A group of Hindus from India and Pakistan was joined by other activists in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during a protest seeking justice for minorities in Pakistan at Broken Chair in front of the UN office in Geneva.
Held during the ongoing 43rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the protesters sought justice for Hindu, Christian and other minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, who have been facing persecution for the past several decades.
Lakhu Luhana, a Hindu Sindhi activist from Pakistan, who joined the protest along with other members of World Sindhi Congress said, "A country created based on religious hatred... that country never stopped. At the time of Partition, in Sindh, there was 27 percent of Sindhi Hindus. Riots were instigated for them to leave and they left their motherland of thousands of years. Now they are only 6 per cent."
"But now they are not happy with that. The persecution of religious minorities throughout Pakistan, if you look at Christians, if you look at Ahmadis if you look at Sindhi Hindus and other sects this is unbelievable in the 21st century," he added.
He said that a law passed by the Indian parliament in favour of persecuted minorities in Muslim majority states should be respected, included by the United Nations.
He said, "Currently, it is well established that there is the persecution of religious minorities, there is the persecution of Sindhi Hindus and they need protection. If anyone gives them protection and support we are thankful to them", said Lakhu.
The Sindhi activist said, "The UN is there to support human rights, to protect the most vulnerable, that's the duty and they should be reminded that it is the duty that if some vulnerable people who face severe persecution they are being protected they get support, they get asylum in other countries. They should be supported rather than going against them."
More From This Section
Kuldeep Shekhawat, a protester from the United Kingdom said, "A Lot of Hindus are being targeted in Pakistan and they are deliberately being targeted. Hindu girls are being abducted. Yesterday or day before yesterday, they abducted one Hindu girl, earlier there was an issue with Mehek Kumari that is already going in the courts."
"We have protested against Pakistan outside its high commission in London. Now, we decided to come to the United Nations to bring it to their attention that Christian women, Hindu women are being abducted and married to Muslims in Pakistan, which is absolutely bizarre," he said.
"CAA is not a discriminatory law. it's a law passed by the government of India in the house of Parliament. It has been passed by both the houses democratically and when the law is passed by a democratically elected Parliament itself it's a law by the people and it's a law by people of India. How can the United Nations even think about it? It's absolutely bizarre," he added.