Zardari forms panel to address grievances of Hindus

Taking serious note of reports of a "sense of insecurity" among Hindus in Sindh, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has set up a three-member committee of parliamentarians to visit different parts of the province to reassure the minority community about their security.

The president constituted a three-member committee of parliamentarians to visit different parts of Sindh to express solidarity with Hindus on behalf of himself and the government and to reassure them about their security and well-being, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

The committee comprises Hari Ram, Lal Chand and federal minister Moula Bakhsh Chandio.

The president has also asked the authorities in Sindh to assess the situation and submit a report to him.

Zardari acted after media reports said a group of 250 Pakistani Hindus travelling to India for a pilgrimage did not intend to return to the country. Immigration authorities at the Wagah land border detained the Hindus for almost seven hours before allowing them to cross the border.

The kidnapping of a teenage Hindu girl, Manisha Kumari, from Jacobabad city of Sindh on August 7 has sparked widespread concern in the minority community amid reports of the exodus of some 100 Hindu families from the region.

Reports said some of the families had even sold their properties in Jacobabad before setting off for India.