Indian Muslim man, son land in Pakistan in search of protection from ‘Hindu terrorists’

KARACHI – An Indian Muslim and his son have arrived in Pakistan in search of refuge after they were targeted by “Hindu terrorists” in their own country.

Mohammad Hasnain (70) and his son Ishaq Amir (31), who are residents of New Delhi, fled India after they were targeted by “Hindu terrorists” multiple times.

The father and son duo travelled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on September 5 and two days later they took a visa for Afghanistan. On September 8, they reached Kabul and took a flight to Kandahar and reached the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Spin Boldak via taxi.

They said that they entered Pakistan from the Chaman border with the help of an agent. After entering Pakistan, the duo then paid a Pakistani taxi driver Rs60,000 to drop them to Hub from where they entered Karachi in a rickshaw.

After arriving in Karachi, they contacted the police who shifted them to an Edhi centre.

The duo confirmed that they were staying at the Edhi centre in Sohrab Goth. They added that Muslims are being persecuted in India and they do not wish to go back. 

Religious discrimination in India, the world's largest democracy, has reached a "frightening" level since Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rose to power in 2015.

In its annual reports on religious freedom, the US State Department listed several attacks against India's religious minorities including Muslims and Christians in the billion-plus nation.

Human rights groups also accuse Modi's rule of fostering discriminatory religious nationalism targeting Muslim, Christian, and Sikh religious minorities.