A Pak Hindu family wants to give up its Pakistani passports

Attari Aug.23 (ANI): A Pakistani Hindu family that arrived here on Thursday on the Samjhauta Express from Pakistan, has expressed a desire to give up their Pakistani passports as soon they get Indian passports.

Rup Mehra, who had been living in New Delhi for the last four years, had gone to Pakistan with his family members to get renewal identity cards.

Accompanied by his wife and four children, Mehra revealed that it was in fact complicated for him to complete formalities in Pakistan.

He said the Pakistan Government had toughened formalities and claimed that Hindus were living in adverse conditions in Pakistan.

"They are not allowed to celebrate their festivals with freedom. There are so many restrictions imposed upon them," he claimed.

He said fundamentalist forces and the government was against the minority Hindu community in Pakistan.

"The Hindus are living in terror and fear. There is little assurance from the government to them, " he said.

He further said that the Hindus wanted to migrate to India, but there are problems of citizenship and restrictions to stay for long in India.

He appealed the Indian Government to rescue the Hindus who were coming to India from Pakistan.

"What we want is to quick permission for the longer stay and some help to set up our businesses so that we can feed our children. We had stayed back in Pakistan after partition, but the situation is not conducive for us to stay for long," Mehra said.

When he was asked about the forcible conversion of Hindu girls, he said that such cases are common in Pakistan. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)