India speaks to Pakistan about Hindu persecution

New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) India has taken up the Pakistan the reported incidents of persecution, abduction and intimidation of Hindus and Sikhs in that country, parliament was told Wednesday.

“(The) government has seen reports of desecration and vandalization of Hindu temples and gurudwaras in Pakistan,” Minister of State for Home M. Ramachandran told the Rajya Sabha.

There have also been reports that members of minority communities in Pakistan have faced “persecution, abduction and intimidation” but there were no statistical data, he said.

The minister said that based on published reports, India had taken up the matter with Pakistan.

“The government of Pakistan has stated that it was fully cognizant of the situation and looked after the welfare of all its citizens, particularly the minority community,” he said.

The minister added that some of the Pakistanis who had come to India had refused to go back on grounds of religious persecution in Pakistan and had sought Indian citizenship.

But there was no caste and religion based centralized data to know their real number, he added.

IANS 2012-12-19 19:24:09