Baloch Hindus threaten poll boycott, migration

Quetta, Feb 2 : Minority Hindus in Balochistan have threatened to boycott the February 18 election, if the Pakistan Government does not provide them with adequate protection.

They have also threatened to migrate to safer places, if their security is not assured.

"We feel extremely insecure," Daily Times quoted Hindu leader Basant Lal Gulshan, a former member of Balochistan Assembly, as saying.

"The government must protect Hindus," he added.

The Sindh-Balochistan Hindu Panchayat's boycott call follows reports of Hindus being abducted in two separate incidents.

Gulshan, however, ruled out the violence against Hindus being religiously motivated.

Suspecting local outlaws behind the abductions, he said: "They want us to leave our homes as some people did in 1992 after the demolition of the Babari Masjid (in India)."

"If we are denied protection, we will be compelled to migrate to somewhere safer," he said.

He alleged that the government had not taken any action so far to trace the four Hindus kidnapped last week.

Hari Chand, a former Secretary General of the Hindu Panchayat, said a grand conference of Hindus living in Balochoistan would be called if their men were recovered.

"We will consider all options of protest," he said, adding but the protest would be peaceful.

ANI