SOURCE: Times Now
A Hindu has been appointed as a pilot in Pakistan Air Force for the first time in country’s history. Rahul Dev from Tharparkar, the largest district in Sindh province, has become the first Hindu to be recruited as a General Duty pilot officer in the country’s air force, IANS reported citing Pakistani media. A large population of the Hindu community resides in Tharparkar.
Expressing happiness over Dev’s appointement, All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat Secretary Ravi Dawani said many members of the minority community are serving in the civil service as well as the army. He said that many people like Dev will be ready to serve the country in the years to come if the Imran Khan government continues to focus on the minorities.
Poor condition of minorities in Pakistan
Several reports of religious discrimination against minorities and incidents of forced conversions and marriages of girls from Hindu community come to light from Pakistan every now and then.
In its 2018 election manifesto, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in the country, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, had promised to uplift the various religious groups across the country.
Khan during his election campaign had also said that he would take necessary action to stop forced marriages of Hindu girls if his government comes to power.
However, rampant incidents of minorities being supressed in several parts of the country, including Sindh has raised question over Pakistan PM’s promise.
Recently, some religious minority groups alleged that they were being deprived of basic necessities during the coronavirus crisis.
Members of the Hindu and Christian communities complained that they were being denied ration and food supplies by authorities in Sindh.
“We are also Pakistanis, and we should also be taken care of. The way everyone cooperating with each other, they should cooperate with us too. We also have small children. We are also poor people staying here. No one cooperates with us. (Food/ aid) is being given to others, not to us,” a local Hindu had said.
UN rights chief cornered Pakistan over suppression of religious minorities
In February this year, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet had said that religious minorities in Pakistan continue to face violence and repeated attacks on their places of worship and discrimination in law and practice.
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