A Multi-faith, international complaint submitted to the UN accuses Pakistan of its ‘drip, drip genocide’ committed upon its minority Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs.
- Legally unprecedented: More than 60 Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, and Ex-Muslims from India, Pakistan, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Kenya slam Pakistan for Genocide. The first of its kind ever.
- Demand Accountability: They demand UN Security Council set up an international criminal tribunal to identify and prosecute all perpetrators responsible for the Genocide regardless of whether they are private individuals, public officials, or political leaders with sovereign immunity.
- Many high-profile signatories: This includes organizations safeguarding Hindu rights, academics, prolific and high-profile writers, former officials of the UN and World Bank, a former Chief Electoral Commissioner of India, and former US officials of the State Department.
Pakistan now faces a formal complaint submitted to the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) under its ‘complaints mechanism,’ which addresses consistent patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of all human rights and fundamental freedoms occurring anywhere and under any circumstances.
The extensively evidenced complaint alleges Pakistan has violated Article 2 of the Genocide Convention of 1948[1] with the Genocide being committed by every level of Pakistan’s state machinery and its fanatical citizens. This Genocide has unfolded and continues in full view of the international community.
It argues the physical element of the Genocide is proven by the steep decline in the population of Pakistan’s Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs, which has plummeted from 23 percent in 1947 to three percent today, despite a massive increase in Pakistan’s Muslim population.
The complaint provides evidence of genocidal intent. Specifically, UN documents and Pakistani experts establish the role of Islamic ideology in the treatment of Pakistan’s minorities. Pakistani experts have stated the country was ‘born in hatred’ and the reason for the treatment inflicted upon its minorities was the desire to create “a purer Islamic state.” Historically, there was a deep hatred towards Hindus in the movement to create Pakistan, which is alive today. Pakistan has grossly failed to protect minority rights as agreed between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan in 1950.
Pakistan has illegally targeted, forcibly converted, kidnapped, and sexually exploited thousands of Hindu and Christian women and girls. Schools teach Hindu and Christian hate and Islamic supremacism through their curriculum; fake allegations of ‘blasphemy’ have terrorized and led to the imprisonment of Christians and Hindus; their temples and churches have been attacked and desecrated; social apartheid exists by ‘reserving’ menial jobs for low-caste Hindus and Christians which Muslims refuse to perform. Egregious discrimination is enforced even after natural disasters. Christian cemeteries are desecrated by Pakistani citizens and subjected to forcible evictions from their properties. UN Special Rapporteurs have jointly voiced strong concerns about Pakistan’s human rights. The Pakistani government has also admitted that its minorities face targeted violence in the name of Islam.
The complaint requests the UNHRC to send the matter for action to the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal that should:
- Identify and prosecute all perpetrators responsible for the Genocide of Pakistani Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs, regardless of whether they are private individuals, public officials, or political leaders with sovereign immunity.
- Take all appropriate and urgent steps to ensure that there is a complete cessation of the violations of the human rights of Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs.
- To require the United Nations Human Rights (Office of the High Commissioner) and UN Women to closely support the work of the tribunal, including through field visits in Pakistan for fact-finding visits to prevent any further fraudulent and forcible conversions of Hindu, Christian, and Sikh women to Islam.
- To instruct the Pakistani government to immediately confiscate all textbooks that teach hatred of Pakistan’s Hindu, Christian, and Sikh minorities.
- To decide upon a mechanism for monetary compensation for the victims of Genocide to be exclusively funded by the Government of Pakistan.
Leadership: This drafting, coordination, and submission of the complaint was overseen by Mr. Rahul Sur, Executive Director, Hindus Advancing Human Rights (HAHRI), a HinduPACT initiative, and Ms. Deepti Mahajan, who runs CHINGARI fighting for the rights of Hindu women in Pakistan.
Support, pain, and outrage against Pakistan from some signatories to the complaint
Dr Phyllis Chesler, US, Legendary Feminist and prolific author.
