Pakistan Hindu Council chief Ramesh Kumar called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday to discuss the deaths of 11 members of a Pakistani migrant family in India's Jodhpur district in Rajasthan state.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that during the meeting, Kumar informed Qureshi about the anxiety within the Pakistani Hindu community over the incident.
He shared that Shrimati Mukhi — the daughter of the deceased head of the family — had filed a first information report nominating the RSS and the BJP for their involvement in the incident, the statement said.
On August 9, the bodies of 11 people including children from a single family, who had migrated to India from Pakistan, were found in a field in Jodhpur district. According to reports, only one member of the family, which belonged to the Bheel community, now remains.
"Kumar also informed the foreign minister that, according to Mukhi, her father, mother and other family members were murdered after they refused to spy on Pakistan and issue anti-Pakistan statements at the behest of the Indian intelligence agency RAW."
Qureshi told the council's chief that Pakistan had taken up the issue with the Indian side through diplomatic channels in Islamabad and New Delhi.
"Immediately after the incident, the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi had asked the Indian government for provision of access to the surviving member of the family, copies of the FIR and initial investigation report and facilitating the presence of the High Commission for Pakistan’s representatives during the post-mortem of the deceased persons."
Qureshi assured Kumar that the safety and security of its nationals was the responsibility of the government and added that since the victims were Pakistani nationals, it was incumbent upon the government to be fully aware of the circumstances under which the victims died, the statement added.
The foreign minister assured that Pakistan would continue urging the government to provide the requisite information without further delay and carry out a comprehensive investigation into the matter and share its findings with the government of Pakistan, the press release said.
Kumar added that the Hindu community would take the necessary steps to register its strong protest against the incident and the continuing failure of the Indian government to carry out a transparent and credible investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice, it concluded.
A week ago, the Pakistan had summoned the Indian chargé d'affaires to convey its serious concern over the deaths of the 11 Pakistani Hindus.
The Indian envoy was told that "despite repeated requests by the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi for details regarding the tragic incident, the Indian government continues to evade the issue, has disclosed only scant information about the case, and has failed to share any substantive details regarding the cause and circumstances of the deaths", the Foreign Office spokesperson had said in a statement.
Shrimati Mukhi demands forensic probe
On September 6, Mukhi had appealed to the Pakistan government and International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure a forensic investigation was conducted into the deaths of her family members.
She believed that RAW had her father and other family members killed after it failed to convince him to act as a spy against Pakistan. When her father decided to return to Pakistan secretly with his family to expose RAW, the entire family was killed to protect the agency, she had said.
She had said her father, along with other members, had gone to India in 2012 and started living in the Indian state of Rajasthan where they were trapped by the Indian intelligence agency. They were given various favours for making anti-Pakistan statements, she had said.
She had said they were killed on August 9 because the Indian government failed to achieve its nefarious designs.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1581043/p...-11-family-members-in-indias-jodhpur-district
