Pak Rights group asks authorities to protect minorities

A rights group today expressed concern over the status of minorities, including Sikhs and Hindus, in Pakistan and asked authorities to ensure equal rights and protection for them.
Coalition for the Rights of the Minorities' national coordinator Sameena Imtiaz told reporters here that minorities are feeling insecure in Khyber Pakhtunwa due recent incident of violence and killing.
Referring to killing of a Sikh youth after an attack on Sikh community members in Peshawar, she said that this was not the first incident where Sikh community was targeted, adding that coherent of incidents have dwindled the confidence of minorities in the abilities of the provincial government in providing security to them.

She said that the displaced persons of the minority communities of North Waziristan were facing difficulties as they were not treated as citizens of Pakistan.
She said that more than 200 families of Christian and Hindu communities, who had been living in North Waziristan before the independence of the country, had been displaced due to ongoing military operation.
These families were facing multiple challenges with regards to provision of relief goods and services and had to take shelter in missionary schools and temples in Bannu, she said.
She appealed the federal and provincial governments to ensure equal treatment of minority community IDPs and stressed that their safe return to North Waziristan should be ensured after the end of military operation.

CRM is a network working for the rights and protection of Minorities in Pakistan.