Hindus of Pakistan reject CAA, do not want Indian Prime Minister Modi’s offer of citizenship
Dubai: Pakistani minorities have strongly condemned the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which discriminates against Muslims.
They have also rejected India’s offer to grant them citizenship under the new law. They said they are not interested in taking refuge in India and rejected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘humanitarian’ gesture.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dileep Kumar, a Dubai-based Pakistani Hindu, said: “The law from India is totally against [the] spiritual norms of humanity and Sanatana dharma.” Sanatana dharma is a term used in Hinduism to denote the set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of class, caste or sect.
“As humans, we cannot discriminate, irrespective of any religious followings. We do not want [the] Muslims of India to face terror. We condemn the law as religious persecution is unacceptable to [the] Hindus of Pakistan,” Kumar added.
Reverend Johan Qadir, a Sharjah-based Pakistani Christian community leader, said that the Pakistani Christian community also rejected the new Citizenship Amendment Bill. “We, the Christians of Pakistan, are not at all interested [in taking] refuge in India. I must say that the Modi’s citizenship bill does not favour the minorities at all as it is discriminatory and against basic human rights.”
What is the issue?
Citing the harassment of minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Indian parliament recently amended its citizenship law, offering citizenship rights to Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Parsi and Jain communities migrating from these countries.
Citizenship Amendment Act is a newly-passed law that applies to Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities who are in India illegally from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They can apply for citizenship under a religious persecution clause.
The law, however, does not include Muslim refugees or migrants — it's a move that critics are calling a clear indication of the changing politics in secular India. India has a Hindu population but is also home to 200 million Muslims and other minorities.
This amendment of the Citizenship Act 1955, which requires the applicant (regardless of religion or country of origin) to have resided in India for 11 of the past 14 years, relaxes this requirement from 11 years to six years, but only for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the three nations.
“Pakistan’s Hindu community unanimously rejects this bill, which is tantamount to dividing India on communal lines,” Raja Asar Manglani, patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, earlier told Anadolu Agency.
“This is a unanimous message from Pakistan’s entire Hindu community to Indian Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi. A true Hindu will never support this legislation,” he said. He added that the law has violated India’s own constitution.
Senator Anwar Lal Dean, a Christian member of the Pakistani parliament’s upper house, also said the law is meant to pitch religious communities against each other, reported the Express Tribune.
“This is a clear violation of fundamental human rights. We categorically reject it,” said Dean, a leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party.
“Through such unjust and uncalled steps, the Modi government wants to pitch religious communities against each other,” he said.
Pakistan’s tiny Sikh community has also denounced the controversial law. “Not only Pakistani Sikhs but the entire Sikh community in the world, including those in India, also condemn this move,” said Gopal Singh, leader of the Baba Guru Nanak in Pakistan.
“The Sikh community is a minority both in India and Pakistan. Being a member of a minority, I can feel the pain and the fears of the Muslim minority [in India]. This is simply persecution,” he said. Singh urged Modi not to push minorities' “backs to the wall.”
Hindu population in Pakistan
Though there are no exact official numbers available, the Pakistan Hindu Council says that there are more than 8 million Hindus currently living Pakistan.
They constitute about 4 per cent of the population of 220 million. They live primarily in the urban areas of the province of Sindh in the lower Indus valley and more than half are concentrated in the south-east district of Tharparkar which borders India.
For the most part, Hindus in Pakistan are well educated and active in commerce, trade and the civil service.
According to the Council, approximately 94 per cent of Hindus are living in Sindh Province, and more than 4 per cent are living in Punjab Province of Pakistan, whereas a small portion of this population is settled in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Provinces.
Courtesy: gulfnews.com
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Malayalam film director Ranjith remanded in sexual assault case; FEFKA takes action
Kochi (PTI): A court here on Wednesday sent noted Malayalam film director Ranjith to judicial custody after he was arrested late last night in connection with an attempted sexual assault case.
Following his remand, the director claimed that the accusations against him were "false" and that he would be able to prove it.
He made the claim before reporters while being taken inside the sub-jail here.
Even as the director claimed innocence, state Culture Minister Saji Cherian indicated that the government and the police were with the victim, and the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) recommended suspension of Ranjith's membership from the directors and writers unions.
The police said that the victim was "traumatised" by the incident and had to undergo counselling and psychiatric treatment before she could come forward with the complaint.
Kochi City Police Commissioner S Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar said that a Special Investigation Team was formed after recording the victim's statement, and then the allegations were discreetly verified before moving forward with the arrest.
"It should not happen to any woman, especially at the workplace," he told reporters here.
The officer also said that the director had attempted to remove himself from the area.
Kumar also said that the biggest challenge before the police was to maintain the confidentiality of the case and protect the identity of the victim.
He also said that there were several witnesses to the alleged sexual assault, as the incident happened on a shooting set.
The officer said that the evidence collection was progressing, and the director's custody will be sought when required.
FEFKA general secretary B Unnikrishnan told reporters here that there was no complaint made to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in connection with the incident.
FEFKA is an association of several craft unions in the Malayalam film industry.
Ranjith was taken into custody from the Idukki district on Tuesday evening, and subsequently, his arrest was recorded.
He was produced at the residence of a magistrate here in the morning and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
The case against Ranjith was registered by Kochi City Police a few days ago based on the victim's complaint.
Earlier in the day, Cherian told reporters that "such acts will not be accepted by the government or the society" and that the government and the police were with the victim.
Ranjith was appointed as chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy in 2022 and resigned from the post in 2024.
The minister said that the director was appointed to the post because he was qualified for it, and at that time, there were no such allegations against him.
"He carried forward the academy in a good way. When such allegations came up earlier, he had left the position. We are viewing the repetition of the same allegations against him seriously. Neither the police nor the government is protecting him," he said.
He said that the quick action taken against the director is an outcome of the recent changes in the movie sector, including holding of the cinema conclave and the state film policy.
"Let the investigation take its course," he added.
The minister also said that anyone in the film sector having similar bad experiences can come forward with a complaint and stand firm on it, as the government will be with them.
According to the police, the woman actor alleged that the director had invited her to a caravan during the shooting of a film and attempted to sexually assault her.
Ranjith had earlier faced allegations of sexual harassment following revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry.
In 2024, a case was registered against Ranjith after a Bengali actress filed a complaint with the Kochi City Police Commissioner.
The complaint, sent via email, alleged that Ranjith had touched her inappropriately with sexual intent after inviting her to act in the film Paleri Manikyam in 2009.
