Plight of Satan and Sunil

In March 2022, yet another brutal incident took place when Satan Lal was shot dead in Ghotki district in Sindh. The alleged perpetrators behind the killing belonged to an influential local community and as this has happened in various other cases, the motive was nothing but land-grabbing. In district Khairpur Mirs, in the similar vein, Sunil Kumar, a grain trader, was killed probably for the same reason, while at the same time, another Hindu trader from Kashmore district was kidnapped in the Sindh-Punjab border area.

These few events as mentioned above are merely a tip of the iceberg and a relentless violence and gross injustice meted out to the vulnerable minorities has become a norm in many parts of Sindh. Unfortunately, most victims belong to the Hindu community, who are affluent and peace-loving businessmen mostly living in the upper Sindh. Yet, they are subject to such heinous crimes as kidnapping for ransom, extortion, robberies or confiscation of property and eventual murder.

In Sukkur and Larkana, the two northern or upper divisions, Hindus are quite well-off when compared with other religious groups living in lower Sindh. Before the 1947 Partition of India, almost all trading and business activities were managed and owned by Hindus. Despite prevailing communal harmony in Sindh, after the making of Pakistan, a majority of Hindu people of the upper Sindh migrated to India.

To make things worse, the influx of Hindus is still continuing. In all districts of Sukkur and Larkana division, Hindus own cotton ginning factories and rice mills and they are major dealers in grain, rice and dates, while a large number of people from the Hindu community run their shops in retail and wholesale markets. They excel in education too, particularly in the medical field.

Although in a developing region like South Asia, wealth is commonly believed to be a symbol of power and economic prosperity. However, it is paradoxically opposite in the case of Hindus of the upper Sindh as they have been reduced into a vulnerable minority with a decreasing political clout because of being small in numbers and thus are soft targets for criminals and outlaws having a field day with overt or covert support of the local influential circles.

As a corollary, incessant atrocities have forced a large number of Hindus to leave their homeland. As per some rough estimates, nearly 5,000 Hindus migrate to India every year. In India, they have to start from scratch, but due to hard work and dedication they emerge as successful businessmen, since business is in their genes and initial hardships could not deter them from achieving a remarkable successes despite all odds and challenges. Briefly put, it is not incorrect to say that by denying security and protection to the Hindu business community, the province of Sindh, amid higher unemployment and poverty rate, is consistently losing its valuable economic assets.