During a recent journey through Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, Radio Mashaal journalists Daud Khattak and Zaland Yousafzai documented the life and struggles of Pakistan’s Hindu minority. The region's more than 2 million Hindus live mostly peaceful lives among their Muslim neighbors, but in recent years reports of forced conversions and migration to India have highlighted the plight of Hindus, who comprise the largest religious minority in Pakistan.
The Life And Struggles Of Pakistan’s Hindu Minority
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A Hindu temple known as a Krishna mandir in Methi, the main town of Tharparkar. Methi has six such mandirs, the most of any town in Sindh Province.
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Families live in makeshift houses called “chunra” and sleep under the open sky at night.
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A typical Tharparkar house provides shelter from both high temperatures and heavy rains. A “chunra” costs between 20,000 and 25,000 rupees ($120 - 150) and can last for up to 10 years.
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It is often women who are responsible for fulfilling the family’s water needs, and they bring water on their heads from as far as a kilometer away.
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Kallan Bibi, 50, says she has never left the area and does not like to travel by car, bus, or truck. “I am happy here, but the heat wave is very strong these days and I am also getting old,” she says.
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Kallan Bibi holds a handmade pillow case featuring Tharparkar's traditional embroidery.
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Kewal, Kallan Bibi’s husband, runs a makeshift shop in his village. “Life is hard here, but we are happy to stay because this is the land of our forefathers. We will never go anywhere.”
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More roads have been constructed in the remote Tharparkar district over the past five years but means of transportation remain largely the same, often with a disregard for road safety.
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These old trucks are unique to the Tharparkar district of Sindh Province and are used for hauling.
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Locally made rickshaws, which often throw road safety to the wind, are still in use in this remote area.
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Bhutto, 35 and his wife, Babri, 30, travel to the neighboring districts of Punjab Province to harvest wheat, which feeds them for three to four months. Bhutto says the recent rains have made them happy because their goats are getting fat.
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Bhutto’s son Heera does not attend school. Bhutto says he wants his son to receive an education, but there are no schools nearby.
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A majority of school-age children in rural Tharparkar are not able to attend school because the area has no educational facilities.
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Peacocks in Tharparkar are known as the “princes of the desert.” As the weather improves, groups of peacocks can be seen playing and dancing in the desert.
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To collect water often from long distances, Tharparkar residents often carry clay pitchers. But this year has been different, with locals saying there has been the most rain since 2011.
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A Hindu woman working in the fields.
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In September, temperatures in the desert reached 40 degrees Celsius, and the unexpected rains turned the normally arid landscape green.
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Livestock is mostly used for milk and plowing the land.
