New Delhi, India (CU)_ British Hindu community organisations have sent a joint letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson looking for immediate action from Pakistan over the rampant persecution of Hindus in the country, underlining the incident of burning of a temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last month as the most recent example.
The letter was signed by the prominent members of the community and
was sent to 10 Downing Street in London on Saturday. The members who signed were: Trupti Patel, President of the Hindu Forum of Britain; Dharaj Shah, President of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh; Rajnish Kashyap, General Secretary of the Hindu Council UK; Arun Thakar, President of the National Council of Hindu Temples UK; and Tribhuvan Jotangia, President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The letter spoke about the prosecution of Hindu minorities in Pakistan. It noted, “We the representatives of the national umbrella bodies for Hindus in the UK would like to seek urgent action to demand that the Prime Minister of Pakistan does everything possible to stop the rampant persecution of Hindus in Pakistan in the recent past the situation for minorities like Hindus in Pakistan is getting extremely perilous”.
The members of the Hindu community requested the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to interfere into the issue and seek a solution through United Nations. The letter further noted, “We ask you Prime Minister to set up a Governmental Inquiry into this issue and to ask all good democracies around the world, via the United Nations, to replicate a similar type of inquiry. The mass murder, genocide and persecution of minorities in Pakistan must be stopped”.
The letter described a fatal incident happened last year on December 30, where a group consisting of thousands of fanatics led by clerics burnt down and demolished a Hindu temple in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The news sources say that before burning the temple, thousands gathered at the Hindu temple in Terri village in Karak district. After members of the Hindu community obtained authorization from local officials to renovate the temple which is decades old, the temple was attacked and destroyed.
The letter further highlighted the failure of the international media to cover the news. It noted. “The vast majority of UK and international news organisations failed to cover this religiously motivated hate crime”. It also referred to the controversial sentiments exposed by notable figures in Pakistan, which includes enmity to the building of a Hindu temple in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad and resulted in “galvanised anti-Hindu hysteria”.
The letter mentioned that this attack targeted both Hindus and the Christian community. It said, “This systemic targeting is of course not only against Hindus; the Christian community also stands testament to the same persecution”. To discuss further on this issue, the British Hindu community organizations have also initiated a meeting at Downing Street.
