British Indians took part in a silent vigil as part of an appeal to and violence against minorities in Pakistan.
According to reports, these peaceful protests especially highlighting forced conversions of Hindu girls in Pakistan were held across 40 towns and cities of the UK.
On October 2, People gathered in major cities such as Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Salisbury, Cheltenham, Derby, and Slough to just name a few.
They distributed pamphlets about the allegedly forced conversion of Hindu, Sikh and Christian girls in Pakistan.
These protests were organised by Insight UK, a movement of British Hindu and Indian communities.
This human rights organisation now has a strong grass root presence in more than 100 towns or cities of the UK.
The organisers told TOI:
“The situation of Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan is increasingly dire. They face regular kidnappings, forceful conversion, attacks and persecution.”
The organiser added:
“Each year over 1,000 minor Hindu girls are abducted, forced to convert, married to people twice or thrice of their age or pushed into the sex trade. Some seminaries teach that forcibly converting Hindu girls is equivalent to the greatest religious duty. Minorities in Pakistan face the threat of blasphemy laws.”
In 1947, Pakistan had a minority population of about 31%. Of these, around 24% — or 7.5 million — were Hindus.
Today, after 75 years, the minority population has been reduced to 4%, of which Hindus account for 1.6% or 2.5 million people.
Insight UK is lobbying with British MPs to raise its concerns with Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia.
The organisers want the UK government to raise the allegedly forced conversion of Hindu, Sikh and Christian girls with Pakistan.
It is also urging the Indian government to ensure fast-track citizenship applications of Hindus, Sikhs and Christians from Pakistan.
