Pak: Hindu legislator asks security for minorities

A prominent Hindu legislator in Pakistan's troubled northwest on Thursday condemned the kidnapping and killing of members of minority communities and appealed to the government to provide adequate protection to them.

Kishore Kumar, who was elected to the North West Frontier Province assembly as a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-
Amal religious alliance, strongly condemned the beheading of a Sikh trader and abduction of his colleagues by militants as well as the kidnapping of Robin Singh, a Hindu man from Peshawar.

He said minorities in Pakistan were facing "many problems" and demanded that the government should take effective measures to protect their rights in line with the constitution of the country.

The abduction of Sikhs was not a local or personal issue but a matter that concerned the entire nation, he added.

 "The majority is suffering from various kinds of injustices while the minorities in the region have been hit hard by growing extremism," Kumar told PTI.

Kumar said he would take up the abduction and killing of members of minority communities during the ongoing session of the provincial assembly. He expressed hope that the provincial government would adopt measures to prevent such incidents in future. 

However, Kumar hastened to add that the issue had been exaggerated by the international media and the situation was not as bad as it was being made out to be.

The NWFP government has condemned the abduction and killings, and this reflects the administration's support for minorities, he said.

Bishan Singh, the father of Robin Singh, had contested polls to the provincial assembly in 1997 from a seat reserved for minorities. He is currently living in Canada.

Robin Singh was kidnapped from Peshawar last week and his abductors have demanded a ransom of Rs 10 million for his release.