Pakistani Hindus protest over ‘desecration’

Members of the Hindu community, accompanied by Muslims, staged a protest in Kalat town in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province over the alleged desecration of the remains of a woman from the minority community, a media report said on Monday. A representative of the Hindu community said that the Hindu woman died recently and her relatives cremated her in the shamshan ghat (cremation ground). Her remains were still in the cremation ground when unidentified persons burnt them last night, the Dawn newspaper reported.

After going to the crematorium, her remains were thrown out and the remains were desecrated, he alleged. In the past, he said, the gate of the crematorium had been stolen and they had complained to the district administration about it, but the administration did not do anything. Hundreds of Hindu community members marched on the roads of the town to register their protest on Sunday, the newspaper said.

The traders belonging to the minority community closed their shops and gathered at the Shahi Bazaar area and joined the march. To show solidarity with the Hindu community, Muslim religious leaders and political parties also joined the protest. The marchers chanted slogans against the local administration, the paper said.