaders.”  

Rather than addressing the issues raised by Mandal, Liaqaut Ali Khan consigned the concerns of his former Muslim league colleague to back waters. Incidentally, both of them were Muslim League nominees in 1946 interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Abduction And Rape of Hindu Girls
 Mandal further raised the issue of “abduction and rape of Hindu girls in East Bengal and forced conversion of scheduled castes to Muslims in both West Punjab and Sindh.”

A follower of Dr BR Ambedkar, Mandal left Pakistan for then Calcutta in 1950 itself. Nobody asked him to reconsider his decision to leave Pakistan.  And in Calcutta, as the member of Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly, which was formed after the partition of 1947, he remained aloof for the world and passed away unnoticed in 1968.
Cut To Present
Since Mandal left it, Pakistan has not changed at all in terms of giving equal rights to religious minorities. It has become out and out monolith state where the voice of religious minorities is not heard. Even Shias and Ahmadiyyas face the heat.
Now the big question is: Will Krishna Kumari be able to secure the rights for the marginalised communities? Will the educated and accomplished Krishna Kumari be able to achieve what Mandal couldn’t? While she says that “I will continue to work for the rights of the oppressed people, especially for the empowerment of women, their health and education,” the road is long and arduous for her and Pakistan’s Hindus who make up around two percent of the country’s 200 million people.
Moreover, Krishna Kumari has to deal with the manipulative bureaucracy of the country which target non-Muslim politicians and officials all the time. It has created such a situation there for the Hindus and other minorities—that their support for the government makes no difference, and that they are simply no longer welcome in Pakistan.
Pain Mandal Went Through
For all the pain Mandal went through, little did he know that soon he will have to leave the land he had chosen to call home! In 1940 after being elected to Calcutta Municipal Corporation, he proved to be particularly helpful to the Muslim population. He cooperated with the [Bengal] governments of AK Fazalul Haq and Khawaja Nazimuddin (1943-45) and served Muslim League (in 1946-47) when Jinnah had to nominate five ministers for the interim government. Jinnah wanted to nominate Mandal from Muslim League. By accepting Jinnah’s offer, Mandal countered a similar move by Congress, which had nominated Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. After the 3rd June 1947 announcement, Sylhet District was to vote in a plebiscite to join either Pakistan or remain in Assam [the state that was to become part of India. The Hindus and the Muslims of the district equalled each other in terms of population. However, there were a large number of Dalits, whose vote could have swayed the poll to either side.  Following the instructions from Jinnah, Mandal arrived in Sylhet to influence the opinion of the Dalits; but when he departed from Sylhet it had voted to join Pakistan.
After the Partition, the bureaucrats in Pakistan had started making inroads into politics. Those, who questioned their policies, irrespective of religious or social background, were not tolerated. Thus began a campaign to undermine every righteous individual in politics. Mandal, too, fell prey to such dirty games.  It is said that ICS officer late Chaudhry Mohammad Ali migrated to Pakistan after partition. He quickly garnered fame as the leader of the Pakistani bureaucracy.
As a Cabinet Secretary in Pakistan, one day it dawned on him that Mandal was not a genuine patriot. So, he tried to keep many cabinet documents away from Mandal. It was too much for Mandal. His pride was hurt. It goes without saying that Krishna Kumari could have to deal with such a petty- minded bureaucracy in Pakistan. One only can hope that she makes her presence felt there.
(The writer is a senior journalist)