Hindu legislator quits in Pakistan, shifts to India

ISLAMABAD - A Hindu member of the legislative assembly in Pakistan’s Sindh province resigned from his seat after receiving threats and shifted to India, media reports said Saturday.

Ram Singh Sodho was elected a member of the Sindh assembly on a reserved seat for minorities on a Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) ticket in the 2008 general elections, Dunya TV reported.

Sodho received threats and shifted base to India, from where he sent his resignation to Sindh assembly speaker Nisar Ahmad Khoro, the report said.

The resignation has been accepted with immediate effect.

The PML-F is an ally of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Sindh.

The law and order situation in Karachi, capital of the province, and other interior regions — where the Hindu community is based in large numbers and its members are quite well off — has been deteriorating for quite some time now.

Incidents of kidnapping for ransom of Hindu children have seen an alarming rise during the last few months, forcing many families to abandon their homes and shift to India or other countries.

Lakki Chand Garji, 82, who is the ‘maharaja’ of the Kali Mata Mandir in Kalat town in Balochistan province and considered to be one of Pakistan’s most revered Hindu spiritual leaders, was kidnapped by a gang of armed men Dec 21 last year. He is yet to be rescued.