#BreakfastWithAPakistaniHindu : Being a Hindu Woman in Pakistan

A chance meeting with a Pakistani Hindu, let us call her “Sakshi”, gave me an insight into the lives of Hindus, especially Hindu Women in Pakistan.

Sakshi shared with me some of the gut-wrenching incidents that have happened to Hindu Women there.

Gullible and naive young Hindu women are enticed by Muslim men in the name of love. Raging hormones combined with naïveté and inexperience in life, can be detrimental to anyone’s safety.

Once it is ascertained the Hindu girl is madly in love with the extremely loving, caring, kind, handsome Muslim gentleman, she is taken to some of the well-known masjids, where religious conversions take place. The girl then is usually made to convert to Islam, either by brainwashing or by terrorising or both.

But it certainly is not a “voluntary” acceptance of Islam by the Hindu girl.

Then the Nikaah happens, and the “martial life” begins. The newlywed is usually held captive in a house, and the couple consummates the marriage.

Once that is done, she is used by anyone the husband approves. Yes, you read it right. She becomes a public property of sorts where she is made to provide “service” to high profile men.

Any Muslim man that successfully woos a Hindu girl, converts her to Islam, marries her is hailed as a hero. Sakshi and Rinkle lived in the same neighbourhood. While Sakshi came from a well to do family, Rinkle was from a humble background. However, Sakshi remembers Rinkle as a quiet, unassuming girl.

A few years back Rinkle Kumari was kidnapped from her home, converted to Islam and married off to a guy named Naveed Shah. Her Muslim name is Faryal Shah.

The two brothers behind this and other conversions is a politician named Mian Mitha, a member of the ruling PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) and the National Assembly, and his brother Mian Shaman.

The girl’s family, even though not well off approached the court for help.

It is interesting to know, even though it was claimed by the Mian brothers that this girl Rinkle Urf Faryal was in love with Naveed and willingly converted to Islam, when questioned in the court, she said she wanted to go back to her parents home! Instead, the court sent her to Sukkur Women’s Police Station!

Her uncle (maama) reached out to the Supreme Court, which proved to be useless. The girl was sent to a shelter home this time, instead of sending her back to her parents’ house, so she could calmly think it over and make a decision!

I asked Sakshi where Rinkle is now, and her response made me choke; “She has either been murdered or maybe she is still being held captive and being used by men. Most likely the latter, if I were to make an educated guess. But I don’t know, I lost track of the case”!

Sakshi tried to narrate to me another case of a Hindu girl, but failed to complete because of the brutality of the case!

A family friend who was a doctor then was asked to attend to a patient at a Masjid urgently. Assuming it was some kind of fall injury or a heart attack, he rushed there.

The patient was a Hindu girl, newly converted to Islam. She was bleeding profusely from her private parts, the doctor was unable to control the bleeding. She had been brutalised by many, perhaps for days and had tears in both front and back!

Did the patient survive? Sakshi chokingly nodded her head, while refusing to look me in the eye.

I didn’t have the courage to question her further…..

Sakshi told me, rather dejectedly, while Muslims call themselves brothers no matter from which part of the world they are, and stand up for each other, we Hindus have no unity. She was particularly critical of India’s apathy towards the plight of Pakistani Hindus.

I visited India a few years back, for a cousin’s wedding. I went to a local PCO to call my parents in Pakistan. The next day I went back to that same PCO to place another call to my parents, and I was seen with disdain and a guy there said: “Pakistani Baniya woman is back”.