I strongly support and deeply respect this documented and heroic complaint against Pakistan. As we all know, violence against women has been given mere lip service at the UN over the decades. No country has been sanctioned for their abysmal record on this issue. But more importantly, no Muslim country has been singled out or targeted for its truly heinous record on women. This includes femicide (honor killing), rape, incest, domestic violence, torture, and murder of women for failing any honor-based double standard. This includes veiling, refusing to marry a first cousin, insisting on leaving a dangerously violent marriage, etc. Deepti Mahajan has stepped into this enormous silence. I can only hope and pray that she is heard and taken seriously and that the UN finally, finally, actually does something about women’s human rights both in Pakistan and in other Muslim countries.
Dr. Ajay Chrungoo, India
I am a Kashmiri Pandit, belong to Kashmir, and am myself a victim of Genocide. Having lived in an overwhelmingly Muslim-majority area and experienced the genocidal attrition unleashed by the Muslim communal movement, I can easily understand the plight of Hindus living in the Muslim State of Pakistan. When the organs of society and the state are committed to imposing Muslim hegemony, it is very difficult for non-Muslims to withstand the attrition. Convert or perish becomes the dictum to force the minorities to submission.
Permanently making them inferior, relentless persecution and eventually genocidal destruction becomes a fait-accompli for non-Muslims. Hindus and other non-Muslims of Pakistan are now face to face with this fait-accompli. Any attempt and effort to save them has to be supported and complimented.
Leslie Lebl, former US State Department Official and author
In clear, rational prose, this complaint reveals to the world the barbaric, unacceptable acts committed against minority Sikhs, Christians, and Hindus in Pakistan. It performs a vital public service by telling a story that many people have never heard.
Sanjay Dixit, former senior Indian government official, author and YouTuber.
Pakistan was created based on the ‘two-nation’ theory, a doctrine that treats all non-Muslims as Kafirs, a pejorative which translates, seemingly benignly, as ‘non-believers.’ This supercilious mentality makes them treat Hindus and all non-Muslims as fit objects for ‘convert, flee or die.’ Today we see a practical application of forced conversions through abductions, murders, and rapes – this is classical Genocide.
Ari Meyer, US
Pakistan went from 23% non-Muslim in 1947 to just 3% today, and non-Muslims are under constant threat of violence and forced conversion. By contrast, the Palestinian population in 1947 was just under 2 million; today, it’s over 5.6 million (14.8 million globally). Given these figures alone, it is appalling and baffling that Israel is accused of “genocide” while a country with such a horrific record as Pakistan is not held to account for its extraordinary level of ethnic cleansing. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are often wielded to inflict further violence on non-Muslims, and these must be struck down. I likewise insist that Pakistan’s 1971 genocidal campaign, which mainly impacted the Hindu minority (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_genocide), needs to be addressed with full restorative justice.
Mohinder Gulati, US
The atrocities against religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly against Hindu, Christian, and Sikh women and girls, have been so shocking, and the indifference of international institutions so disappointing that I felt compelled to raise my voice against this barbarism and indifference. The failure of the United Nations to raise its voice in defense of non-Muslim minorities in the world (Roma in Europe, Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Coptics in Egypt, Yezidis in Iraq, and Buddhists in China) is appalling. Even the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International Monetary Fund have failed to comply with their own gender and social justice policies while lending to Pakistan. The Global Hindu Temple Network, in collaboration with several human rights organizations and activists, raised this issue with all these international institutions but to no avail. Joining as a signatory to a formal complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Council is a continuation of the fight to lend a voice to the voiceless girls and women of religious minorities in Pakistan.
Elana Behar, US
I add my voice to recognizing and demanding an end to the discrimination, ill-treatment, and murders constituting the Genocide of ethnic minorities in Pakistan. In the words of the Pakistani Defence Minister, “Every day, minorities are being killed. They are not safe under the guise of Islam. I want to address the issue of minority safety, but the opposition is blocking my efforts. Pakistan is facing global embarrassment,” the Defence Minister said, as quoted by Dawn. This is unacceptable in Pakistan and in all countries where minorities are being persecuted in the name of Islam. As an American from New York City, one of the most ethnically diverse places in the world, I am appalled by the failure of systems to help different ethnic groups live together, learn from each other, and flourish together in Pakistan. Not only is it deeply unjust and horrifying in the case of murder, but it is a missed opportunity for an exciting community, learning, and growth. I support whatever it takes to rectify this awful situation: laws, protection, education, and anything else, beginning with the UN RECOGNIZING AND TAKING INITIATIVE ON THIS. Thank you.
