The Sindhi Foundation, a Washington-based human rights organization, has announced plans to organize a long march in London on June 14 to commemorate the abduction of Priya Kumari, a young Hindu girl from Pakistan’s Sindh province, three years ago.
The protest march, stretching from 10 Downing Street to the Pakistani High Commission, aims to draw attention to the plight of the minor and demand her safe return.
“We, the Sindhis living in London and elsewhere worldwide, have taken to the streets along with humanitarians, women, and men of conscience, to seek justice for Priya Kumari and bring her back home,” said Sufi Munawar Laghari, the Sindhi Foundation’s Executive Director.
Priya Kumari, then seven years old, was forcibly abducted near her home in Sangrar village, near Sukkur, while serving water to mourners during a Muharram commemoration. Since then, her whereabouts remain unknown despite the family’s efforts.
Laghari said that the highly politicized police in Sindh is failing miserably to recover the abducted minor, despite being aware of her location. He emphasized that Pakistan, as a signatory to the UN General Assembly’s Declaration of the Rights of Children and other international instruments, has an obligation to protect children like Priya Kumari.
The Executive Director alleged that Priya Kumari’s abductors belong to the “political power corridors” and targeted her because she hails from the Sindhi Hindu community, whose daughters are frequent victims of forced conversions to Islam.
“There are hundreds of Sindhi Hindu young women and girls who are forcibly converted on an everyday basis in Sindh, which goes unabated,” Laghari said.
During the long march, the Sindhi Foundation plans to present memorandums to the staff of the UK Prime Minister and the Pakistani High Commissioner, highlighting Priya Kumari’s plight and urging authorities to facilitate her safe return to her family.
Notably, Sindh has the highest population of Hindus in Pakistan and therefore witnesses most cases of forced conversion. The forced Islamisation of religious minorities has led to the steep decline in their population in the Islamic Republic.