Zahra Sandberg, US
I support the UN Complaint against Pakistan first and foremost as a person of Pakistani descent. It horrifies me to know this is happening in my home country. I believe it is important to stand up against evil and against those who commit these brutal acts. We need to fight to protect the innocent victims who are being targeted directly because of their religious beliefs.
Debra Coplan, US, AHA Foundation and Clarity Coalition
The world needs to be aware of what is going on with Islamic extremism in Pakistan. We need to stop this killing and draw attention to this hideous situation. The world is not paying attention to Pakistan and needs to see it.
Professor Lakshmi Bandlamudi, US
I would like to express my concern and outrage about the Genocide in Pakistan. Every bad actor in the world clearly has had some connection with Pakistan, and the minorities in Pakistan are slaughtered or converted forcibly, resulting in a dwindling population of non-Muslims.
Vibhuti Jha, US
The world needs to truly take cognizance of the ugly reality of how Pakistani society at every level systematically has destroyed virtually all minorities in the country. The real tragedy is the world authorities are openly ignoring the tragedy happening in front of their naked eyes! The brazenness of their nefarious deeds in the name of freedom is even more serious. Rape and forcible conversion of even minor girls is a tragedy the world must not ignore. It’s an honor to be part of this submission to the global leadership to act immediately to right the wrongs that are going on in Pakistan against a very helpless minority group terrorized by religious fanaticism.
Samir Kalra, US, Hindu American Foundation
The Hindu American Foundation is proud to support this UN complaint as an important step in seeking justice for the long-persecuted minorities of Pakistan. The Pakistani state must face accountability for its long-standing systematic legal, social, and institutional discrimination against Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs.
Rahul Sur, US/India, Former UN official and senior police officer
As a Pakistani professor correctly states, Pakistan was born in hatred and still lives in hatred. This has translated into an unending nightmare for its Hindu, Christian, and Sikh minorities, who have suffered from a whole-of-society genocide. Rape, murder, destruction of temples, churches, and gurudwaras, forcible conversions, and endless humiliation has been their lot. Their dwindling numbers alone tell their story. This thoroughly evidenced-based complaint to the UNHRC deserves to be immediately acted upon if the UN’s oft-repeated words of ‘human rights are for all’ are to have any meaning at all.
Captain Manjit Singh, India
After more than 75 years after its inception as a separate state, it is increasingly becoming a failed one. Today, forcible conversions, kidnapping of women and girls, and killing of minorities under the protective blanket of blasphemy laws have become a widespread phenomenon in Pakistan. The true rulers of Pakistan, the Army, and its fanatic Islamic stooges subject its minorities to gross violation of their human rights and even their fundamental right to live.
Geeta Sikand, VP, Communications/Community Outreach, Americans4Hindus
Americans4Hindus supported the complaint to the United Nations regarding Pakistan’s “drip, drip” Genocide of Hindus as Pakistan’s Hindu population has dwindled from 20.5 % in 1947 to 1.6% now (1998: last Govt. Census). In 1947, Hindus comprised 20.5 percent of Pakistan’s population. By 1998 — the last government census to classify people by religion, Hindus were only 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s population. It has dwindled further over the past two decades. Hindu girls are abducted when they reach puberty, forcefully converted to become Muslims, and then forced to marry Muslim men. The Pakistani authorities look the other way. It is a catastrophe that Pakistan’s enforced blasphemy law serves as a pretext for violence against Hindus and other religious minorities, making them vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and prosecution.
[1] https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/Genocide%20Convention-FactSheet-ENG.pdf
